20120523132756488

DAY 5: Wisconsin and Missouri have taken different approaches to taxation, public employees and public services.
We
compare them.
DAY 6: Family members, colleagues and neighbors are sometimes on different sides of the public sector union debate.
Thanks, Mark
Mark Pitsch
@markpitsch
47
Downing, Karley - GOV
From: Black, 1
Sent:
To:
Friday, April 15, 2011 9:05AM
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Cc:
Subject:
Yes, thank you.
Lisa Black
Chicago Tribune
Skiba, Katherine
Re: Paul Ryan Comment
From: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV [mailto:Chris.Schrimpf@wisconsin.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 08:57AM
To: Black, Lisa
Subject: RE: Paul Ryan Comment
Lisa- Sorry, I was just told that the Governor wasn't able to call you yesterday, do you have time this afternoon for a
quick chat by phone?
Chris Schrimpf
Communications Director
Office of the Governor
Press Office: 608-267-7303
Email: chris.schrimpj@wisconsin.gov
From: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 20111:26 PM
To: Black, Lisa
afternoon on his way to the airport, sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 eastern. Is
Chris Schrimpf
Email: chris.schrimpf@wisconsin.gov
From: Black, Lisa
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 20
To: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Subject: Re: Paul Ryan Comment
I think that will be ok. I haven't heard back from the lead reporter but we will take what we can get.
Thank you.
48
Lisa Black
...... e
Lisa Black
Chicago Tribune
Sent: Thursday, April14, 201111:55 AM
To: Black, Lisa
Subject: Paul Ryan Comment
Lisa- The Governor was testifying for much of the day before Congress. If it's not too late I could probably have him call
you tomorrow and speak with you directly.
Chris
Chris Schrimpf
49
Sent:
To:
Friday, Apri\15, 2011 8:58 AM
Black, Lisa
Lisa- Sorry, I was just told that the Governor wasn't able to call you yesterday, do you have time this afternoon for a
quick chat by phone?
Chris Schrimpf
Sent: Thursday, April14, 20111:26 PM
To: Black, Lisa
Lisa - The Gov's this afternoon on his way to the airport, sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 eastern. Is
Chris Schrimpf
Press Office, 608-267-7303
From: Black, Lisa '"'""'w'
Sent: Thursday, April 14,
Subject: Re: Paul Ryan Comment
I think that will be ok. I haven't heard back from the lead reporter but we will take what we can get.
Thank you.
Lisa Black
Lisa Black
Chicago Tribune
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 201111:55 AM
To: Black, Lisa
so
Subject: Paul Ryan Comment
Lisa - The Governor was testifying for much of the day before Congress. If it's not too late I could probably have him call
you tomorrow and speak with you directly.
Chris
Chris Schrimpf
Email: chris.schrimpf@wisconsin.gov
51
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
DWD MB Communications Office
Friday, Apri\15, 2011 8:50AM
Barroilhet, Dan - DWD; Bartol, Fred - DWD; Baumbach, Scott C - DWD; Beckett, Laura L-
DWD; Berge, Sharon - DWD; Bernstein, Howard I - DWD; Black-Radloff, Rita - DWD;
Blodgett, Rebecca R- DOC; Blodgett, Steve R- DWD; Brockmiller, William - DWD;
Burgett, Carol - DWD; Charles, Amy D - DWD; Crary, Cathy - DWD; Denis, Gary J - DWD;
Dipko, John A- DWD; Domenoski, Brian K- DWD; Fa\k, Elizabeth C - DWD; Fite, Nicole L
- DWD; Fosdick, Anna - DWD; Gerrits, Karen - DWD; Gottschall, Chuck- DWD; Grant,
Ken G - DWD; Grosso, Eric - DWD; Hodek, Scott A- DWD; Holt, Deb - DWD; Irwin,
Michael A- DWD; Jones, Richard - DWD; Kikkert, Becky - DOA; Lied\, Kimberly- GOV;
Lingard, Sue- DWD; Maxwell, Georgia E - DWD; McDonald, Scott- DWD; Metcalf, John
C - DWD; Michels, Thomas A- DWD; Morgan, Karen P - DWD; Myska, Amy- DWD;
Natera, Ramon V- DWD; OBrien, Christopher D - DWD; O'Brien, Pamela - DWD;
O'Connor, Rene - DWD; Pa\zkill, Bruce R- DWD; Pasholk, Mary L- DWD; Pelon, Brian -
DWD; Perez, Manuel - DWD; Phillips, Amelia - DWD; Preysz, Linda - DWD; Reid, Andrea
- DWD; Richard, JoAnna - DWD; Rodgers-Rhyme, Anne M - DWD; Rozek, Allison J -
DWD; Ryan, Edward - DWD (DET); Sachse, Jeff A- DWD; Schmalle, Verlynn C - DWD;
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Shutes, David L- DWD; Solomon, Brian - DWD; Spurlin, Dennis A
- DWD; Thole, Kristina E - DWD; Thomas, John - DWD; Thompson, Heather- DWD;
Udalova, Victoria M - DWD; Vue, Mai Zong - DCF; Weber, Sue - DWD; Werwie, Cullen J -
GOV; Westbury, John R- DWD; Westfall, Grant - DWD; Williamson, Linda - DWD;
Winters, Dennis K- DWD; Wisnewski, Jerry - DWD; Wur\, Mark W- DWD; Younger,
Thomas- DWD
DWD CustomScoops, 4.15.11
(Note: A slight change in format for today's DWD CustomScoops. We are experimenting with some different
news sources and formats.)
http://thepage. time. com/20 11/04/14/wa lker -we-are-doing-something-truly-progressive/
Walker: "We Are Doing Something Truly Progressive"
WI Gov. testifies Thurs. at House hearing on state debt, reiterates stance that collective bargaining reform will help balance budget.
hltp://bizopinion.wisbusiness.com/2011/04/wisconsin-workforce-advantages-can-help.html
Wisconsin workforce advantages can help attract, retain business
Manuel Perez, who leads the state agency that deals with workforce issues ranging from unemployment benefits to training, is no
stranger to the human resources business.
http://www. reuters.com/article/20 11/04/14/us-usa-states-publicemployees-id U STRE73D8AA20 11 0414
Public employee fight comes to Congress
http://www.wbay.com/G\obal/story.asp?S=14446797 D
Dollar weakens after unemployment claims rise
http://www. wqow. com/G \obal/story. asp?S= 14448150
More apply for unemployment benefits
Also appeared in: WXOW-TV, La Crosse; WISC-TV, Madison; WAOW-TV, Wausau; WKBT, La Crosse; WGBA-TV,
Green Bay; WQOW-TV, Eau Claire; WISN-TV, Milwaukee; WFXS-TV; WFRV-TV; WKOW-TV, Madison; WBAY-TV,
Green Bay; WATQ-Q-FM; WRIT-FM; NewsoftheNorth.net; WITI-TV, Milwaukee
http://www.fox6now.com/news/sns-ap-wi--wisconsinunemployment,0,6736840.storv
52
Wisconsin unemployment rate remains unchanged at 7.4 percent for March
Also appeared in: WQOW-TV, Eau Claire; Milwaukee Daily Reporter; WNFA-AM, Green Bay; WI Business; WITI-TV,
Milwaukee; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Appleton Post Crescent
http://www. reuters.com/article/2011/04/15/us-detroit-layoffs-idUSTRE73EOHG2011 0415
Detroit to send layoff notices to all its public teachers
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/119892934.html
Uncertain about future benefits, many veteran teachers are retiring early
http://www.jsonline.com/business/119853804.html
Manufacturing sector continues to lead Wisconsin's recovery
http://www.madisonmagazine.com/Madison-Magazine/May-2011/Working-for-Workers/
Working for Workers
Nia Enemuoh-Trammell talks workers' compensation and other Madison biz happenings
http://wjbc.com/illinois-senate-oks-education-reform-rejects-workers-comp-changes/
Illinois Senate OKs education reform, rejects workers' comp changes
53
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Schrimpf, Chris- GOV
Friday, April15, 2011 8:21 AM
MPitsch@madison.com
RE: Interview request
Mark- We can do 20 minutes on this, this afternoon at 1:45 via phone or in person with the Governor. Let me know which
one you prefer.
