Money & Politics

'Capitol Chaos' Revisited in New Film, Book

Documentary "Citizen Koch" and book by Journal Sentinel reporters have differing takes on 2011 battle between unions and Gov. Scott Walker.

As the dust settles on the epic battles over union rights for public workers in Wisconsin, two new major works aim to put these events into perspective.  The first is “Citizen Koch,” a documentary by award-winning filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. It aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Wisconsin Film Festival this month.  The second is “More Than They Bargained For,” a book by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, published by the University of Wisconsin Press.  Both recount how newly elected Gov. Scott Walker in February 2011 “dropped the bomb” (his words) regarding his plan to largely end the collective bargaining rights of most state and local public employees. “Citizen Koch” frames …

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Walker

10:33 am on Wednesday, May 1, 2013

They are afraid to leave their bubble.   more ›

Appeals Court Asks Wisconsin Supreme Court To Take Act 10 Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by unions representing Madison teachers and city of Milwaukee employees over the state's collective bargaining law may be headed to the State Supreme Court.

A state appeals court is urging the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to take on an Act 10 lawsuit filed by two unions, which challenged the constitutionality of the collective bargaining limitations Gov. Scot Walker imposed on almost all public unions in 2010. The Supreme Court could take the case without waiting for an Appeals Court decision, but whether is does so is at the high court's discretion. If the Supreme Court doesn’t take the case, then the Appeals Court would need to take it. A certification filed by a panel of three judges from the 4th District Court of Appeals, asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case because “a number of public unions have filed suits against municipalities over Act 10 provisions, which have left …

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Ed Holladay

8:47 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013

$$, lol. No, I am not receiving any entitlements. I take it you disagree about putting the pension to use for venture capital. You may have a good point though. Maybe we should take a third of SSI and use that as seed money for new industry. We have to do something to save capitalism.   more ›

Wisconsin Appeals Court Refuses to Put Act 10 Ruling on Hold

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had asked appeals court to stay a rule by a Dane County judge that said parts of the collective-bargaining law are unconstitutional.

A Wisconsin appeals court Tuesday refused to put a hold on a judge's decision repealing major parts of Act 10, the law that ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in September had asked the 4th District Court of Appeals to stay the ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas that portions of the law were unconsitutional. Van Hollen wanted to stay the decision while the case was being appealed. Colas refused in October to do so, and the state appeals court on Tuesday upheld that decision, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The appeals court said it saw "no basis to set aside the circuit court's decision that a stay was not warranted," the State Journal reported. Today’s ruling likely …

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Fred Fischer

8:59 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Lots of emotions here. I would think there's more of an advantage to not collectively bargain. That way the best producers will be rewarded adequately and not be dragged down by the weak and/or lazy. Also, I don't think anyone should be forced to join a union.   more ›

Collective Bargaining Law Upheld by Federal Appeals Court

Act 10, which essentially stripped public unions of their ability to bargain, was ruled constitutional on Friday in a federal appeals court.

The controversial state law that curtails collective bargaining for most public employees was upheld by a federal appeals court Friday. In ruling that Act 10 is constitutional, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said the state had a rational reason for rolling back collective bargaining rights, and rejected arguments from public employees unions that they violated First Amendment rights, WisPolitics.com reported. The court overturned a decision by a federal judge last year that struck down parts of the law dealing with prohibitions on government employers withholding union dues from workers' payrolls and a section requiring labor unions to vote to re-certify yearly, the Journal Sentinel reported. A separate case challenging the law remains …

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John Wilson

8:51 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013

Keith Best - You would also get on with the NEW BIOLOGY/SCIENCE PROGRAM OF WALKER TOO; you know, where our children are taught that babies are delivered to your house by the stork! You do not have a CHOICE there, but you BELIEVE that is how babies come into the world, so, no problem there...   more ›

UPDATED: Nicolet Superintendent Surprises Board With Retirement Announcement

Dr. Rick Monroe served as head of the Nicolet School District since 2007.

