Monday, May 20, 2013
Did Gov. Scott Walker break a campaign promise when he vowed to keep pork out of the state budget?
Some campaign promises build in a bit of wiggle room. The one made by candidate for governor Scott Walker to “Strip policy and pork projects from the state budget” did not. This unequivocal pledge, posted on Walker’s campaign website, committed the candidate to eschewing both parties’ longstanding practice of using the budget to make policy changes and reward special interests. In April 2011, less than four months into Walker’s term, the truth-testers at PolitiFact Wisconsin branded this a broken promise. It noted that the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau had identified dozens of non-fiscal items in the governor’s budget repair bills and first biennial budget. Walker’s latest executive budget, for 2013-15, included what the Fiscal …
Friday, December 7, 2012
Democrats received more votes statewide in the November elections, but Republicans won more seats. What does that say about redistricting?
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s Nov. 29 certification of the official results of the Nov. 6 election made it, well, official: Democratic candidates got more votes than Republicans in state races for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, state Senate and state Assembly. But the Republicans were able to keep a 5-3 lead in the U.S. House of Representatives, reclaim control of the state Senate by a margin of 18 to 15 seats, and secure a commanding 60-39 advantage in the state Assembly, despite getting fewer votes overall. How can that be? Mike McCabe, the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan elections watchdog, has a theory: “The outcome of this year’s U.S. House as well as …
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
While politicians on both sides craft talking points, Wisconsin residents speak out on the reforms that have passed in Walker's first year in office.
For years, Tom Scheer has stood on the political sidelines, but all that changed this year after Republican Gov. Scott Walker took office and introduced controversial limitations to collective bargaining, a bill allowing the concealed carry of weapons and a voter identification bill. Scheer was one of hundreds of people across the state who signed petitions to recall Walker Tuesday. He said Walker never talked about collective bargaining restrictions in his campaign, which to Scheer is representative of a larger silencing of the voice of people in Wisconsin. "Virtually everything he's done when he's been in office has been something that was not talked about during his campaign, and what the people have wanted since he was elected has been…
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Wisconsin's school administrators are no longer subject to 'union meddling and obstruction.'
The repeal of much of Wisconsin’s collective bargaining law with regard to many of Wisconsin’s public employees has not been adequately explained. This repeal will do more to improve the quality and lower the cost of Wisconsin government than anything else we’ve done. There are approximately 275,000 government employees in the state of Wisconsin. About 72,000 work for the state, 38,000 for cities and villages, 48,000 for counties, 10,500 (full-time equivalent) for technical colleges, and 105,229 for schools. Only half of state employees are unionized, but almost all school employees are. As you can see, the biggest impact will be on Wisconsin’s schools. Since my office has received the most complaints from school teachers, let’s look at …
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The League of Wisconsin Municipalities says state lawmakers should not exempt police and fire unions from budget repair provisions.
State Senators today should amend the proposed state budget to add existing police and fire personnel to new pension, health and collective bargaining provisions, Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto and a cities advocacy organization say. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities and Ponto praised the state's budget-writing committee for making improvements to the two-year $66 billion state budget. But they urged that last-minute changes be made on the Senate floor today. The state Assembly passed the budget at 3 a.m. on a 60-38 vote, sending the 2011-13 budget to the Senate where approval also is expected, possibly in another late-night vote. The state budget does not contain the language from the controversial budget repair bill that requires …
Dnaiel J. Phillips
6:42 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Mark, The Repubs didnt want you and yours to feel left out, seeing that your boy Doyle"s budgets were loaded with non fiscal items. more ›