Wisconsin

After Months-Long Battle, Wis. Anti-Union Law Officially Takes Effect

Eric Kleefeld | June 29, 2011, 5:50AM

Demonstrators outside the Wisconsin state Capitol, March 12, 2011.

Today is a big day in Wisconsin, which has been rocked by protests, legislative boycotts, ongoing recall elections, litigation and some associated chicanery, and possibly even a physical altercation at the state Supreme Court, centered around Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. After all of that...the law is now finally set to kick into effect.

Two weeks ago, when the state Supreme Court upheld the law by a 4-3 margin, against a lawsuit challenging a procedure used to pass it, it then fell to Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a Democrat, to formally publish the act in the Wisconsin State Journal, which acts as the state's official newspaper for the purpose of giving the public official notice of new laws. This is normally to take place 10 business days after passage -- though Republicans insisted it should happen immediately, after it was bottled up for three months in litigation. But instead, La Follette declared a new 10-day period, and the act is taking effect today.

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Wisconsin

Walker Scrubs Budget Signing Ceremony At Tax Cheat's Business

Eric Kleefeld | June 24, 2011, 3:03PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) office has quickly sought out a new public venue for his budget signing ceremony this Sunday -- after it was reported that the Green Bay business originally selected was in fact headed up by a convicted tax felon. D'oh!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Walker aide Cullen Werwie said his office would be announcing a new location soon for the budget ceremony on Sunday.

Werwie acknowledged that Walker's advance team had erred by not conducting a thorough background check on Gregory A. DeCaster, chief executive officer of Badger Sheet Metal Works in Ashwaubenon.

DeCaster was convicted of six felony counts of income tax evasion in the mid-1990s and was sentenced to three months behind bars. He was also fined $10,000 and given two years of supervised release.

"It was something we wish we would have known on the front end," Werwie said.

He said officials decided to change locations because they believed DeCaster's past tax problems would serve as too much of a distraction. The new location will likely be in the Green Bay area, he said.

Jessica Arp with the local CBS affiliate in Madison reports that Walker's office has now selected Fox Valley Metal-Tech, also in Green Bay.

Wisconsin State Legislature

Walker Won On Anti-Union Law -- What Now?

Eric Kleefeld | June 16, 2011, 5:45AM

Wisconsin Republicans won big this week, with their newly-passed law curtailing public employee unions overcoming a court challenge brought on the procedures used to pass it. Now that months of wrangling over its passage are behind us, what will the law's impact actually be?

As readers might recall, the law was passed in the name of fiscal austerity, requiring public employees to make greater contributions to their health care and pensions. But much more than that, it has removed most collective bargaining rights for public employees, exempting only police and firefighters. It also now requires public employee unions to win certification elections every year, with 50%-plus-one support of all eligible voting employees (not just those participating in the election), and bars automatic collection of union dues from employees' paychecks. So overall, it is a powerful tool for the Walker administration to break the unions.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Supreme Court Reinstates Union-Busting Bill

Eric Kleefeld | June 14, 2011, 6:29PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has now ruled against a challenge to Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation, which had been mounted against the law based on the procedures used to pass it.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

The court found a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state's open meetings law, and so did not violate that law when they hastily approved the measure and made it possible for the Senate to take it up. In doing so, the Supreme Court overruled a Dane County judge who had struck down the legislation, ending one challenge to the law even as new challenges are likely to emerge.

The full opinion can be read here. As a very quick review shows, the court's 4-3 conservative majority eviscerated Dane County (Madison) Judge Maryann Sumi, who had blocked the law: "This court has granted the petition for an original action because one of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature."

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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 Protests

Feingold Addresses Anti-Walker Protesters: 'We Will Not Stop Until We Win'

Eric Kleefeld | June 13, 2011, 10:17AM

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), June 12, 2011.

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who was defeated for re-election in the 2010 Republican wave after three terms, has now begun to re-emerge into the public eye -- taking part in the protests against Republican Gov. Scott Walker that have been going on pretty much non-stop for the last few months at the state Capitol.

Earlier this month, the protests took their newest form with a tent city around the Capitol, dubbed "Walkerville" as a word-play on how shantytowns became known during the Great Depression as "Hoovervilles." As the Wisconsin State Journal reports, Feingold spoke on Sunday at a Walkerville event:

"Why are we in a place called Walkerville today?" he asked the energized crowd at the corner of State and West Mifflin streets, amid the tent village that sprang up earlier this month to protest the state budget bill and will remain through June 20 while lawmakers debate the bill.

"Because we will not stop until we win."

Feingold, who lost his seat in November to Oshkosh businessman Ron Johnson, outlined necessary actions for the near future: taking back the majority in the state Senate and Assembly, and -- drawing big applause -- defeating Gov. Scott Walker, who he called a tool of the Republican party.

During the speech, chants of "run, Russ, run," could be heard, but Feingold didn't mention his own political future.

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Scott Walker

Orrin Hatch: Wisconsin Gov. Walker "Did A Great Job"

Igor Bobic | June 7, 2011, 6:45PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stopped by the Hill today to discuss his accomplishments with Senate Republicans, seeking to garner support for the embattled state senators facing recall petitions in the aftermath of a vote to seriously curtail public employee bargaining rights.

"He was trying to buoy us up a little bit ... basically to fill us in on on some of the travails that [he's] had," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in response to a question from TPM shortly after a weekly GOP policy lunch that hosted the governor.

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Wisconsin

Feingold On Senate Or Gov Bid: 'I'm Looking At It'

Eric Kleefeld | June 2, 2011, 12:47PM

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who was defeated for re-election after three terms in the 2010 Republican wave, now says he is considering a possible comeback bid for the state's other Senate seat, from which Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl is retiring in 2012.

"I am looking at it, but I feel I should take some time to think this through," Feingold told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "For me the question right now is whether it's a good idea for me to go back into this sort of life."

Feingold said he would decide by Labor Day.

A recent survey from Public Policy Polling (D) found that Feingold would likely have a solid lock on the Democratic nomination, giving him a lead of 70%-12% over Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who is also considering a run. (Without Feingold in the race, Baldwin would start out with a plurality over a field of several other Democrats.)

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