Wednesday
Apr062011
More Wisconsin Political Shenanigans!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 4:55AM
As I sit and wait for election results to come in from the various elections taking place across the state, I figured now would be a good time to continue my narrative of all the political happenings here in Madtown. I am not entirely sure where I left off, but I know a lot more has happened since my last post.
And it's been pretty intense; so much so that everything that has happened in the past couple of months has had a profound effect on today's election. The biggest issue on people's mind is the collective bargaining debate, and the actions of politicians from both sides of aisle in dealing with the budget repair bill. Many a race has become a referendum on the policies of Gov. Scott Walker. Turnout looks record breaking. Though most elections are just for local officials, it appears at least 70% of voters in the Madison area have headed to the polls. A number of towns had to keep polls open longer than 8pm to accommodate the crowds; some even ran out of ballots.
So as the waiting game begins, I'll fill you in all the happenings. Then maybe I'll give you my take on the races today, if I haven't rambled on for too long.
Ok. Well. In case you didn't know, the budget repair bill, with a ban on collective bargaining for all public workers in Wisconsin, passed the Senate, and the Assembly, and was signed by the Governor. But it isn't law yet.
Confused? Weren't the Senate Dems awol in Illinois, thus prohibiting a vote?
Well yes. But that didn't stop those Republicans. They tried everything, short of actually negotiating in good faith, to get the Senate Dems back to Madison: police, threats, withholding pay, fines, even "shock horror"- taking away the photocopying codes of Democratic staffers. With all that failing, and still refusing to negotiate, Republicans came up with a crafty solution.
In order to understand their move, I should clarify why they couldn't initially pass the bill. The ban on collective bargaining formed part of the Budget Repair Bill- a plan by Gov. Walker to balance the current budget in the state untill the end of the fiscal year. So it was a budgetary bill (with lots of right wing policy in it) which largely consisted of cost saving and cutting measures. Any bill that is fiscal in nature, must have a quorum of two thirds of the Senate present. Without the Dems, the Senate did not have that quorum, and so couldn't pass any fiscal bill.
But they could pass regular bills. Can you guess where this is going? Senate Republicans took out the "budget" aspects from the budget repair bill, and passed the ban on collective bargaining, and other policy, in a regular bill. What was supposed to be "of sound fiscal importance", necessary to save the state budget, turned out to be tripe. If it was really about the money, and not taking away collective bargaining rights, then this bill would never have seen the light of day. Turns out it was an attack on unions after all.
In true Republican style, the passage of this bill was done on the sly. A committee was called to move the bill forward to passage, and my boss was the only Dem able to attend. He was then denied the chance to question what this bill actually was, and what it contained, had his opposition ignored, and was practically a ghost in the room, despite his vocal attempts to prove otherwise.
This Daily Show clip, though it mocks my boss in a very humorous way, perfectly sums up what happened:
(For regular link click here, in case the embedded video doesn't work)
The bill was then rushed through the Senate, and the Assembly voted on it again.
And in the Assembly, Republicans again stifled debate, despite specifically saying they would allow Dems to debate until 3.30pm: They pushed a vote through at 3.10pm, with many still waiting to speak.
Meanwhile, despite the Capitol remaining in lock down mode, as word of the rushed vote in the Senate spread to those outside, protesters stormed the building- in a somewhat peaceful manner; they banged on the doors, and police-fearing violence- opened the doors and let them in. A number then camped overnight in the foyer of the Assembly parlour, with the intention to stop a vote on the new bill by the Assembly, literally blocking the way. I got to witness about 40 protesters dragged from the Speaker's hallway (they went limp and were carried/dragged by state troopers), as police opened up the way for a vote. Thankfully this was all still peaceful (though there was some very loud chanting going on), with no-one arrested.
With the way clear, the Assembly voted on the bill, as I already mentioned. That was that then, or so we thought.
With the legislature having passed the bill, and the Governor's pen signed it, it surely became law?
Well, no.
Because for a law to go into effect in Wisconsin, it must be published by the Secretary of State, affixed with his seal. Sec. of State La Follette, a Democrat, decided to take the full 10 days to publish the bill, having no power himself to actually stop it. However, this delay allowed for another player to take action. While the legislative and executive branches of government conspired to restrict workers rights, the judicial branch was not so sure.
I suppose the whole legal side of things can get rather boring, but I have found it fascinating. I will try and be as succinct as possible in my details of what is currently happening.
