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Winston Churchill once said, “Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others,” and Wisconsin Governor Scott K. Walker’s count is up to three.
D ay 1 [Sunday]: Scott Walker signed his first two-year budget
Walker’s biennial budget eliminates the $3.6 billion dollar debt without raising taxes, in a state that previously numbered 8 on the list of states with the largest per capita deficits. The plan includes a property tax freeze estimated to save the average homeowner $700 dollars over the next two years, as well as a manufacturing tax credit and capital gains tax credit to target job growth. The business community couldn’t be happier. “Governor Walker and legislative Republicans deserve tremendous credit for making tough decisions to balance the state budget without raising taxes. The budget provides greater certainty for business executives and that should encourage job growth,” said Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer.
Republicans are reminding objectors that the budget still supports BadgerCare, Medical Assistance, and SeniorCare, puts $1.2 billion into state Medicaid, and gives the majority of 2011-2013 revenue to the state’s Department of Health Services. As public K-12 schools are the largest expenditure in the budget, they will have to undergo $800 million dollars worth of cuts. But it’s not all bad for Wisconsin school districts, who will save an estimated $976 million over the biennium. MacIver News Service found that by beginning a choice program in racine, and removing both the state’s online public virtual charter schools’ enrollment caps, as well as the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program’s enrollment caps, Scott Walker ‘s budget helps Choice and Charter schools immensely. A student information system will track statewide student progress in all aspects of the education system, allowing the state to “make informed policy decisions based on data,” Walker says.
Day 2 [Tuesday]: Wisconsin Secretary of State’s office published Act 10
Governor Walker signed Act 10 on March 11th. Because Secretary of State Doug La Follette decided to wait the full 10 working days allowed by law before enrolling it, that was scheduled to happen on March 25th. The law was to be in effect by March 28th. But Dane County Judge Mary Ann Sumi’s temporary restraining order placed on the Secretary of State prohibited the administration from publishing the law. When the legislative reference bureau published the law on March 25th regardless, Judge Sumi made the restraining order permanent. The Supreme Court ruled in Walker’s favor, allowing Act 10?s publication. Tuesday marked the end of the full 10 working days that La Follette again decided to wait before enrollment.
Day 3 [Wednesday]: Act 10 goes into effect
Hundreds of thousands of teachers and union members alike protested Act 10 down the streets of Madison, surrounding the capitol for days at a time throughout the past four months. Why? Because provisions of the law will limit the power that allows public sector unions the ability to collectively bargain. On April 14, the governor attended a “State and Municipal Debt: Tough Choices Ahead” hearing concerning Act 10 in Washington. When the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked if he believed his actions were extreme, Walker answered, “No, because I believe fundamentally if what we’ve heard said over and over again was a fundamental right you all in Congress would be acting on it now. You do not have collective bargaining, other than postal service workers, for the vast majority of public employees who work for the federal government for wages and for benefits. If it’s a fundamental right why aren’t you debating it right here and now. It’s a government entitlement. Collective bargaining is important for the private sector, for the examples we’ve heard about the impacts it’s had on families and legacies. Private sector unions are my partners in economic development, I work with them and I hope to work with our public employees. But collective bargaining itself is not a fundamental right, rights come from the Constitution and no where in the Constitution is that clearly defined.” According to ScottWalker.org, “In Milwaukee County alone, because the union collectively bargained for paid time off, fourteen employees receive salary and benefits for doing union business. Of the fourteen, three are on full-time release for union business. Milwaukee County spent over $170,000 in salary alone for these employees to only participate in union activities such as collective bargaining.”
Many teachers feel the law is a personal attack against unions and education alike. But Walker isn’t against paying higher teacher salaries is the system were based on merit. “If we could set up a system where we rewarded based on performance and merit, I’d even be willing to pay more, but we don’t have that system currently, we have one solely based on seniority,” he said. And while unions have worked hard to promote disapproval of Walker’s bill, the majority of the state’s citizens support his decision. A poll sponsored by WisconsinReporter.com found that 71% of Wisconsin residents believe that Walker’s call for unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6% is fair. “Given the choice to reduce teacher pensions and salaries or cut sports and extra-curricular programs for students, 44% would reduce the pensions and only 34% would cut sports and extra-curricular programs. . . the poll also showed a perceived discrepancy between benefits for public and private sector employees, with 69% believing that government workers in their community have better benefits than private sector workers.” Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity is a national nonprofit journalism organization that operates WisconsinReporter.com. “This poll shows that a majority of the people in Wisconsin are standing behind aspects of Governor Walker’s budget reform proposal. Wisconsin Reporter has been on the ground floor of this story reporting from the Capitol since the budget battle began. This poll reiterates the opinions and comments that the reporting team at Wisconsin Reporter are hearing while capturing the breaking news from Madison,” said Franklin Center President Jason Stverak.
Governor Walker’s efforts to improve the state economy have not been in vain. “Wisconsin has added 26,400 private-sector jobs, including 13,100 manufacturing jobs, since Governor Walker declared Wisconsin open for business. Overall, the labor force is growing, with more people working and more people looking for work. We are on pace to meet Governor Walker’s goal of 250,000 jobs by 2015, and there is much more work to be done to get more Wisconsinites trained and in family-sustaining jobs,” Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Scott Baumbach announced this week. According to the DWD, Wisconsin gained 3,000 jobs in April alone, while reporting the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 7.3 percent, down from 7.4 percent in March and 8.8 percent in April 2010.”A recent survey of ‘Best & Worst States’ conducted by Chief Executive magazine showed Wisconsin jumping an incredible 17 spots higher in the past year, from No. 41 to No. 24,” HumanEvents.com reported.
In a Chicago Tribune op-ed piece, Walker was proud to make an unprecedented announcement: “Wisconsin is open for business.”
Short URL: http://uselectionnews.org/?p=4218
Posted by Amelia Rufer on Jun 30 2011. Filed under U.S. News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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