Chris Schrimpf
From: Mark Pitsch
To: Werwie, Cullen
Sent: Wed Apr 13 11:47:49 2011
Subject: Interview request
Cullen:
Just checking back with you on the interview request we had made, and you had declined, regarding an upcoming series
we're preparing on unions. The series is set to launch on Sunday and run for six days. There's a lot still in flux, but I
wanted to provide you these further details and extend the invitation one more time. Further, if the governor won't address
all or some of these topics in an interview but there is an administration secretary or someone else who will, we'd be
happy to pursue that avenue. Otherwise, we'll note that the governor/administration declined comment.
DAY 1: Union membership has declined in recent decades, mostly in the private sector. Now Gov. Walker's union
proposals could lead to lower membership numbers for public sector unions. Business and union officials disagree about
the potential impact.
DAY 2: What is the middle class? Will governor's union proposals have an impact on the middle class?
DAY 3: If the collective bargaining provisions survive court challenges, local governments, school boards and state
agencies will reinvent how they deal with unions. How are they and the unions planning to handle this new landscape?
DAY 4: Schools will have more authority to make changes to operations under the collective bargaining law. But they're
also facing budget cuts. Will school districts make major changes? Minor changes? No changes?
DAY 5: Wisconsin and Missouri have taken different approaches to taxation, public employees and public services. We
compare them.
Thanks, Mark
Mark Pitsch
Wisconsin State Journal
@markpitsch
54
55
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Chris Schrimpf
Friday, Aprill5, 2011 8:20AM
Dorothy.Moore@wi.gov
Background for Interview
From: Mark Pitsch
To: Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Sent: Wed Apr 13 11:47:49 2011
Subject: Interview request
Cullen:
Just checking back with you on the interview request we had made, and you had declined, regarding an upcoming series
we're preparing on unions. The series is set to launch on Sunday and run for six days. There's a lot still in flux, but I
wanted to provide you these further details and extend the invitation one more time. Further, if the governor won't address
all or some of these topics in an interview but there is an administration secretary or someone else who will, we'd be
happy to pursue that avenue. Otherwise, we'll note that the governor/administration declined comment.
DAY 1: Union membership has declined in recent decades, mostly in the private sector. Now Gov. Walker's union
proposals could lead to lower membership numbers for public sector unions. Business and union officials disagree about
the potential impact.
DAY 2: What is the middle class? Will governor's union proposals have an impact on the middle class?
DAY 3: If the collective bargaining provisions survive court challenges, local governments, school boards and state
agencies will reinvent how they deal with unions. How are they and the unions planning to handle this new landscape?
DAY 4: Schools will have more authority to make changes to operations under the collective bargaining law. But they're
also facing budget cuts. Will school districts make major changes? Minor changes? No changes?
DAY 5: Wisconsin and Missouri have taken different approaches to taxation, public employees and public services. We
compare them.
Thanks, Mark
Mark Pitsch
@markpitsch
56
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Goetzman, Michael - DOT
Friday, Aprill5, 2011 7:57 AM
DOT DL EXEC Reader Review
In to day's Reader Review
Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles plans to improve service
http://www.qreen bavpressgazette.comlarticle/2011 0415/GPG01 0111 04150606/DMV-plans-improve-website-add-
payment-options?odyssey=modlnewswellltextiFRONTPAGEis
The Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles hopes to enable more people to use its services- even if they don't drive
to the DMV to do so.
DMV plans to take money saved by leaving 13 vacant positions unfilled, and invest some of it in improving its website.
The department also intends to begin accepting credit and debit cards as a way to use technology to improve service to
customers, Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb said.
"Within the next couple of years," Gottlieb said, the agency intends to "move toward electronic titling" of vehicles, to permit
more transactions online, and to allow customers at DMV service centers across the state to pay with plastic. Currently,
only cash or checks are accepted in DMV offices.
Funding for the changes would come from an estimated $500,000 that DMV would save by eliminating 13 vacant
positions, Gottlieb said.
The changes would be designed to make some transactions simpler and more convenient for drivers, ideally reducing the
need to stand in line. Fewer customers at the DMV building, in theory, could reduce costs to the department because it
would require fewer staff.
Wisconsin 172 roundabout construction at Green Bay airport, Oneida casino starts
Monday
http://www. greenbaypressgazette.comlarticle/2011 0414/GPG01 0111 04140689/1978&1ocated=rss
Construction will begin Monday on roundabouts at the entrances to Austin Straubellnternational Airport and the Oneida
Casino and Radisson Hotel in Ashwaubenon.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will also build a roundabout at the intersection of Wisconsin 172 and
Wisconsin 54 in Hobart beginning in July.
The projects will cost $2.2 million and will require different access to the airport and the Oneida facilities.
Visitors to the casino and hotel will enter from South Point Road. Access to the airport will be at the intersection of South
Point Road and Wisconsin 172. That phase of the project is expected to be completed in July. Wisconsin 172 will be
closed a half-mile west of the South Point Road intersection and one mile east of the intersection of Brown County GE.
According to the DOT, approximately 21,000 vehicles a day travel through the Wisconsin 172 intersection with the airport,
while about 16,300 travel past the 172154 intersection.
Creation of regional transit authority could help Valley Transit with budget woes
http://www. postcrescent.comlarticle/2011 0415/APC01 0111 04150486/Creation-transit-authority-could-help-Valley-
Transit?odyssey-tabltopnewsltextiFRONTPAGE
APPLETON -Valley Transit officials say the creation of a regional transit authority could help the public transportation
system solve its budgetary puzzle.
If a regional transit authority existed, it could choose to raise money through a sales tax increase.
Transit officials last year estimated that an increase of half a percent would help make up Valley Transit's annual loss of
$1.5 million, starting in late 2012 or in 2013.
Democrats finished the legislative session last year without taking up a bill that would have allowed for the creation of
regional transit authorities in various parts of the state. The measure can be taken up this session if Republicans so
choose.
Mayor Tim Hanna thinks the idea of a regional transit authority remains a possibility.
"I know there are still some people interested in that down in Madison. We may be pursuing that," Hanna said on
Thursday. "We talked to some legislators who are interested, and they even happen to be Republicans."
57
City leaders last month averted the loss of $2.5 million in federal funding by settling a two-year contract with bus drivers,
mechanics and other transit staff whose ability to bargain is protected by a federal provision. Any changes- including
those contained in Gov. Scott Walker's legislation limiting bargaining by public-sector union employees- would put the
federal money at risk.
But Valley Transit has yet to resolve how to make up other funding it stands to lose.
State transit dollars will be tighter and more competitive under the governor's budget plan. The reduction in state aid to
local government will be felt by the system, which receives some funding from several Fox Cities municipalities as well as
Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties.
In addition, transit officials are bracing for a possible $1.5 million loss in federal funding because of a change in population
in the service area. The 2010 census put the Fox Cities urbanized population at more than 200,000, triggering a federal
rule that reduces the transit system's annual operating aid.
"It's just a roller coaster ride. It has been for the past four years because of the whole census issue first, then the
collective bargaining and now the state budget," said Deborah Wetter, the system's general manager. "The federal
government hasn't reauthorized and is talking about cutting transportation. It's all sides."
Wetter and transit advocates facing similar scenarios want funding to be based on the number of buses in their systems
rather than population.
Last month, she joined the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Transit Association on a trip to Washington, D.C., in hope of
persuading Wisconsin's congressional delegation to push for regulation changes.