There are currently multiple different challenges to the bill: a number are from a civil liberties argument, concerning whether collective bargaining is a natural right; another concerns whether the bill was still fiscal in nature and shouldn't have been brought to the floor; another is in regards to various "illegal actions" by Republicans; still another is about the restricted access to the Capitol.
Perhaps the most important one, and one which has actually resulted in the publication of the law being halted- with a temporary restraining order issued, is in regards to the meeting which you hopefully just saw a clip of. By Wisconsin law, any new bills that are brought to committee must have previously given 24hrs notice about the meeting, to allow the public to attend. This is known as the Open Meetings Law, and is meant to encourage transparency of government. In special, exceptional, "emergency" circumstances, 2 hrs notice is required, instead of 24. Well this wasn't an emergency, and even if it was, even a 2 hr notice was not given. No-one had any idea what the "new bill" was about, when my boss headed into that meeting.
So, a suit was filed in response to the abuse of the open meetings law, and a TRO on publishing the bill imposed.
But then last Friday evening, at 4.30pm, the Legislative Reference Bureau, pushed into it by Republicans, published the bill on their website, based on orders in the State Statute, despite the restraining order. However, staff at this non-partisan agency then insisted to both sides and the media that this DID NOT mean the law was effective, that other action was required, and only that they had to do this. Ignoring this, Republicans began acting like the bill was law, even beginning to cut the pay of public workers. It took multiple comments from the judge before Repubs finally agreed to listen to the current law and stop acting like the bill had been published.
That all these suits were filed, and with all the shady, rude, disgusting tactics by Republicans really only suggests one thing. This bill is WRONG. So wrong. It is blatantly obvious to anyone even slightly involved.
The Judge in the case agreed, but is not sure what authority the court has in the matter. While she issued the TRO, to provide more time to figure things out, more must still be done. The case has been moved up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a decision regarding authority.... which brings me right back to election night!
Like how I did that?
I have rambled for too long, a new post is in order, hopefully tomorrow. But one of the major elections tonight concerns a seat on the Supreme Court, and could affect how this case is handled when it is taken up. The right leaning incumbent is currently in a dead heat with a liberal challenger. Before the collective bargaining crisis, he was a shoo in for re-election.
What fun times we live in. More tomorrow.
And it's been pretty intense; so much so that everything that has happened in the past couple of months has had a profound effect on today's election. The biggest issue on people's mind is the collective bargaining debate, and the actions of politicians from both sides of aisle in dealing with the budget repair bill. Many a race has become a referendum on the policies of Gov. Scott Walker. Turnout looks record breaking. Though most elections are just for local officials, it appears at least 70% of voters in the Madison area have headed to the polls. A number of towns had to keep polls open longer than 8pm to accommodate the crowds; some even ran out of ballots.
So as the waiting game begins, I'll fill you in all the happenings. Then maybe I'll give you my take on the races today, if I haven't rambled on for too long.
Ok. Well. In case you didn't know, the budget repair bill, with a ban on collective bargaining for all public workers in Wisconsin, passed the Senate, and the Assembly, and was signed by the Governor. But it isn't law yet.
Confused? Weren't the Senate Dems awol in Illinois, thus prohibiting a vote?
Well yes. But that didn't stop those Republicans. They tried everything, short of actually negotiating in good faith, to get the Senate Dems back to Madison: police, threats, withholding pay, fines, even "shock horror"- taking away the photocopying codes of Democratic staffers. With all that failing, and still refusing to negotiate, Republicans came up with a crafty solution.
In order to understand their move, I should clarify why they couldn't initially pass the bill. The ban on collective bargaining formed part of the Budget Repair Bill- a plan by Gov. Walker to balance the current budget in the state untill the end of the fiscal year. So it was a budgetary bill (with lots of right wing policy in it) which largely consisted of cost saving and cutting measures. Any bill that is fiscal in nature, must have a quorum of two thirds of the Senate present. Without the Dems, the Senate did not have that quorum, and so couldn't pass any fiscal bill.
But they could pass regular bills. Can you guess where this is going? Senate Republicans took out the "budget" aspects from the budget repair bill, and passed the ban on collective bargaining, and other policy, in a regular bill. What was supposed to be "of sound fiscal importance", necessary to save the state budget, turned out to be tripe. If it was really about the money, and not taking away collective bargaining rights, then this bill would never have seen the light of day. Turns out it was an attack on unions after all.
