WI-SEN

Wis. GOP Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald Running For Senate

Eric Kleefeld | August 30, 2011, 10:25AM

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R)

Another Republican has thrown his hat into the ring for the Wisconsin Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl. And the latest candidate has a big name: State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald -- who along with his brother, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and Gov. Scott Walker, has been instrumental in passing the anti-public employee union legislation that sparked the wave of protests, recall elections, and other big controversies in Wisconsin.

Fitzgerald confirmed his candidacy to the Wausau Daily Herald on Monday:

He said he would apply his experience in the Wisconsin Legislature to the Senate.

"We have the same problems here (in Wisconsin) as we have in D.C.," he said, citing excessive taxation as an example. He said the national debt must be brought under control and that "we need to start making stuff in this country."

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Wisconsin

Wis GOP Prepared To Reintroduce Collective Bargaining Bill In Budget Negotiations

Eric Kleefeld | June 14, 2011, 5:45AM

Wisconsin GOP leaders are gearing up to pass the state's controversial anti-union law again, after it was struck down in court thanks to the way it was passed. Or to be exact, they are now declaring that could pass it in the state budget process beginning Tuesday -- if the state Supreme Court doesn't rule in their favor and restore the law first.

If such a vote were taken, it would likely have two main effects: 1) Shutting off the current litigation that has revolved around the procedural manner under which the law was passed the first time; and 2) Provide a new political kickoff for the wave of state Senate recalls throughout the state.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports:

"If need be, we are going to have to pass collective bargaining again because it is such an integral part of not having those services slashed and those people laid off," Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said of the provisions, currently held up in court.

Fitzgerald said he expects the state Assembly to take up the two-year budget plan in an extraordinary session and may add collective bargaining as a floor amendment as soon as Tuesday afternoon.

He said lawmakers would only do so if the Wisconsin Supreme Court does not act by Tuesday afternoon. The court last week heard oral arguments on whether a legislative conference committee violated the state's open meetings law when it rushed passage of the provision in March.

"I'm an optimist. I still think they might rule yet," Fitzgerald said. "They still have some time,"

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republicans Threaten End Run Around Courts If They Block Union Busting Law

Brian Beutler | May 4, 2011, 6:09PM

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R) and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R)

The top two Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature say they'll make an end run around the judicial branch in early June if the courts haven't ruled on the legality of the anti-union law that put the state in the headlines earlier this year.

From the La Crosse Tribune:

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald both told The Associated Press that it would make the most sense for the committee to add the language into the budget before it comes up for debate before the full Legislature.

However, both Fitzgeralds are hoping the courts rule that the bill passed in March is legal and can take effect so further legislative action isn't necessary. The state Supreme Court has been asked to take the case, but it has not said if it will. Two lawsuits are pending in circuit court.

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Wisconsin

'FitzWalkerstan': The Republican Brothers And The Wisconsin Showdown

Eric Lach | March 12, 2011, 12:45PM

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R) and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R)

Before last year, it had been more than 70 years since a political party in Wisconsin took over both the State Senate and the State Assembly in the same election. That rare event produced an even rarer one: siblings at the helm of both chambers.

"I'm ready for it," Wisconsin State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R) told The New York Times in November, shortly after he and his younger brother, State Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R), were chosen to be State Senate Majority Leader and State Assembly Speaker, respectively. "If we don't ruffle feathers this time, I think people are going to say we're not doing what we said we would do."

By that measure, Fitzgerald can rest easy. Gov. Scott Walker (R) has pushed through his controversial measure to strip most state employees of their collective bargaining rights, and feathers have been ruffled. Thousands have protested. Democratic State Senators left the state. Madison was compared to Cairo, and Capitol security to palace guards. And the Fitzgeralds have been at the center of all of it.

"Welcome to FitzWalkerstan," State Rep. Mark Pocan (D) wrote on his blog on Thursday.

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