One of the groups she met with was the 100 Bus Coalition, which is pushing for legislation changes that would allow
systems with less than 1 00 buses to use federal funds for operating expenses.
"They are seeing a little bit of positive in the Senate," Wetter said. "Who knows (what's going to happen)? But you gotta
keep trying because if you are not there, you are definitely not going to accomplish anything."
Hanna said he would continue to lobby state lawmakers to take up the regional transit authority measure, but with
everyone's energy on the state budget, it is unclear how soon lawmakers would begin talks.
"Everything changes daily," he said.
Our View: Here come the bikes and motorcycles
http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/eventlarticle/id/42602/group/Opinion/
Now that we've had a taste of warm weather, we are seeing an increase in the both bike and motorcycle riders on our
streets and highways.
For motorists, it means we will again be sharing the road with bikes and motorcycles that we have not seen much of in the
past six months. The number of bike and motorcycle riders may even be more than usual with the high cost of gasoline.
A reminder to both motorists and bike/motorcycle riders: The total number of people killed in traffic crashes has been on
the decrease over the last several years, but motorcycle deaths rose sharply in 2010. According to the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation, 104 people on motorcycles were killed in crashes last year. That is an increase of 14 from
the year before and 20 more than in 2009.
The critical element for everyone traveling on the roads- be it two or four wheels- is for all to obey all traffic rules. It is
especially important, however, for those on bikes or motorcycles. We've all heard the term "dead right." Obeying the law
does not ensure the safety of anyone, but that's especially true for those on two wheels.
We recommend that all riders wear a helmet. Wisconsin does not have a law requiring motorcyclists or bicyclists to wear
protective helmets, but statistics show that those who do are much less likely to be killed than those who do not.
Even a non-fatal crash can be dangerous. A head injury can mean a brain injury. That's why it's so important to wear a
helmet. Head injuries are the most common serious injury suffered by bicyclists.
A few other bike tips:
? Be sure your equipment is well maintained.
58
? Use good lights and reflectors when traveling at times of darkness.
? Wear bright clothing.
? Use a rear view mirror attached to the helmet, glasses or handlebars.
? Obey the rules of the road as if you were driving a car- stop at stop signs, red lights, and signals before turning or
changing lanes.
? Always ride on the right side of the road. Stay in single file as far to the right as practical. It's both dangerous and illegal
to ride on the left side of a two-way highway.
? Be extremely cautious when traveling through intersections. Be aware of traffic around you and be prepared to brake
quickly.
? Avoid traveling along the side of cars when passing through intersections- they may turn in front of you without
warning.
? When riding in a business district, use caution when passing parked cars, as occupants may not see you when opening
doors or pulling out of parking spaces.
? Keep your hands on the handlebars at all times. Riding with no hands does not permit a rider to stop or to avoid the
ever present hazards- dogs, potholes, broken glass, cars, etc.
? Yield to all pedestrians.
Remember, your bicycle is a small, inconspicuous vehicle. It is not easily seen on crowded streets and will seldom attract
attention on its own. At all times, do everything you can to make sure you are noticed. And motorists, remember bicycles
and motorcycles are vehicles. They belong on the road and deserve your attention.
There is enough room for all modes of transportation on the streets and highways if everyone puts safety first and is
willing to share the road and look out for the other guy.
Editorial: Silver lining in high gas price?
http://www. htrnews.com/article/2011 0413/MAN0601/1 04130731/Editoriai-Silver-lining-high-gas-price-
?odyssey=modlnewswellltextiOpinionls
Gas prices approaching $4 per gallon are putting a crimp in many a pocketbook and forcing the most optimistic among us
to find even a glimmer of a silver lining.
We all are upset about the seemingly daily price hike at the pump, and it shows no sign of abating any time soon. Little
good can come from increases that threaten any momentum the economy may be gaining.
But here is an attempt at that silver lining. People might just consider slowing down to save gas. Transportation studies
consistently show that slower driving (within reason) is safer- for drivers and passengers alike.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, high speeds were a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes in
2009. The faster you're traveling, the greater the distance needed to bring your vehicle to a complete stop and the longer
it takes a driver to react to emergency situations, according to II HS. If an accident does occur at a higher speed, there is a
strong likelihood that the crash impact will exceed the protection available to vehicle occupants.
We realize that some drivers will become impatient with those seeking to save gas by driving slower than posted speeds.
Impatience behind the wheel is never good, either, but in the long run, driving at a reasonable speed is the safest course
of action.
The Texas Legislature is considering a bill that would raise to 85 mph the maximum speed at which people in that state
can drive on certain roads, generally rural stretches with long sight lines.
That seems ludicrous to drivers in Wisconsin, where the top posted speed is 65 mph set for the interstate highway
system. We'll keep our 65.
On top of safety concerns, speeding increases fuel consumption. Every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an
additional 24 cents per gallon for gas, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
High gas prices may also induce more people to walk or bicycle to their destinations, improving health.
We'd gladly trade in all the "benefits," however, for a more affordable price at the pump.
DOT: Highway 42 ramp to open in Sheboygan off 1-43 by early July
59
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/2011 0415/SHE01 01/1 04150423/DOT -Highway-42-ramp-open-Sheboygan-off-43-
by-early-July?odyssey-tabltopnewslimqiFRONTPAGE
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it plans to accelerate the construction schedule
for the Interstate 43 project in Sheboygan County, so that the closed northbound ramps at state Highways 42 and 23 will
reopen by early July.
"Businesses in the area have asked us to finish the work and re-open the ramps by July 1," said Will Dorsey, acting
northeast region director for the DOT, in a press release. "There are many variables to contend with- one being bad
weather- that could delay us, but we are going to try to meet that request."
The announcement comes one day after DOT officials met with about 50 business owners and other political and
business officials at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in the Town of Sheboygan to discuss concerns that the closure of
the northbound 1-43 ramp to Highway 42 was causing a huge drop off in business. During the meeting, DOT officials said
they would do their best to reopen the ramp by July 1, after repeated requests from people attending the meeting.
About 55 businesses are affected by the ramp closure, Sheboygan Town Chairman Dan Hein said.
As part of the plan to speed up the project, the DOT said that county Highway J will close at 1-43 on Monday, April 18, so
crews can replace the 1-43 bridge that crosses over Highway J.
Also the DOT pledged at the meeting on Wednesday to improve signs on 1-43 to direct northbound freeway drivers onto
the detour to the Town of Sheboygan business district on Highway 42. The detour takes drivers off 1-43 at Highway 23,
then east on Highway 23 (Kohler Memorial Drive and Erie Avenue) to North 14th Street. Drivers can then turn north and
take 14th Street and Calumet Drive (which is Highway 42) to the Town of Sheboygan business corridor and 1-43.
Highway 0, Highway J, the northbound off ramp from 1-43 to Highway 42 and the onramp from Highway 23 to 1-43
northbound will reopen six weeks ahead of schedule, rather than mid-August as originally planned. The Highway 42 and
Highway 23 ramps have been closed since March 7.
The project covers 18 miles of 1-43 from the south county line to Highway 42.
The work on 1-43 includes highway, overpass and ramp resurfacing, deck repairs and/or reconstruction of several bridges
and the installation of traffic cameras, enforcement pads and ramp gates. Cost of the project is estimated at approximately
$14.5 million and is expected to be completed by mid-August in 2012.
Plover company begins repairs of failed road work
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/2011 0415/SPJ01 01/1 04150632/Piover -company-begins-repairs-failed-road-
work?odyssey-tabltopnewsltextiFRONTPAGE
Crews from Fahrner Asphalt Sealers Inc. have been at work for several weeks fixing the failing chip sealing on Stevens
Point's streets.
Fahrner laid the sealing on city roads last fall, but chips have been wearing off in the months afterward, leaving black
stones scattered in residents' yards. Black marks from the stones have even made their way to the floors at city hall.
And with the snow melted, officials say the extent of the damage is worse than they thought.