Nicolet High School District Superintendent Rick Monroe, who surprised the community Tuesday by announcing his retirement, told Patch in an afternoon interview that the decision was based on an “accumulation” of factors and largely was a lifestyle choice because he wants more time for other pursuits. Those pursuits include his volunteer work for St. Vincent De Paul – he said that he and his wife visited three people who needed assistance last weekend alone – and his desire to spend more time in New York visiting his adult children, playing piano, and being involved in church. “To me, this hasn’t been a job or career. It’s been a lifestyle,” he said – a lifestyle that means he is stopped by people while “buying paint at Home Depot” and that…

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Act 10 Saves Nicolet $418,000 in Benefit Costs

New report says the Nicolet Unified High School District has seen big savings from Act 10, as has Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District. However, Fox Point-Bayside didn't benefit nearly as much.

The controversial state law that eliminated most collective bargaining rights for school employees reduced benefit costs for Nicolet High School District by $418,000 last school year, according to a report released Monday. However, Fox Point-Bayside saw a $57,000 increase in benefit costs. The bulk of the savings for Nicolet came from reductions in the district's share of employee retirement costs, the report by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance said. In the 2010-11 school year, Nicolet paid $567,629 toward the employee share of pension costs for workers; in 2011-12, that dropped to about $37,043, a 93.5 percent reduction, the report said. But the district paid 5.1 percent more in 2011-12 for health insurance costs for a total of $2.3 …

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Whitefish Bay Professor Running Write-in Campaign Against Alberta Darling

The state senator of the 8th District, Darling survived contentious recall a year ago and her only challenge on Nov. 6 is Beth Lueck, a UW-Whitewater professor running a write-in campaign.

A Whitefish Bay professor has launched a last-minute write-in campaign against state Sen. Alberta Darling that has picked up some momentum. Beth Lueck, an English professor at UW-Whitewater, said she believes voters deserve a choice in the 8th Senate District. Supporters have been publicizing the effort on social media and blogs. The state Democratic Party is also pushing the write-in candidacy. However, Darling told Patch that voters' choices should be educated ones. She said that voters have even less of a reason to not re-elect her than they did in the high-profile recall election she survived because Act 10’s reforms are becoming apparent. “Act 10, daily, there are positive results,” she said. “In terms of taxes, municipalities are …

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Would You Accept a Tax Increase to Pay For More Police Protection?

There's a strong and growing sentiment to restrain government spending, but is public safety an area that would be an exception?

Holding the line on government spending is a mantra that propelled Scott Walker to a victory — and subsequent title defense — in the Wisconsin governor’s race. His much-debated Act 10 exempted police and firefighters from the financial squeeze, but it doesn’t mean police — and the communities they serve — aren’t feeling the pinch in other ways. The FBI recommends 2 officers for every 1,000 residents in a community. According to 2009 data, Milwaukee had twice that number, with 2,403 officers for just more than 600,000 residents. Other communities varied widely, with some at the threshold and Caledonia an example of a community well under. While every community is different, would you be willing to consider a property tax increase to beef up…

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Village53108

1:00 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012

@joseph...you obviously missed the point. What do those cases have to do with people bad mouthing police? But since you asked, I will address your question. The cases you listed above clearly state that police have no legal authority to protect individuals. If I stop there it would appear your point is valid. The problem, and where your point is flawed, is that the Supreme Court didn't stop there…   more ›

Our Society Values Football more than Schools — Pathetic

The NFL calls back the Union Refs to work, agreeing to a pay level north of $150,000 per year. Meanwhile, many of the same folks who are ready to boycott the NFL do not blink an eye, when school districts lose experienced teachers to Act 10.

Gov. Walker: Judge's Ruling on Act 10 'Fundamentally Flawed'

Gov. Scott Walker talks about the Dane County judge's ruling on the state's collective bargaining law during this week's radio address.

The state partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week.  Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses.  To download an mp3 file, you can right click the radio address link and click “save link as.” Hi, this is Scott Walker. As you may have heard, recently, a Dane County judge in Madison issued a ruling that struck down key provisions of the budget reforms enacted late last year.  We are confident this ruling will be overturned because Act 10 is constitutional.  This would not be the first time a Dane County judge's decision on Act 10 was held to be wrong by a …

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Geoff Tolley

6:51 pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2012

No. Some of the most significant biennial increases, over all funds base allocations: - the DoA got $314m (17%) more funding - the Department of Health services got $1,835m (11%) more (this is on an all funds basis, so this is the increase in excess of the replaced stimulus dollars). - Program Supplements was $77m higher (225%) - to be fair this value tends to swing wildly from year to year. - …   more ›