Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gov. Scott Walker talks about the Dane County judge's ruling on the state's collective bargaining law during this week's radio address.
The state partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week. Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses. To download an mp3 file, you can right click the radio address link and click “save link as.” Hi, this is Scott Walker. As you may have heard, recently, a Dane County judge in Madison issued a ruling that struck down key provisions of the budget reforms enacted late last year. We are confident this ruling will be overturned because Act 10 is constitutional. This would not be the first time a Dane County judge's decision on Act 10 was held to be wrong by a …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
To avoid confusion on whether or not Act 10 is in effect, J.B. Van Hollen is asking the court for a stay while the case is being appealed.
As expected, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen Tuesday filed a motion to stay the latest decision about Act 10, the collective bargaining law. Last Friday, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas ruled that parts of Act 10 are unconstitutional because the law violates the guarantee of freedom of speech and citizens' freedom of association. Colas also determined that Act 10 does not offer equal protection under the law because it creates a separate class of state workers. In his motion to the Dane County Circuit Court, Van Hollen outlines his belief that the decision will be overturned on appeal. Until the appellate court rules, Van Hollen believes a stay is appropriate to avoid any confusion for municipalities and school districts that …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto says he believes a Dane County circuit judge's ruling striking down parts of Act 10 will not upend the city's contracts with its five employee unions.
- GOVERNMENT
- Lisa Sink
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Monday, September 17, 2012
City officials said Monday they believe their existing union contracts will not be upended by a Dane County judge's ruling Friday reinstating some public employee collecting bargaining rights. Mayor Steve Ponto called the ruling "very unfortunate" and said it should have no impact on the city's 2013 budget. "The entire state has been through a lot in the last 18 months and this decision by a Dane County Circuit Judge is, I believe, very unfortunate," Ponto said. "I hope and trust the decision will be stayed pending appeal. "I also have confidence that our court system will ultimately uphold the Act 10 legislation which was passed by both houses of the Legislature, signed by the governor, and implicitly supported by the voters in subsequent…
Friday, September 14, 2012
A Dane County judge has declared Act 10 — the budget repair bill — as unconstitutional at both the state and federal levels.
The law that ended most collective bargaining rights for public employees was struck down Friday by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas. According to our media partners at Fox 6 News, Colas ruled Act 10 — the budget repair bill — as null and void because the law violates both the state and US Constitutions. Specifically, the law violates the guarantee of freedom of speech and citizens' freedom of association. Colas' 27-page decision is summarized in The Capital Times, quoting the judge's primary reason for his decision as " (Act 10) single(s) out and encumber(s) the rights of those employees who choose union membership and representation solely because of that association and therefore infringe upon the rights of free speech and …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Area residents are reacting to a Dane County's decision to strike down parts of Act 10, which eliminated most collective bargaining rights for most public workers. Read others' comments and add your own thoughts.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
In its first teachers contract post Act 10, the Elmbrook School Distict and teachers agreed to a 1.5 percent wage increase.
- SCHOOLS
- Lisa Sink
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Elmbrook School District teachers will receive 1.5 percent pay raises, slightly less than the maximum 1.64 percent allowed by Act 10, under a collective bargaining agreement approved Tuesday by the Elmbrook School Board. The two-page agreement is Elmbrook's first Act 10 restricted most public employee union collective bargaining to one issue: wages with increases capped by inflation. The contract covers the previous school year (2011-12) and staff will be paid in lump sum (over two paychecks) for the 1.5 percent retroactive base wage increase from July 1, 2011 through June 20, 2012. Totaling about $502,000, the increase will be distributed across the board to the district's approximately 519 full-time equivalent positions. Elmbrook …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The passage of Wisconsin's Act 10 has created a "free agent" culture for teachers who are no longer dissuaded from leaving a district and surrendering seniority. The result has been a new competition in education to keep the best and brightest teachers.
Every sports fan has felt that bittersweet moment when their favorite athlete leaves the team they love for a new team offering a sweeter deal. For the athlete, it’s a new and more lucrative opportunity to use their unique skills and talents. In a post-Act 10 educational environment in Wisconsin, the dynamic isn’t much different for educators. Teacher seniority and incremental pay scales have gone out the window and have been replaced by performance-based systems of employment. While Act 10 stripped the majority of bargaining rights from teachers, it also caused a major shift in the culture to which teachers have grown accustomed. “Education may become like pro sports and the teacher could become a free agent in a sense. The opportunity is…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
With wages capped by CPI the only issue to be bargained post Act 10, the Elmbrook School Board and Elmbrook Education Association reached a tentative agreement during its first meeting Tuesday.
- BACK TO SCHOOL
- Lisa Sink
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A 45-minute teachers contract bargain. Welcome to the new world, post Act 10. That was Elmbrook's experience Tuesday in its first foray in the state's new collective bargaining system that limits most public employee negotiations to one issue: wages capped by a maximum increase of CPI. Pewaukee Schools recently had the same outcome: a tentative agreement in just 35 minutes, an Elmbrook School District negotiator said. The Elmbrook Education Association and school district exchanged their initial offers for the 2011-12 school year Tuesday. The Elmbrook School Board's Personnel Committee said it budgeted for a 1.5 percent wage increase for teachers. The EEA sought the maximum CPI increase of 1.64 percent. Union attorney Tim Hawks said the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Elmbrook School Board approved a budget that would lower spending and the property tax rate while allowing small salary boost. The budget will be refined for final approval next fall.
Friday, October 28, 2011
The state's 5.5 percent cut to school districts' maximum allowable revenue translates to a 7.2 percent cut in Elmbrook's levy.
The Elmbrook School Board added $300,000 to the $72 million property tax levy before adopting a final 2011-12 school budget this week. But this year, taxing to the maximum allowed under state law means Elmbrook will collect about $5.6 million less — for one of its lowest tax levies in years. Elmbrook had no choice: the state mandated a 5.5 percent cut in the maximum revenue school districts collect. Typically, the state has allowed a 2 percent annual revenue increase. To help ensure that wouldn't result in teacher layoffs and program cuts, the state passed the controversial budget repair bill, which essentially resulted in Elmbrook teachers offsetting that tax cut by paying a portion of their pension and health insurance costs. The state's…
Geoff Tolley
6:51 pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
No. Some of the most significant biennial increases, over all funds base allocations: - the DoA got $314m (17%) more funding - the Department of Health services got $1,835m (11%) more (this is on an all funds basis, so this is the increase in excess of the replaced stimulus dollars). - Program Supplements was $77m higher (225%) - to be fair this value tends to swing wildly from year to year. - … more ›