Public Works Director Joel Lemke said at Monday's Board of Public Works meeting that the sealing didn't hold because
the temperature was too cold to hold the aggregate (stones) in the tar when the sealing was laid on the street.
Mayor Andrew Halverson said the city will require Fahrner to redo all of the 16 miles that were sealed last fall. He also
said the Plover-based company, which was paid $401,330 for the project, had done chip sealing on city streets for two
years without incident and had done a good job.
Whether the city would use Fahrner again, or whether the city would buy equipment to do the work itself, would depend
on howwell the company cleans up the mess.
"The bottom line is that Fahrner has accepted responsibility for this and they are taking action to get it taken care of as
soon as possible," Halverson said. "People want to get into their yards now that it is spring, and they expect to have a
yard that doesn't have several inches of rock in it."
Lemke said chip sealing done in the future will be with a smaller stone that will sit in the tar better, and will be done at a
warmer time of year to ensure the stones set in the tar better.
From the DOT: Portion of Highways 54 and 73 remain closed
http://www. wisconsinrapidstribune.com/article/2011 0414/WRT01 01/11 0414071/From-DOT -Portion-Highways-54-73-
remain-closed?odyssey-tabltopnewslimgiFRONTPAGEip
Highways 54 and 73 remain closed at Riverview Expressway in Wood County due to flooding between the Riverview
Expressway and Seneca Road in Wisconsin Rapids, according to a news release from the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation -Northwest Region.
An suggested alternate route from the DOT:
60
For Highway 73 southbound traffic, take Highway 54/13 East Riverview Expressway eastbound to Highway 13, Eighth
Street southbound to Highway 73. Northbound traffic reverse these directions.
Call511 to check road conditions
To get information about road conditions, dial "511" and follow the automated directions. The number replaces the state's
toll free 1-800 ROAD WIS number.
The new system provides more information and allows the caller to get road conditions for targeted areas.
By dialing "511 ," motorists can learn about road conditions, if there are incidents or crashes that may slow traffic and if
there are lane closures caused by road construction.
The call is free, although normal cell phone charges apply. The DOT urges people not to call while driving.
Road conditions can also be found at the DOT's Web site.
Worker hurt on Clybourn bridge project site
http://dailyreporter.com/blog/20 11/04/14/worker -hurt-on-clybourn-bridge-project-site/
An ambulance sits in front of the Clybourn Street Lift Bridge over the Milwaukee River on Thursday afternoon. A
construction worker was injured at the site Thursday and 911 was called just before 4 p.m., Milwaukee Department of
Public Works spokeswoman Cecelia Gilbert said. She had no further details. Dave Gliniecki, a representative of Zenith
Techlnc., Waukesha, the company doing the work, said the company's safety department was investigating the incident
but there was no further information available. Crews on site include Zenith Tech staff members and subcontractors, he
said. (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Ron Zingsheim: Turn signals aren't tricky to use
http://lacrossetribu ne.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article 4 fea766e-66de-11 e0-9031-00 1 cc4c002e0. htm I
La Crosse area citizens, your help is urgently needed. Evidently, the Coulee Region is selling hundreds of cars without
turn signals.
I don't know how it happened, but we must act to correct this dangerous situation. Even the vehicles with operating
signals seem defective, as they sometimes stay on for as many as seven miles.
Perhaps people don't know how to use these signals and a remedial course is needed.
Take your left hand off the steering wheel (that's the one nearest your window), while leaving your right hand on the
wheel. Pull down the lever on the left side of the steering column with your left hand to turn left; push it up to turn right
If you are unable to do this, perhaps a gym membership or some weightlifting will help.
Come on, drivers. Is it really that difficult?
Highway 38 expansion project awaiting funding
http://www. jou rnaltimes. com/news/local/article c85b007 a-6754-11 e0-be93-00 1 cc4c03286. html
CALEDONIA- A state project to expand a nine-mile stretch of Highway 38 connecting Racine and Milwaukee counties
from two lanes to four is awaiting funding.
The state Transportation Projects Commission's recommendation to approve funding for the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation Highway 38 expansion project is currently before the state Legislature.
Gov. Scott Walker has proposed the project for funding along with three others in the state- expansion of 1-39/90 from the
Illinois border to Madison and two highway projects in the Appleton area, according to Reggie Newson, executive
assistant for the DOT. If the governor's budget passes as is and the project is funded, Newson said DOT will move
forward on the project design as early as later this year.
Then there would have to be real estate acquisition, utility work and vegetation clearing, said Dennis Shook, DOT
spokesman for the southeast region.
"It's a major project," he said, adding it would be another major thoroughfare connecting Racine and Milwaukee. 'We're
ready to go."
The earliest construction could begin is 2016, according to state officials. The current estimated project cost is $125
million.
The project proposes to expand existing roads for the most part but also shift Highway 38 from 6 Mile Road to 5 Mile
Road, including a new alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad corridor.
61
Shook expected some homes would have to be purchased but said they would have a better idea of what property would
have to be acquired once the design phase is completed.
Between Highway K and Dunkelow Road, the existing Highway 38 would be widened, according to the project proposal.
From Dunkelow Road to Five Mile Road, Highway 38 would follow a new path along the railroad corridor. Highway 38
would then roughly follow the Five Mile Road path for about two miles between the railroad corridor and Highway H, and
Highway H would be widened to four lanes between Five Mile and Six Mile roads. From Six Mile Road north, Highway 38
would be widened along its existing path.
The project proposes expanding Highway 38 from Highway K to Oakwood Road to improve traffic safety and alleviate
projected future congestion.
GLAD YOU ASKED: Drunken driving statistics after the smoking ban
http://www. jou rnaltimes.com/news/opinion/glad-you-asked/article bd690c0c-668c-11 e0-b67 4-001 cc4c03286. html
Are statistics available to show the number of drunken driving arrests during the smoking ban as opposed to a year
before?
No cigar, but close enough. Erin Egan, chief of citations and withdrawals for the DOT, ran a comparison of convictions for
me.
Arrests in July 2009 led to 3, 760 drunken driving convictions across the state, she said. As of this week, arrests in July
2010- the month the statewide smoking ban took effect- have led to 2,587 drunken driving convictions. Those don't
include additional criminal charges.
The 2010 number will go up, Egan cautioned, because some of those are still working through the courts. If the decline
lasts, it'll be the bright side of the gloomy outlook many bar owners report.
Still, it's hard to say how much of any drop in drunken driving could be tied to the ban. Egan pointed out drunken driving
state laws got tougher that same month.
Michael J. Goetzman
Office of Public Affairs
Wisconsin Department of Transportation
4802 Sheboygan Avenue, Room 1038
P.O. Box 7910
Madison, WI 53707-7910
voice: 608/266-2520 fax: 608/266-7186
michael.goetzman@dot.wisconsin.gov
62
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Hurlburt, Waylon - GOV
Friday, April 15, 2011 7:42 AM
Polzin, Cindy M - GOV
Kitzman, Nick- GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Himebauch, Casey-
GOV
Subject: Should send to some Leggies
This should be sent to Loudenbach and Knilans at least. It lays out how many muni's are
mischaracterizing their cuts and not taking advantage of the tools to paint a more grim picture
of the budget and budget repair than reality.
State budget cuts roll downhill
By MARCIA NELESEN (Contact) Thursday, Aprill4, 2011
\,--
. 1 WiSCONSIN I
=
State shared .
7
}')> revenue to lanesville
1
$
6 1: ,11' ,'9- ,_,')> .,..r;.. ,.,'>""- $ a, ""'
5
2
0
i . .,
'
2003 2004 2005 2006 2001 2008 2009 2010 2011 20!2
iony
JANESVILLE- Gov. Scott Walker said he gave cities the tools to deal with proposed cuts in state shared
revenue, but Janesville City Manager Eric Levitt said those tools would help the city make up only about 34
percent of what Janesville would lose in state aid.
