FACTS about Governor Scott Walker’s reforms

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• A local paper quoted a women stating that because she lost her job in 2011, Walker was to blame and that he was a liar for saying that jobs were created in 2011.
• A T.V. commercial shows a sad-looking elderly women saying that Walker was going to rob seniors of their most important benefits. She does not elaborate.
• Some Internet sites actually claim that Walker alone created the deficit that he has overturned, again they do not say how.

As the time approaches for the actual recall election, some sources claim that there will be 60 to 70 million dollars spent on advertisements by the unions, some without factual merit, but ones that will tug at the heartstrings of people who are gullible, but vote nonetheless. The union is not going to stand for  someone infringing on their power and will spend massive amounts of member dues to pay for these advertisements. What bothers me the most is the division of the citizens of our state. You can see “Recall Walker” signs down almost every street in the city of Appleton, but very few that support Walker. Why? Because if you side with Walker, you’re a teacher-hater, unappreciative of our law enforcement officers, and fire-fighters.  Of course that is not the case. Most people who I have talked with side with Walker because they are pleased with his economic policies and say that he keeps his promises. At a time when our country is in such dire financial straits, we need someone who does the responsible thing, even though it may be unpopular with some groups. My neighbor told me that she didn’t want to put a “Pro-Walker” sign up in her yard because she didn’t want to start trouble with her neighbors. My fear is that the “Recall Walker” campaign has turned into a modern-day witch-hunt, with people jumping into the fray to condemn Walker without knowing the facts. My hope is that each and every citizen will make an informed vote based on facts.

What follows is the culmination of my findings:

Walker has been unwavering in one of the most controversial fights against the public Unions. Despite fierce opposition from these Unions,  he passed a law limiting collective bargaining. Walker also has managed to make our state’s environment conducive for job growth by enacting business tax reforms that will save Wisconsin’s job creators over $130 million a year. He balanced our state budget with no tax increases, and turned a $3.6 billion deficit into a $300 million surplus, again without raising taxes, or employee lay-offs. He also instituted the first permanent property tax cap in our state’s history.  He has seen to it that votes are protected by requiring a picture I.D at the polls. He expanded school choice and paid back $200 million from Governor Doyle’s unconstitutional raid of the Patients Compensation Fund. He also instituted the Castle Doctrine that expands protections for homeowners and passed the Concealed Carry Law. Detailed findings are as follows:

#1
Governor Scott Walker’s budget turned a $3.6 billion state deficit into a surplus.
Wisconsin was facing one of the largest deficits in state history. Governor Walker’s budget projects a surplus for the first time in over 15 years (i).
* Includes outstanding debts, agency budget requests, and other shortfalls. See #13.

#2
For the first time in six years, school tax levies are down.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the total K-12 tax levy decreased by more than $47 million for the 2011-2012 school year, following reforms.
For five years prior to Governor Walker’s reforms, the statewide average school levy tax increased $220 million per year (ii) for a total of $1.1 BILLION dollars.

#3
Without reforms, homeowners would have paid hundreds of dollars more in property taxes this year.
With Governor Walker’s reforms, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the typical homeowner will save $419 over the next two years (iii). When you include additional reforms, the savings rise to $710.

#4
Governor Walker’s budget protects health care coverage for seniors and the neediest families in the state.
Due to the loss of one-time federal stimulus funds and unsustainable program expansions Governor Walker faced a projected $1.8 billion deficit in the state’s Medicaid budget (iv).
Governor Walker’s budget protected seniors and the neediest families by investing $1.2 billion in new state funds for Medicaid. This was by far the largest one-time investment of state funds into Medicaid.
Facing a huge state deficit, Governor Walker’s budget protects SeniorCare, FamilyCare, and the disabled by not dropping seniors or disabled individuals from coverage.

