When the Gavel Drops


By Java1, Section Opinions
Posted on Mon May 01, 2006 at 08:20:56 PM CST

As the gavel calls the house to order, the speaker announces, "The hour of 10:00 having arrived the state assembly is now in session".  Visitors in the gallery check their watches and in reality it is 1:30PM.  That's how the body operates.  The assembly calendar says the business begins at 10:00 so it is 10:00 no matter what the rest of the state thinks.  Members of the state assembly get used to this legislative time.  The people in the gallery just wonder what's up.

When in the state legislature, there are only two times that matter, legislative time and campaign time.  Time is winding down on the legislative clock and the campaign clock is beginning to tick.  This is the time when legislators make the shift from public policy to reelection policy.

Take for example Representive Jeff Wood's, R-Chippewa Falls, last minute attempt to amend the state constitution.

More details in Full Story...

Representive Jeff Wood, R-Chippewa Falls, drafts yet another version of the so-called taxpayer bill of rights and within hours holds a committee hearing.  Members of his own party complain that the 2000 word constitutional amendment is too complicated.  But it passes the committee he chairs anyway and we now face the prospect of tax policy being incorporated into the state constitution.

Tax policy is not an easy topic.  It never has been.  But placing it in our state constitution is not an appropriate way of dealing with the issue. Doing so will not change a tax system that is not fair.  And if our tax system is not fair, fix it.

Yes, the legislative clock is winding down and the campaign clock is ticking.    The ugly reality is some legislators are willing to use our constitution for personal political gain.

Joe Plouff

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When the Gavel Drops | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
from Guy Wolf in LaX (none / 0) (#1)
by borges on Tue May 02, 2006 at 06:52:49 AM CST
WE NEED YOUR HELP TOMORROW......PLEASE CALL!!
(CHECK OUT OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS BELOW)

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!!

Last week, over 500 of you took action by making calls, sending letters, signing postcards and letting your state representatives know that ANY form of TABOR has no business in our constitution - you made all the difference. The first TABOR vote was overwhelming defeated. The final TABOR compromise was passed in a private back room Assembly caucus while the public slept, and even then by only one vote.

Now TABOR moves to the Senate for a vote on Wednesday, May 3 - together, with your continued help, we can stop it there.

TABOR, otherwise known as the Taxpayer "Protection" Amendment (TPA), will constrict the state and local government's ability to provide needed services. Funding for our K-12 schools, crime labs, technical college and UW systems and unemployment services will dwindle to the point of crisis. TABOR's formula is flawed, and is unable to account for the spiraling inflation of energy and healthcare costs. And because it will be cemented into our constitution, it will be very hard to change.

We must stop it now.

Please contact your state senator TODAY, and tell him or her to oppose TPA. Fiscal policy does not belong in our constitution.

What can you do?    

  1. Call your State Senator TODAY, and tell them to oppose any version of TPA. The toll-free NO-TABOR hotline is 1-800-844-2847. If you ever considered calling, make sure you call TODAY! A sample script is below.

  2. Send an Email opposing this Amendment:

                + Click Here for the "Who Are My Legislators" website at http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/
                + Type your home address into the box.  Press enter.
                + Click on the Email Legislator link.
                + Cut, paste and edit the script below, and add your home address.

3. Watch the online video on why TABOR failed in Colorado, and why it will fail here. Visit http://www.cbpp.org/taborvideo.htm to view this 10 minute video.

You've already made a tremendous impact on the Assembly - together we can make sure the Senate hears our message loud and clear - TPA is bad for Wisconsin. Every call and email counts!

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Dear Senator XX,

Please oppose any form of TPA.  Our state constitution is not the proper place for rigid budget formulas.  This gimmick simply shifts the funding burden unto local governments, ignores the real problems facing our future, and avoids making hard choices on spending issues.  TABOR was a failed experiment in Colorado, and we don't need to repeat the mistake here in Wisconsin.