And some of the tools can't be used in Janesville.
1
"We're getting cut a lot more than getting savings," Levitt said.
Walker proposed eliminating most collective bargaining rights of public employees so local governments could
save money to make up for cuts in state aid. The bill also requires public employees to pay half their pension
contributions.
"The argument that the state is talking about, we get 100 percent savings for 100 percent in reduction," Levitt
said.
But because of union contracts now in place, Janesville wouldn't be able to make up even 34 percent of state aid
reductions, Levitt said.
The 34 percent includes money the city would realize if unionized public works employees paid half of their
pension costs. Because the city quickly signed a contract with its public works employees after Walker's
proposal, those workers won't contribute to their pensions for at least two years.
Those pension payments and payments from employees not covered by unions would save the city a total of
$502,454. Non-unionized city workers would pay $395,212.
Levitt said at the time he negotiated in good faith with the public works employees union so he was willing to
accept the offer on the table at that time.
Unionized police and fire personnel are not included in Walker's proposal, so the city would continue to pay
their entire pension costs.
Levitt said the reduction in state shared revenue ignores the stress city budgets were under before 2012.
Janesville's state aid was cut about 19 percent-from $6.3 million to $5 million-between 2003 and 2011.
Levitt figures another $1.1 million will be cut in 2012.
Those cuts include $328,000 in recycling funds. Levitt recently discovered the city could also lose another
$128,000 this year, impacting the 2011 budget.
The total also includes a $72,000 cut for the transit system. For the 2011 budget, the council struggled to
maintain service and could do so only because of a retirement.
Walker's proposal to freeze property taxes means the city couldn't raise revenue, which is essentially another
cut, Levitt said. The city could raise fees, however.
Overall, Levitt predicts a $2.9 million gap in the 2012 budget.
That's about 7 percent of the $42 million general fund, which is the city's operating expenses and its debt.
The gap presumes the council would use $890,000 from the reserve fund, an amount council members have said
they wanted to reduce. Members also want to shift the expense of regular street maintenance from borrowing
back to the general fund. That could be especially difficult when faced with proposed state cuts.
To compensate for the cuts, Levitt said he will suggest that the city first look internally and ask workers to
identify areas of savings.
2
He also will not fill some positions when employees quit. For instance, the position of Brad Cantrell,
community development director, has not been filled since he left last year. Levitt will look for ways to
reorganize departments to save money.
Levitt plans to reach out to community members, possibly based on the community scorecard developed last
year. The process should be finished by early fall, when the budget process begins.
"Public input is going to be real important (to prioritize) as to how we address these issues," Levitt said.
Public safety is important to everyone, Levitt said, but do residents want a city with no amenities, such as the
bus system, library, recreation or parks?
"These issues are going to be evaluated, but do you really want to eliminate the quality oflife?" Levitt said.
The driving question, he said, should be: "What is most important to the city?" rather than "What are we going
. to cut?"
Levitt said he would not recommend across-the-board cuts but rather would ask individual departments to
identify priorities.
Across-the-board cuts would result in 8 percent reductions in all areas. If police and fire were excluded,
remaining departments would have to cut more than 20 percent.
"If we don't look at police and fire at all, that's pretty intense," Levitt said.
Council members have resisted cutting police and fire budgets the last two years.
Waylon Hurlburt
Policy Advisor
The Office of Governor Scott Walker
State of iisconsin
(608)266-9709
3
From: Lippert, MaryAnn - DCF
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 2:10 PM
To: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Cc:
Subject:
Anderson, Eloise- DCF; Hansen, Joan M- DCF; Monroe-Kane, Erika- DCF
FW: Media at Southeast Regional Office
FYI below ...... What we know so far is that no media was in the building, only in the parking lot trying to talk to people
coming & going. Erika Monroe-Kane continues to investigate. Will keep you updated.
Mary Ann Lippert
Executive Assistant
Department of Children and Families
201 East Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
T
F
Email MaryAnn ..Uppert@wisconsin.gov
From: Tuohy, John 0 - DCF
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 201112:59 PM
To: Monroe-Kane, Erika - DCF; Lippert, MaryAnn - DCF
Cc: Chase, Jill D - DCF
Subject: Media at Southeast Regional Office
Hi Erika and MaryAnn:
FYI -The media is currently at the Southeast regional office in Waukesha interviewing state employees. I don't know any
more details, but presumably this is related is the budget adjustment bill and collective bargaining rights.
John Tuohy
Director of Regional Operations
WI . of Children and Families
99
From:
Subject: chat
Good evening.
Wisconsin is showing the rest of the country
how to have a passionate, yet civil
debate about our finances. That's a very
Midwestern trait and I would expect
nothing less from the good people of
Wisconsin. I pray, however, that this civility
will continue as people pour into our state
from all across America.
First, let me be clear: I have great respect
for those who have chosen a career in
government. I really do.
100
In 1985, when I was a high school junior in
the small town of Delavan, I was inspired
to someday pursue public service after I
attended the American Legions Badger
Boys State program .. The veterans and
educators who put )on that week-long
event showed the importance of serving
others.
Tonight, I thank the 300,000-plus state and
local government employees who showed
up for work today and did their jobs
well. We appreciate it.
I also understand how concerned many
government workers are about their
futures. I've listened to their comments
and read their emails.
People like the teacher from XXX who
wrote: XXXX
101
It is important to remember, however, that
the rights she's talking about don't come
from collective bargaining. They come
from the civil service system in
Wisconsin. That law was passed in 1905
(long before collective bargaining) and it
will continue long after our plan is
approved.
As you can see, this is not a battle against
our public employees.
And it's certainly not a battle with
unions. If it was, we would have
eliminated collective bargaining entirely or
we would have gone after the private-
sector unions. We did not, because they
are our partners in economic
development. We need them to help us
102
put 250,000 people to work in the private
sector over the next four years.
Our battle is, however, a battle to balance
the state's budget. Wisconsin faces a 137
million dollar deficit for the remainder of
this fiscal year and a 3.6 billion dollar
deficit for the upcoming budget.
While protesters here at the Capitol have
every right to be heard. So do the millions
of hard working taxpayers in Wisconsin.
People like the woman from Wausau who
wrote "I'm a single parent of two children,
one of whom is autistic. I have been
intimately involved in my school district,
but I can no longer afford the taxes I
pay. I am in favor of everyone paying for
benefits, as I have had to."
103
It's also about the small business owner
from XXXX who told me about the
challenges he faces just making payroll
each week. His employees pay much
larger premiums than we are asking
because that's how they keep the
company going and that's how they
protect their jobs.
Or the substitute teacher here in Madison,
who wrote to me last week about having
to sit at home unable to work because her
union had closed the school down to
protest.
She sent me an email that went on to say,
"I was given no choice in joining the union
and I am forced to pay dues."
And it's about the factory worker in
Janesville who was laid off nearly two
years ago. He's a union guy in a union
104
town who asks simply why everyone else
has to sacrifice except those in
government.
Last week, I traveled the state visiting
manufacturing plants and talking to
workers -just like the guy from
Janesville. Many of them are paying
twenty-five to fifty percent of their health
care premiums. Most had 401 k plans with
limited or no match from the company.
My brother is in the same situation. He
works as a banquet manager and
occasional bartender at a hotel and my
sister-in-law works for a department
store. They have two beautiful kids.
In every way, they are a typical middle-
class family here in Wisconsin. David
mentioned to me that he pays nearly $800
105
a month for his health insurance and the
little he can set aside for his 401 k.
He - like so many other workers across
Wisconsin -would love a deal like the
benefits we are pushing in this budget
repair bill. That's because what we are
asking for is modest - at least to those
outside of government.
Our measure asks for a 5.8% contribution
. to the pension and a 12.6% contribution
for the health insurance premium. Both
are well below the national average.
And this is just one part of our
comprehensive plan to balance the
state's 3.6 billion dollar budget deficit.