In true Republican style, the passage of this bill was done on the sly. A committee was called to move the bill forward to passage, and my boss was the only Dem able to attend. He was then denied the chance to question what this bill actually was, and what it contained, had his opposition ignored, and was practically a ghost in the room, despite his vocal attempts to prove otherwise.
This Daily Show clip, though it mocks my boss in a very humorous way, perfectly sums up what happened:
http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:mvideo:comedycentral.com:377245
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Tags: The Daily Show: Crisis in Dairyland - Apocalypse Cow, COMEDYCENTRAL
(For regular link click here, in case the embedded video doesn't work)
The bill was then rushed through the Senate, and the Assembly voted on it again.
And in the Assembly, Republicans again stifled debate, despite specifically saying they would allow Dems to debate until 3.30pm: They pushed a vote through at 3.10pm, with many still waiting to speak.
Meanwhile, despite the Capitol remaining in lock down mode, as word of the rushed vote in the Senate spread to those outside, protesters stormed the building- in a somewhat peaceful manner; they banged on the doors, and police-fearing violence- opened the doors and let them in. A number then camped overnight in the foyer of the Assembly parlour, with the intention to stop a vote on the new bill by the Assembly, literally blocking the way. I got to witness about 40 protesters dragged from the Speaker's hallway (they went limp and were carried/dragged by state troopers), as police opened up the way for a vote. Thankfully this was all still peaceful (though there was some very loud chanting going on), with no-one arrested.
With the way clear, the Assembly voted on the bill, as I already mentioned. That was that then, or so we thought.
With the legislature having passed the bill, and the Governor's pen signed it, it surely became law?
Well, no.
Because for a law to go into effect in Wisconsin, it must be published by the Secretary of State, affixed with his seal. Sec. of State La Follette, a Democrat, decided to take the full 10 days to publish the bill, having no power himself to actually stop it. However, this delay allowed for another player to take action. While the legislative and executive branches of government conspired to restrict workers rights, the judicial branch was not so sure.
I suppose the whole legal side of things can get rather boring, but I have found it fascinating. I will try and be as succinct as possible in my details of what is currently happening.
There are currently multiple different challenges to the bill: a number are from a civil liberties argument, concerning whether collective bargaining is a natural right; another concerns whether the bill was still fiscal in nature and shouldn't have been brought to the floor; another is in regards to various "illegal actions" by Republicans; still another is about the restricted access to the Capitol.
Perhaps the most important one, and one which has actually resulted in the publication of the law being halted- with a temporary restraining order issued, is in regards to the meeting which you hopefully just saw a clip of. By Wisconsin law, any new bills that are brought to committee must have previously given 24hrs notice about the meeting, to allow the public to attend. This is known as the Open Meetings Law, and is meant to encourage transparency of government. In special, exceptional, "emergency" circumstances, 2 hrs notice is required, instead of 24. Well this wasn't an emergency, and even if it was, even a 2 hr notice was not given. No-one had any idea what the "new bill" was about, when my boss headed into that meeting.
So, a suit was filed in response to the abuse of the open meetings law, and a TRO on publishing the bill imposed.
But then last Friday evening, at 4.30pm, the Legislative Reference Bureau, pushed into it by Republicans, published the bill on their website, based on orders in the State Statute, despite the restraining order. However, staff at this non-partisan agency then insisted to both sides and the media that this DID NOT mean the law was effective, that other action was required, and only that they had to do this. Ignoring this, Republicans began acting like the bill was law, even beginning to cut the pay of public workers. It took multiple comments from the judge before Repubs finally agreed to listen to the current law and stop acting like the bill had been published.
That all these suits were filed, and with all the shady, rude, disgusting tactics by Republicans really only suggests one thing. This bill is WRONG. So wrong. It is blatantly obvious to anyone even slightly involved.
The Judge in the case agreed, but is not sure what authority the court has in the matter. While she issued the TRO, to provide more time to figure things out, more must still be done. The case has been moved up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a decision regarding authority.... which brings me right back to election night!
Like how I did that?
I have rambled for too long, a new post is in order, hopefully tomorrow. But one of the major elections tonight concerns a seat on the Supreme Court, and could affect how this case is handled when it is taken up. The right leaning incumbent is currently in a dead heat with a liberal challenger. Before the collective bargaining crisis, he was a shoo in for re-election.
What fun times we live in. More tomorrow.
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