Rep. Garey Bies’ Notes from the West Wing: Governor Walker’s Budget Adjustment Bill

Posted on 25. Feb, 2011 by in News

Good day people of the First Assembly District… this has been the most difficult week of my 10+ years in the State Assembly.

State Representative Garey Bies

A wide range of emotions and long hours, the longest session in the history of the Wisconsin Assembly, which when it was all said and done, reached 62 hours. Beginning when Governor Walker introduced his Budget Adjustment Bill on February15, I have had many heart-felt conversations with a lot of people and some folks have been very angry.

A lot of public employees are upset at the increased benefit contribution requirements and the limiting of collective bargaining rights. I understand their opposition to this. After all, one of the mantras of unions is to fight to improve benefits and then protect those won. But, during the past two years, Wisconsin has lost 180,000 jobs, seen its economy shrink, and faced decreased state revenues while at the same time, expanded the size of state government by over 6%.

This has left Wisconsin facing a state deficit of $3.6Billion. At the state level, salaries and benefits eat up 60% of General Purpose Revenue and are 75% of expenses for school districts. Wisconsin is now broke. For too long politicians have been just kicking the problems of state finance down the road. And this past November, the people spoke loud and clear that enough is enough.

No more passing the buck on to the next generation. Fix the problems now.

The past two years have been very difficult for a lot of people: family members, friends, fellow district residents, all facing tough financial circumstances. One thing about being“older and wiser” is when you get to my age, you seen enough years to experience the entire range of such circumstances.

My wife reminded me of the early days when after the bills were paid and the food was bought I would say “Two weeks until the next payday and we have $10 left.”

It wasn’t easy then, and it isn’t easy now. In the Assembly it was a very long, historic debate. All those hours over amendment after amendment. Lots of reading, talking, and research to find out the “what ifs” and“therefores.” The question came down as to how to vote. And that question was not a question about what was best for my family or my friends, but what was best for all citizens of Wisconsin and the financial future of the state.

I voted to support the Governor’s bill. The consequences of not doing so were too severe: over 1,500 public employees will lose their jobs in just the next three months and an additional 6,000+ state workers will lose their jobs in the next budget and thousands more local public employees would also lose their jobs.

In addition, $30 million will be lost for health care coverage in the next 3 months, affecting 92,000 adults or 16,000 elderly and blind. It’s time for state government to share in the difficulties affecting the rest of Wisconsin. This bill is only the first piece of the puzzle to fix the state budget and represents less than 10% of the $3.6 billion deficit. But it is a significant piece that will allow government the flexibility to deal with the single biggest portion of their budgets so that the rest can be addressed.

Without tackling the costs of salaries and benefits for now and in the future, a balanced state budget once again just becomes an accounting gimmick.

Thanks for reading today. As always, feel free to contact me with your thoughts or concerns.

Tags: , , ,

  • George Kelly

    Well, we canceled our trip to Wisconsin this summer. We love Door County but we’ll go to a more worker friendly state this year.

  • Martha Beller

    Representative Bies: We appreciate your candor but can’t understand how all of those jobs will be lost if the union employees agree to pay in those additional monies toward healthcare and retirement that I HEARD them agree to when in Madison last weekend. In addition, a lot of Wisconsin believes what you’ve said about buckling down and repaying that debt, but is stating loudly and clearly not via Governor Walker’s bill that includes things like selling public power plants off to private concerns without going through the minimum bid process (and also states to whoever the Governor chooses to sell them to) something you voted for on Thursday night. We are your neighbor. We are a hard working, ethical bunch. We do not like being shut out of our government when it becomes so obvious that so many of us want and deserve to be heard. We believe in a more, not less, educated Wisconsin and more of us are finding ways to make the government more transparent; enough with the Republican vs. Democrat or Democrate vs Republican, and enough to the rhetoric. Sit down and solve our problems without taking away our rights. You know us. We are Wisconsin. In this family, we don’t like Scott Walker’s tactics and as long as you support them wholeheartedly, I’m afraid we can’t support you.

  • Laura Kaftan

    You have sold out your friends and neighbors in Door County. This is a phony excuse. When I called your office long before the vote I got the canned Walker response. You were not open to listening or discussion. That is how democracy works. But this is effort to take away our rights is all about corporate greed. And we all know by now its much more than just a loss of collective bargaining. We don’t want or need business at all cost. Its not worth it. Austerity, like trickle down economics is a failure. We need stimulus spending, especially here in Door County where we depend on tourism. You are doing the worst possible thing you could do to get the economy moving. Look at historic tax records and you will see that what you are doing is dangerous. Tax rates on corporations and the top brackets are the lowest since the late 1920′s, and that led us into the Great Depression! What we need is to raise taxes like Eisenhower did in the 1950′s. So what do you do? Give corporations a tax break. Let them go somewhere else. We don’t want them here if they are not willing to contribute to the community. There are plenty of companies willing to invest in wind energy, high speed rail, and a better, less oil based future. But you are driving them away.

  • Bremdog

    Shame, Shame, Shame on you Garey Bies. With three School Districts under your watch receiving no equalized state aid, you blindly vote the party line knowing full well that your district is not contributing to or the cause of this budget crisis. Too worried about losing you Republican Party suppport? I guess it won’t matter now since you have now lost your VOTER support. Emails two-to-one in opposition of the bill is what you reported, yet you still did the despicable thing and voted the party line. I sincerely hope your conscience haunts you every day of the rest of your life.

  • Tanay

    I know this isn’t and easy bill to vote for. I wouldn’t want to be in your position right now, but it was the right thing to do.
    Unions has their place in the early days of American industry, and they helped solve alot of workers rights issues. However, they are much too powerful in this day and age and in my opinion, much of the reason America has such a tuff time competing in the world market.
    Collective barganing needs to be stopped.
    Good Job Garey.
    Now go out and find yourself one of those senators and drag him back to do his job.

  • Pingback: VIDEO: Door County Speaks Out to WI Assembly Rep. Garey Bies on Union Busting | Door County Style

Switch to our mobile site