Now, some have questioned why we have
to change collective bargaining to
106
balance the budget. The answer is simple:
it costs money - particularly for our local
governments. As a former county official, I
know that first hand.
For years, I tried to use modest changes in
pension and health insurance
contributions as a means of balancing our
budgets - without massive layoffs or
furloughs. On nearly every occasion, the
local unions (empowered by collective
bargaining agreements} told me to go
ahead and layoff workers.
Here's another example: In Wisconsin,
many local school districts are required to
buy their health insurance through the
WEA Trust (which is the state teachers'
union's company}. When.our bill passes,
these school districts can opt to switch into
the state plan and save $68 million per
year. That's money that can be used to
107
pay for more teachers and services for our
students.
Collective bargaining does have a fiscal
impact.
Some have also suggested that Wisconsin
raise taxes on corporations and people
with high-incomes. Well, Governor Doyle
and the Legislature did that two years
ago. In fact they passed a budget-repair
bill (in just one day, mind you) that
included a billion-dollar tax increase.
Since taxes went up under that plan, the
unemployment rate in Wisconsin has
climbed to X%. Clearly, further tax
increases would only cripple our state's
economy.
Instead of raising taxes, we need to
control government spending to balance
108
our budget. Two years ago, Governor
Doyle and many of the same Senate
Democrats who are hiding out in another
state approved a biennial budget that not
only included higher taxes - it included
more than two billion dollars in one-time
federal stimulus aid.
That money was supposed to be for one-
time costs like infrastructure. Instead, they
used it as a short-term fix to balance the
last state budget. Not surprisingly, the
state now faces a deficit for the remainder
of the fiscal year and a 3.6 billion dollar
deficit for the budget starting July 1st.
Now more than ever, we need a
commitment to the future. Failure to act
on this budget repair bill means (at least)
15 hundred state employees will be laid off
before the end of June. If there is no
agreement by July 1st, another 5-6
109
thousand state workers as well as 5-6
thousand local government employees
would be laid off.
But there is a way to avoid these layoffs
and other cuts. The 14 State Senators who
are staying outside of Wisconsin as we
speak can come home and do their job.
Failure to act today (to make a
commitment to the future) will lead to dire
consequences for tomorrow. And that
would be unacceptable.
I want my two sons to grow up in a state at
least as great as the Wisconsin I grew up

1n.
More than 162 years ago, our ancestors
approved Wisconsin's constitution. They
believed in the power of hard work and
110
determination and they envisioned a new
state with limitless potential.
They understood that it is through frugality
and moderation in government that we
will see freedom and prosperity for our
people.
Now is our time to once again seize that
potential. We will do so at this turning
point in our history by restoring fiscal
responsibility that fosters prosperity for
today- and for future generations.
Thank you for joining me tonight. May God
bless you and your family and may God
continue to bless the great State of
Wisconsin.
111
112
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV To:
Subject: Tuesday Budget Talking Points
Tuesday Budget Talking Points
Collective bargaining has a huge fiscal impact and that is why it is off the table
Governor's Walker's office today released additional examples:
o Example #1 Paid-Time offfor Union Activities
In Milwaukee County alone, because the union collectively bargained for paid time off, fourteen
employees receive salary and benefits for doing union business. Of the fourteen, three are on
full-time release for union business. Milwaukee County spent over $170,000 in salary alone for
these employees to only participate in union activities such as collective bargaining.
o Example #2 Surrender of Management Rights Because of collecting bargaining, unions have
included provisions in employee contracts that have a direct fiscal impact such as not allowing
management to schedule workers based on operational needs and requiring notice and approval
by the union prior to scheduling changes. As County Executive Walker attempted to reduce
work hours based on budget pressures and workload requirements by instituting a 35 hour work
week to avoid layoffs, which the union opposed. Additionally, government cannot explore
privatization of functions that could save taxpayers money.
Yesterday the Governor's office released these examples of the fiscal ilnpact of collective bargaining
o Currently many school districts participate in WEA trust because WEAC collectively bargains to
get as many school districts across the state to participate in this union run health insurance plan
as possible. Union leadership benefits from members participating in this plan. If school
districts enrolled in the state employee health plan, it would save school districts up to $68
million per year. Beyond that if school districts had the flexibility to look for health insurance
coverage outside ofWEA trust or the state plan, additional savings would likely be realized.
o The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA) tried to use a policy established by
collective bargaining to obtain health insurance coverage that specifically paid for Viagra. Cost
to taxpayers $786,000 a year.
o Unrealistic Overtime Provisions. On a state level, the Department of Corrections allows
correctional workers who call in sick to collect overtime if they work a shift on the exact same
day. The specific provision that allows this to happen was collectively bargained for in their
contract. Cost to taxpayers $4.8 million.
The unions should not be able to distract and change the subject from the fact that Senate
Democrats have left the job. The arena is Madison Wisconsin. The solution is for the Senate
Democrats to come to work. It is Senate Democrats shirking their responsibilities who must be held
accountable.
Today Senate Republicans will conduct business as usual, the Senate Democrats will be MIA and
their constituents will have their vote missing in the Capitol. They have even considered taking up
legislation like Voter ID
This legislation will prevent thousands of layoffs at the state and local levels, it will be on the Senate
Democrats if Wisconsinites get laid off because the Senate Democrats won't come do their job.
115
If this legislation is not passed by Friday, the state will lose it's ability to refinance and save over
$165 million leading to deep short-term cuts and possible additional layoffs, the Senate Democrats
failing to show up to work will be responsible.
We can no longer accept short term fixes and kick the tough decisions down the road. Union leaders
who say they are willing to accept the 5 and 12 are using it as a red herring. These are the same people
who tried to ram through a contract in December without negotiation, and who a week ago said they
couldn't afford the 5 and 12. The average negotiation with a union is 15 months. We don't have 15
months to balance the budget.
This is and always has been about balancing the budget and avoiding layoffs.
Chris Schrimpf
116
From: chris.schrimpf@wi.gov
chris.schrimpf@wi.gov To:
Subject: Tuesday Budget Talking Points
Tuesday Budget Talking Points
Collective bargaining has a huge fiscal impact and that is why it is off the table
Governor's Walker's office today released additional examples:
o Example # 1 Paid-Time offfor Union Activities
In Milwaukee County alone, because the union collectively bargained for paid time off, fourteen
employees receive salary and benefits for doing union business. Of the fourteen, three are on
full-time release for union business. Milwaukee County spent over $170,000 in salary alone for
these employees to only participate in union activities such as collective bargaining.
o Example #2 Surrender of Management Rights Because of collecting bargaining, unions have
included provisions in employee contracts that have a direct fiscal impact such as not allowing
management to schedule workers based on operational needs and requiring notice and approval
by the union prior to scheduling changes. As County Executive Walker attempted to reduce
work hours based on budget pressures and workload requirements by instituting a 35 hour work
week to avoid layoffs, which the union opposed. Additionally, government cannot explore
privatization of functions that could save taxpayers money.
Yesterday the Governor's office released these examples of the fiscal impact of collective bargaining
o Currently many school districts participate in WEA trust because WEAC collectively bargains to
get as many school districts across the state to participate in this union run health insurance plan
as possible. Union leadership benefits from members participating in this plan. If school
districts enrolled in the state employee health plan, it would save school districts up to $68
million per year. Beyond that if school districts had the flexibility to look for health insurance
coverage outside of WEA trust or the state plan, additional savings would likely be realized.
o The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA) tried to use.a policy established by
collective bargaining to obtain health insurance coverage that specifically paid for Viagra. Cost
to taxpayers $786,000 a year.
o Unrealistic Overtime Provisions. On a state level, the Department of Corrections allows
correctional workers who call in sick to collect overtime if they work a shift on the exact same
day. The specific provision that allows this to happen was collectively bargained for in their
contract. Cost to taxpayers $4.8 million.