#5
The Governor’s reforms helped balance the budget while still offering employees a generous pension plan.
Prior to the Governor’s reforms, state employees paid little or nothing to be part of the Wisconsin Retirement System (pension) plan (xi). Payments to public employee pensions neared $1.5 billion in 2010(v). Of that amount, public employees contributed $12 million.
The Governor’s reforms require most state employees to pay approximately half of their pension contribution – or 5.8%. (Some employees, including the Governor, pay more.)
According to a report by the Wisconsin Policy Institute: (vi)
• Only 51% of private sector employees participate in a retirement plan.
• On average, private sector employers contribute 5.3% of payroll (matched by employee) for retirement plans. Before reforms, contributions to the state WRS plan were about 12%.
By comparison, retirement benefits for state employees are much more generous than those offered in the private sector.
• According to the Wisconsin Policy Institute report, a 25-year state employee earning $48,000/year will have the same estimated retirement income as a private sector employee earning $70,000/year.
• General state employees with 30 years of service can retire as early as age 57 with full pension benefits. Only 6% of private sector employers offer early retirement benefits.
A recent Taxpayer Alliance study projected that even with higher pension contributions, Wisconsin teacher benefits will be 20% higher than the national average (vii).

#6
The Governor’s reforms improve education in the state, particularly in the districts utilizing the tools that are now available to them.
According to a survey by the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators released by DPI:
• New teacher hires outnumber layoffs and non-renewals by 1,799 positions (viii).
• The three districts with the most teacher layoffs (Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Janesville) didn’t adopt the reforms put in place by Governor Walker. Those districts account for 68% of teacher layoffs for the entire state, but only contain 12.8% of Wisconsin students (ix).
• 75% of districts have the same K-3 class sizes or are decreasing them
• 67% of districts have the same 4-6 grade class sizes or are decreasing them
• 78% of districts are keeping student fees the same or decreasing them
• 92% of districts are keeping sports programs the same or expanding them

#7
With reforms, Wisconsin’s teacher to student ratio in the classroom remains low.
According to information from the National Center for Education Statistics, the teacher to pupil ratio in Wisconsin public schools continues to be lower than the projected national average (x).
Teacher to pupil ratio:
13.3 to 11 – 2011-12 Wisconsin
15.6 to 1 – 2010-11 National
1 872,286 pupils/65,400.5 teachers – Using the most recent WI DPI enrollment data and teacher staffing level survey data.

#8
The Governor’s reforms end abusive overtime practices.
According to the Legislative Audit Bureau, state agency overtime totaled $57.1 million in 2010. Governor Walker’s reforms end overtime abuse originally facilitated in a collective bargaining agreement in 1975 (xi).
For example, the Department of Corrections allowed correctional workers who call in sick to collect overtime if they work a shift on the exact same day.
Cost to taxpayers – $4.8 million in 2010 alone.
This benefit was previously protected by union contract.

#9
The Governor’s reforms allow school districts and municipalities to manage staffing based on merit and performance.
Previously, under union contracts, school districts and municipalities were required to arbitrarily layoff the newest employees first. Also, pay increases were dictated by years of service and level of schooling, not on an employee’s performance.
In cases where school leaders deem termination necessary, they can now expedite the process without lengthy, expensive arbitration and legal fees.
For example, the Middleton-Cross Plains District has spent more than $400,000 trying to terminate a teacher after an investigation revealed 23 documented instances involving school emails that contained inappropriate material. The $400,000 bill for arbitration and legal costs is paid for out of the schools operating budget.
State and local government employees continue to be protected by numerous state and federal employment laws.

#10
The Governor’s reforms allow school district officials to make budget decisions and set work rules based on what’s best for education.
Staff salaries and compensation make up the bulk of school budgets (approximately 75%). When that was untouchable due to union contracts, districts facing shortfalls were forced to cut from the remaining fraction of the budget (programs, supplies) or lay off staff.
School leaders may now consider changes in benefit packages and other options to keep teachers on the job and save taxpayer money.
For example, after reforms in the Fond du Lac District, school leaders decided teachers would eight hours per day instead of seven.
In Brown Deer, teachers now teach six of eight classes instead of five.
In Kaukauna, teachers are now required to work eight hours per day instead of 7.5.
Kaukauna School officials estimate staffing flexibilities will save the district $575,000 this year.

#11
Under the Governor’s reforms, the single option to change health insurance providers has already saved school districts tens of millions of dollars so far.
Many school union contracts dictated which company provides its employee’s health insurance coverage. This prevented districts from shopping around to save costs. Introducing competition into the process means lower costs, sometimes even without changes to coverage, premiums and/or copays.
For example, following Governor Walker’s reforms, the Appleton School District put its policy up for bid. Due to competition, their current provider offered the same policy at a cost savings of more than $3 million.
Savings from health care providers and plan changes top $75 million so far this year.