Sincerely,
(Please put your name and address here)

The assembly vote (none / 0) (#2)
by borges on Tue May 02, 2006 at 12:14:22 PM CST
This is how the assembly vote went:

Y AINSWORTH R
Y ALBERS R
N BALLWEG R
N BENEDICT D
N BERCEAU D
Y BIES R
N BLACK D
N BOYLE D
N COLON D
N CULLEN D
Y DAVIS R
N FIELDS D
Y FITZGERALD R
Y FREESE R
Y FRISKE R
Y GIELOW R
Y GOTTLIEB R
N GRIGSBY D
N GRONEMUS D
Y GUNDERSON R
Y GUNDRUM R
Y HAHN R
N HEBL D
Y HINES R
Y HONADEL R
N HUBLER D
Y HUEBSCH R
Y HUNDERTMARK R
Y JESKEWITZ R
Y KAUFERT R
Y KERKMAN R
N KESSLER D
Y KESTELL R
Y KLEEFISCH R
Y KRAWCZYK R
N KREIBICH R
N KREUSER D
N KRUSICK D
Y LAMB R
N LASEE R
N LEHMAN D
Y LEMAHIEU R
Y LOEFFELHOLZ R
Y LOTHIAN R
N MCCORMICK R
Y MEYER R
N MOLEPSKE D
Y MONTGOMERY R
Y MOULTON R
Y MURSAU R
Y MUSSER R
N NASS R
N NELSON D
N NERISON R
Y NEWCOMER R
Y NISCHKE R
N OTT R
Y OWENS R
N PARISI D
N PETROWSKI R
Y PETTIS R
N POCAN D
N POPE−ROBERTS D
Y PRIDEMORE R
Y RHOADES R
N RICHARDS D
N SCHNEIDER D
N SEIDEL D
N SHERIDAN D
N SHERMAN D
N SHILLING D
N SINICKI D
N STASKUNAS D
N STEINBRINK D
Y STONE R
Y STRACHOTA R
Y SUDER R
N TOLES D
Y TOWNS R
Y TOWNSEND R
N TRAVIS D
N TURNER D
Y UNDERHEIM R
N VAN AKKEREN D
Y VAN ROY R
Y VOS R
N VRUWINK D
N VUKMIR R
Y WARD R
N WASSERMAN D
Y WIECKERT R
N WILLIAMS, A. D
Y WILLIAMS, M. R
Y WOOD R
N YOUNG D
N ZEPNICK D
N ZIEGELBAUER D
Y SPEAKER R

Senate Results (none / 0) (#4)
by borges on Mon May 08, 2006 at 04:32:28 PM CST
By now I suspect we have all heard that on the evening of May 4, 2006 the Wisconsin State Senate, on a vote of 11-21, defeated Senate Joint Resolution 63 (referred to as the Taxpayer Protection Amendment).  A listing of the votes in favor and against can be found at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/votes/sv0672.pdf.

The real work of addressing our state's tax problem yet remains to be tackled.

Wisconsin has excellent services created at both the state and local levels of government.  Local government, and ultimately the property taxpayers, must supplement state revenues as local units of government deliver much needed and worthwhile state services.  Yet our antiquated system of taxation remains inconsistent with our new millennium service-based economy resulting in a notable lack of linkage between the cost of services and the citizens' ability to pay.  To be certain, SJR 63 would have memorialized this inconsistency in our constitution and placed Wisconsin's future generations in an extremely difficult fiscal position.  Nonetheless, our system of taxation requires review, careful contemplation, and thoughtful change.  Such an endeavor will, without question, get more to the source of our state's revenue and expenditure problem.  SJR 63 would have addressed a symptom of our problem, not the problem itself.

Our state policy makers, to their credit, saw this and decided to set SJR 63 aside.  But let there be no mistake, much work needs to be done.  The defeat of SJR 63 is not an end but rather an opportunity for a beginning as we examine the very real problem of revenues, expenditures, and who pays.

Mark D. O'Connell

Executive Director

Wisconsin Counties Association

When the Gavel Drops | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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