The unions should not be able to distract and change the subject from the fact that Senate
Democrats have left the job. The arena is Madison Wisconsin. The solution is for the Senate
Democrats to come to work. It is Senate Democrats shirking their responsibilities who must be held
accountable.
Today Senate Republicans will conduct business as usual, the Senate Democrats will be MIA and
their constituents will have their vote missing in the Capitol. They have even considered taking up
legislation like Voter ID
This legislation will prevent thousands of layoffs at the state and local levels, it will be on the Senate
Democrats if Wisconsinites get laid off because the Senate J)emocrats won't come do their job.
117
If this legislation is not passed by Friday, the state will lose it's ability to refinance and save over
$165 million leading to deep short-term cuts and possible additional layoffs, the Senate Democrats
failing to show up to work will be responsible.
We can no longer accept short term fixes and kick the tough decisions down the road. Union leaders
who say they are willing to accept the 5 and 12 are using it as a red herring. These are the same people
who tried to ram through a contract in December without negotiation, and who a week ago said they
couldn't afford the 5 and 12. The average negotiation with a union is 15 months. We don't have 15
months to balance the budget.
This is and always has been about balancing the budget and avoiding layoffs.
Chris Schrimpf
118
From: GOV Press
Sent:
To:
Tuesday, February 22, 201112:04 PM
Evenson, Tom - GOV
Cc: Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Subject: FW: Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue: Part 2
Chris Schrimpf
From: Nelson, Elise [mailto:Eiise.Nelson@legis.wisconsin.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 201111:54 AM
To: GOV Press
Subject: RE: Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue: Part 2
The Senator's in box is too full to keep up with these, could you please add Elise.Nelson@legis.wisconsin.gov to your list?
Thank you.
From: GOV Press [mailto:GOVPress@wisconsin.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:05AM
To: GOV Press
Subject: Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue: Part 2
February 22, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cullen Werwie, 608-267-7303
Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue: Part 2
Madison-Today Governor Walker's office released more specific examples to show how collective bargaining
fiscally impacts government.
Example #1 Paid-Time Off for Union Activities
In Milwaukee County alone, because the union collectively bargained for paid time off, fourteen employees
receive salary and benefits for doing union business. Of the fourteen, three are on full-time release for union
business. Milwaukee County spent over $170,000 in salary alone for these employees to only participate in
union activities such as collective bargaining.
Example #2 Surrender of Management Rights
Because of collecting bargaining, unions have included provisions in employee contracts that have a direct
fiscal impact such as not allowing management to schedule workers based on operational needs and requiring
119
notice and approval by the union prior to scheduling changes. As county executive, Walker attempted to
reduce work hours based on budget pressures and workload requirements by instituting a 35-hour work week
to avoid layoffs, which the union opposed. Additionally, government cannot explore privatization of functions
that could save taxpayers money.
Along with this release Governor Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, released the following statement:
Unfortunately for the millions of taxpayers who are currently paying these Senators' salaries and benefits,
Senator Julie Lasso and her 13 colleagues decided to take a 6 day vacation to Illinois to get 'to know a lot of my
fellow caucus members.'
While Senate Democrats are getting acquainted with each other in another state, Governor Walker is in
Wisconsin working to balance the state budget. Senators should return to Wisconsin and make their voice
heard through the democratic process by casting their votes.
###
120
From: Evenson, Tom - GOV
Sent:
To:
Tuesday, February 22, 201110:22 AM
GOV DL All Staff
Subject: Morning News Update 02.22.11
Office of Governor Scott Walker- Morning News Update for Tuesday. Februaty 22, 2011
News Summary:
Gov. Walker to address tbe people of Wisconsin tonight at 6 p.m. WISC-TV and Wisconsin Eye will air tbe
address.
Union calls for a general strike if the budget repair bill becomes law.
Senate Dems have raised over $279,000 on the lam.
Senate & Assembly in session today.
Governor Walker signed bill requiring 2/3s majority vote to increase income, sales taxes.
Video: Governor Walker on Hannity
Video: Governor Walker on Morning Joe
Governor Walker- Television Clips for Feb 20 - 21 (438 clips)
Wisconsin's Front Pages:
Appleton Post-Crescent
Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
Green Bay Press Gazette
La crosse Tribune
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Oshkosh Northwestern
Racine Journal Times
Sheboygan Press
Stevens Point Journal
Nation/World
The Showdown Over Public Union Power
Wall Street Journal
Government workers have taken to the streets in Madison, Wis., to battle a series of reforms proposed by Gov. Scott
Walker that include allowing workers to opt out of paying dues to unions. Everywhere that this "opt out" idea has been
proposed, unions have battled it vigorously because the money they collect from dues is at the heart of their power.
So Much for a 'More Civil' Public Discourse
by Stephen Hayes- Wall Street Journal
When President Obama spoke last month at the memorial service for victims of the shooting in Tucson, his speech called
on Americans to live up to their ideals.
Political Fight Over Unions Escalates
Wall Street Journal
The clash between Republicans and unions that caught fire in Wisconsin last week escalated Monday: Labor leaders
planned to take tbeir protests to dozens of other capitals and Democrats in a second state considered a walkout to stall
bills that would limit union power.
Wisconsin Lawmakers Live.Life on the Lam
Wall Street Journal
130
At 8 a.m. Thursday, 14 state senators from Wisconsin met upstairs from a coffee shop a block from the capitol and decided
the safest route to blocking Republican Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill was to leave town. Elder statesman, 83-year-old
Sen. Fred Risser, who was first elected in 1956, gavehis blessing.
Wisconsin protests: Governor not backing down over bill
BBC News -London
"We're willing to take this as long as it takes," GovWalker told US media.
GOP presidential hopefuls rally behind Wis. Gov. Scott Walker
USA Today
As the protests over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's labor proposals continue, the newly elected Republican is finding some
support from the politicians who want to replace President Obama.
Wisconsin's fiscal condition
Washington Post
-The myths about public employees are flying fast and furious, so here's two things to remember ... First, Wisconsin is
among the vast majority of states that have made budget cuts hitting public employees since the recession began- both
furlou!>hs and layoffs. And, as EPI's study on Wisconsin state worker compensation shows, public workers in Wisconsin
are compensated less well than their private sector counterparts.
Union Bonds in Wisconsin Begin to Fray
New York Times
JANESVILLE, Wis. - Rich Hahan worked at the General Motors plant here until it closed about two years ago.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: No compromise on union rights
Politico
MADISON, Wis.- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continued to stand his ground Monday night, challenging the 14
Democratic senators who have fled to Illinois to return to "where they belong" so Republicans can move forward with his
budget-cutting plan.
New York's Teamsters Local237 to bus in support to union protestors in Wisconsin
New York Daily News
The Wisconsin workers who have staged a week-long protest against their union-busting governor are getting some Big
Apple reinforcements.
Political left raises money for Wis. Senate Democrats
USA Today
Nearly $279,000 has been raised for the Wisconsin Democratic Committee via ActBlue, a political action committee that
supports Democrats and acts as a clearinghouse for donations. The contn"butions from more than 1o,ooo donors go to
Democratic groups and ActBlue acts as a conduit.
With Wisconsin's Protesters: A Cold Night in Madison
TIME Magazine
It's 9 p.m. on Sunday night but the sound of beating drums, saxophones and maracas continue to reverberate against the
Wisconsin State Capitol's stone walls.
Wisconsin protest shows state's evolving political history
Christian Science Monitor
With nearly 70,000 people storming the capitol steps of Madison last week and more expected to fill the city's streets in
the days ahead, the growing clash between union rights protesters and state legislators bent on fixing enormous budget
holes looks likely to get messier before it is resolved.
High Noon for Democratic Party in Wisconsin
by Bill O'Reilly -Fox News
The stakes are huge for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin right now. Thousands of state workers are furious that Gov.