#12
Government workers now have the option of saving more than $72 million per year in union dues (xii).
Government workers continue to have the option to be represented by a union, but it is no longer mandated by the state that they contribute union dues.

#13
In balancing the budget, Governor Walker paid off more than $800 million of debt left from the previous administration (xiii).
The debt Walker’s Administration inherited, and paid off includes:
• $235 million to the state’s Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund as a result of an unconstitutional raid by a previous Legislature
• $176.5 million Medicaid shortfall
• $58.7 million to Minnesota for income tax collected from Wisconsin residents who work in Minnesota (Accruing interest – $4,584/day)
• $20 million to the state Department of Corrections
• $341.8 million in lapses leftover by the previous administration
Total $831.7 million

#14
Smart government spending leads to job creation.
In the three years prior to Governor Walker taking office, Wisconsin lost 150,000 jobs. In 2011, the state has GAINED 16,000 jobs so far.
Business owners say a fiscally responsible government and business-friendly state leaders give them the confidence they need to expand, grow, and hire. Wisconsin jumped 17 spots from 2010 to 2011 in Chief Executive Magazine for best states to do business in (xiv).

The Unions

The union in my estimation, has every reason to be upset by Governor Walker’s policies. For too many years the unions have acted greedily with taxpayer money and now they have evolved into something other than a vehicle to protect the workforce. In the past, workers were subjected to all types of mistreatment and unfair work practices. Private unions were formed for the blue collar industrial worker so they would have a safe working environment, fair pay, regular days of rest, and so on; however, times have changed. Today, workers have many different outlets for their greivences and they also have plenty of government agencies that are already funded to help protect their rights. The powerful public unions of today represent a vastly different slice of America and have become all too powerful.

Joe Klein, editor of Time magazine, made this distinction:

     “Public employee unions are an interesting hybrid. Industrial unions are organized against the might and greed of ownership. Public employee unions are organized against the might and greed…of the public?”

Private companies have profits that can be used to negotiate wages and benefits with their union. Public unions are negotiating for taxpayer money. This money is not limitless. How many voters know that their hard earned tax money is going to fund these lucrative benefits?

When it comes to advancing their interests, public sector unions have significant advantages over traditional unions. Using political process, they can exert far greater influence over their members’ employers. This means that public unions actually help elect the politicians who act as management in their contract negotiations.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned that unionizing government employees was dangerous and would lead to corruption. He wrote in 1937 to the head of the National Federation of Federal Employees:

“Meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the government. All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations … The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for … officials … to bind the employer … The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives.”

Time magazine reported in 1973 that the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) were “teaching local unionists how to organize political rallies, telethons, and letter-writing campaigns.” Quoted AFSCME’s president, Jerry Wurf: “Before we were afraid to politicize the union and we got nowhere, so now we’re political as hell” (Time Magazine-Labor: Public Workers’ Powerhouse, Monday, May 21, 1973). As a matter of fact, the AFSCME website boasts, “All candidates across the country, at every level of government have learned to pay attention to our political muscle. We elect our bosses, so we’ve got to elect politicians who support us and hold these politicians accountable. Our jobs, wages, and working conditions are directly linked to politics.”

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the nation’s fastest growing union. At a budget hearing in 2009, an official of the union was recorded telling lawmakers to give the union what it wanted – or else. “We helped get you into office, and we got a good memory,’ she says. “Come November, if you don’t back our program, we’ll get you out of office”(YouTube SEIU Threat). SEIU was clearly appreciated by the Obama administration. SEIU spent $67 million to elect Barack Obama and other Democrats in 2008. In the first nine months following Obama’s inauguration, union president Andrew Stern visited the White House 22 times, more than any other visitor. Several top SEIU officials were appointed to posts in the new administration, including Patrick Gaspard, who became the White House political director, and Craig Becker, who was named to the National Labor Relations Board. “SEIU is on the field, it’s in the White House, it’s in the administration,” gloated Andrew Stern in a video to his members.

According to the http://www.opensecrets.org website, AFSCME is ranked third on their top ten all time political donors list along with other influential unions such as the American Federation of Teacher’s and the National Education Association.

The union maintains and defends the “right to collective bargaining.” Collective bargaining is not a right; collective bargaining is a privilege given to unions by friendly lawmakers; nothing more. In 1959 A.F.L.-C.I.O. Executive Counsel gave this advice:

“In terms of accepted collective bargaining procedures, government workers have no rights beyond the authority to petition Congress-a right available to every citizen.”

A federal district court in North Carolina put it quite powerfully in a decision upholding North Carolina’s law prohibiting public sector bargaining, saying, “All citizens have the right to associate in groups to advocate their special interests to the government. It is something entirely different to grant any one interest group special status and access to the decision-making process.” A law granting public-sector unions monopoly bargaining privileges gives a union, a special interest group, two bites at the apple. First, it uses its political clout to elect public officials. Then it negotiates with the very same officials.

When you consider that between 70 and 80 percent of all local government expenditures are personnel costs, you begin to understand the magnitude of the power such laws give unions.

Another big issue is the public unions’ ability to purchase insurance coverage through the WEA Trust, an insurance company established by and closely related with the union itself. About 64% of Wisconsin’s 426 districts carry this insurance. The few dozen districts that have managed to discontinue the WEA Trust Insurance have managed to save at least six figures their first year by choosing a different carrier, and maintained these steady rates for years, while still offering high quality health coverage. Other districts that want to withdraw from the WEA Trust insurance are having a difficult time because the Trust refuses to share claim histories with other carriers, which is necessary for these companies to formulate an accurate bid.

It is clear to me through all of the media attention lately that the unions have succeeded in bargaining for outlandish wages, benefits, and pensions for their members at the expense of the taxpayers for far too long. Many states are facing bankruptcy because of expensive pensions that the unions have negotiated and these unions must finally face the consequences of initiating these irresponsible dealings.

I do not dispute the fact that public sector workers are necessary, and that their roles in society appreciated, but we have allowed the public union to overstep its bounds by corrupting the process of bargaining for these worker’s.  After discovering what I have about the public unions, I can only hope that other states will have the courage that Governor Walker has shown in facing the unions.

Sources
(i) July 5, 2011 Legislative Fiscal Bureau Memo http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2011-13%20Budget/2011_07_05%20structural%20deficit.pdf
(ii) Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Data
(iii) July 15, 2011 Legislative Fiscal Bureau Memo
(iv) Budget in Brief http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/pdf_files/bib1113.pdf
(v) 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report by the Department of Employee Trust Funds
(vi) 2011 Legislative Fiscal Bureau Informational Paper 84 http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/Informationalpapers/2011/84_Wisconsin%20Retirement%20System.pdf
(vii) http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28
(viii) Federal Figures Show Wisconsin School Spending 5.5% Above U.S.
http://wistax.org/publication/school-update-ii-wisconsin-vs-us
(ix) http://walker.wi.gov/journal_media_detail.asp?prid=6093&locid=177
(x) http://walker.wi.gov/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=177&prid=5675
(xi) http://www.wpri.org/Reports/Volume23/Vol23No2/Vol23No2.html
(xii) http://walker.wi.gov/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=177&prid=5674

Click to access wasdasurveyresults.pdf

(xiii) http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/publications/budget/2011-13-Budget/Pages/act32.aspx
(xiv) http://walker.wi.gov/journal_media_detail.asp?prid=5809&locid=177

About Me

I was born in Wisconsin and have lived here most of my life. I am third youngest of eleven siblings, all of which now have their own families, but all still reside in Wisconsin. We choose to live here because we appreciate the fine quality of life that Wisconsin provides. I felt compelled to write about this very hot political issue because I am a concerned citizen; for myself, my friends, family, and government. My parents were both Liberal Democrats, however I believe most of my family today are either Republican or Independent voters.  I would vote for a candidate whose platform revolves around less government, fiscal responsibility, anti-abortion, and campaign reform to mention a few. At this particular time, when our federal government is experiencing an out-of-control deficit, I believe our country needs more ethical, and economically responsible politicians, whichever party they are from.