Scott Walker is asking for givebacks in their benefits. The governor also wants to cripple labor unions from negotiating in
that state. Workers have walked off the job and many schools are shut down.
Daniels sticks up for Walker
Politico
131
Mitch Daniels stood in solidarity with Wisconsin's Scott Walker today, telling a Chicago radio program that his fellow
governor is "only doing what he said he'd do" and denouncing people who compared the protests there to the o11es in
Egypt.
Public Employee Unions Failing Badly At Public Relations
Forbes
Despite the tens of thousands who have turned up to battle Walker's attempt at taking away collective bargaining rights,
the governor continues to hold most of the cards. With a solid majority behind him in the state legislature, there is a very
strong likelihood that Walker will win this battle and set off a chain of events around the nation that could deal the union
movement a crushing - even fatal- blow.
Jonah Goldberg: Public unions must go
Los Angeles Times
Public unions have been a 50-year mistake.
As ground zero in bargaining debate, Wisconsin union battle has nationwide repercussions
New York Daily News
Everyone in New York- especially civil sel'Vants, union leaders and lawmakers- should be paying close attention to the
battle being waged in Wisconsin.
Neither side budging in Wisconsin union fight
by Scott Bauer -Associated Press - Newsday
(AP)- Republican backers of Gov. Scott Walker's plan to eliminate collective bargaining rights for most public employees
are trying to move the explosive proposal closer to reality, even as Democrats remained on the run and protesters filled the
halls of the Capitol for a second week.
Wisconsin Democratic aide says governor niust compromise
Reuters News Service
Miller's aide Mike Browne said the unions representing those workers have signaled their willingness to meet the
governor, and are prepared to increase the amount of money they pay toward their health and benefit plans.
Wisconsin Governor Asks Democrats to Come Home
Reuters News Service -New York Times
MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters)- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Monday urged 14 Democratic state senators who
left the state rather than vote on a bill that takes away bargaining rights for state workers to return to work, but warned a
big budget deficit left no room to negotiate.
Audio: Wis. Senate Democrats Stay Away To Avoid Vote
NPR
Protests could spread across U.S., unions say
The Province
Protests by government workers in Wisconsin and other states will multiply as Republican governors try to change rules
for collective bargaining, a union spokesman said.
Starving Wisconsin's unions
Washington Post
Let's be clear: The high-stakes standoff in Wisconsin has nothing to do with balancing the state's budget.
Wisconsin governor deserves union backlash
San Francisco Chronicle
The masses are rising up against imperious leadership in Manama, Sanaa, Tehran, Tripoli and Madison, Wis.
Madison, Wis.?
Fight over Wisconsin unions heats up
Los Angeles Times
Wisconsin Republicans on Monday turned up the heat on Democratic state senators who fled to illinois last week to block
passage of a controversial bill that would eliminate collective bargaining for most public employee unions.
Thousands take Wisconsin labor protest into its eighth day
Detroit Free Press
The union supporters withstood an ice-glazing storm that made walking treacherous and temperatures in the mid-2os
that had them gladly jumping up and down during the musical portion of the demonstration.
132
Make Everybody Hurt
by David Brooks -New York Times
No place is hotter than Wisconsin. The leaders there have done everything possible to maximize conflict. Gov. Scott
Walker, a Republican, demanded cuts only from people in the other party. The public sector unions and their allies
immediately flew into a rage, comparing Walker to Hitler, Mussolini and Mubarak.
Civility lacking in Wisconsin fracas
Chicago Sun-Times
Tea Party protesters must be kicking themselves for being faint-hearted. After all, they showed up only at town halls and
the offices of politicians. Angry unionists in Wisconsin took their complaints to the private home of Gov. Scott Walker in
the Milwaukee suburbs.
Benefits bubble has burst for Wisconsin unions
Chicago Tribune
The crowds mobbing the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison are right: Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill is indeed an attack
on organized government workers.
And it's about time.
Wisconsin Protests Draw Thousands Of Workers Fighting For Key Union Rights
Huffing ton Post
MADISON, Wis.-- On Friday, February 11, at the same hour that the world watched the former Egyptian president Hosni
Mubarak resign his post, the newly appointed Republican Governor of Wisconsin quietly launched a ferocious attack on
public sector unions -- and the very notion of organized labor in America.
What's the matter with Wisconsin?
Baltimore Sun
Wisconsin's public employee unions are doing a lousy job of being villains. They're willing to have their salaries and
benefits cut 8 percent as Gov. Scott Walker has sought, and they're not asking for much in return- just to maintain the
right to collective bargaining.
For Wisconsin unions. a telling concession
Washington Post
Looks to me as if Wisconsin's union leaders have revealed their preference for political power. They want to preserve
collective bargaining at all costs, because without it they will lose the flow of dues money. And without dues money, the
unions have no political war chests, and without political war chests, they are no longer power brokers in state and local
elections.
Wisconsin risks losing its best public employees
CNN
If Walker's bill passes, and salaries and benefits continue to be slashed by local governments with no negotiations
necessary, it will be the most effective teachers, the best managers and the most successful university professors who will
be the first to leave their jobs for the private sector.
DNC Chairman: Wisconsin Governor Waging War on Public Workers
Fox News
"Governors and others in state houses across this country on the Republican side have decided what they want to do is
wage a war against their own employees," Kaine said Saturday night. "Against public employees who are teaching our kids,
who are caring for our parents in nursing homes, who are patrolling our neighborhoods."
Milwaukee
Burlington residents to Sen. Wirch: Go back to Madison and vote
Racine Journal Times
BURLINGTON- Cheryl Herrick, 51, of Burlington, has a message for her "missing" state senator, Sen. Robert Wirch, D-
Pleasant Prairie. "Come back and vote," said Herrick, who works in retail. "Elections have consequences."
Barrett warns of cuts to come {AUDIO)
Wisconsin Radio Network
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett delivered his state of the city address Monday, and said he understands that government
employees need to make increased contributions to their health care and pension benefits.
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Senate Dems have raised $28o,ooo since they went missing
More than u,ooo donors from around the country have given $280,000 to the State Senate Democratic Committee via
ActBlue.com, a national website that funnels money from various sources for Democratic causes. The committee supports
the campaigns of Democratic candidates for the state Senate.
Game time is over
Editorial- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The game of charades in Wisconsin politics should end.
Passionate but peaceful
Editorial- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The protesters in Madison were loud and insistent- and sometimes colorful. They chanted. They sang. They beat drums.
Walker has created 'an ideological war.' Barrett says
"I think he's loving the fact he's created this ideological war," Barrett said. Barrett was Walker's Democratic opponent in
last fall's governor's race. "The whole purpose is to pit people against one another," the mayor said in an interview after his
annual "state of the city" speech.
Refinancing of bonds is huge part of budget repair bill
Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to curtail bargaining rights for public-sector unions has triggered mass protests and national
headlines but hardly constitutes the biggest part of his budget repair bill.
Doctors' excuses for protesting teachers in Madison draw scrutiny
Protesters in Madison who obtained medical excuse slips to cover their absences from work, and the doctors who issued
them, are likely to be subjected to more intensive examinations.
Teachers ready, but reluctant. to return to classrooms
"But I kept thinking about all the protesters in Tahrir Square, and how they were protesting for what they believed in even
though their lives were in danger, and I thought, if they can face that, then I can be here facing this," Ladopoulos, 40, said
Monday on the floor of the rotunda. "Because I haven't been in school, I feel like it's been my job to be here."
Teacher retirements up after budget Jh: proposal
All was quiet on Feb. 1, the deadline for employees at the Hartford Union High School District in Washington County to
submit their requests for retirement, with not a single expected retiree.
GOP raises the stakes
Madison- In a move meant to lure boycotting opposition senators back to Wisconsin, the Republican leader of the state
Senate threatened Monday to force a vote soon on a bill that is abhorred by Democrats: requiring people to show an ID at
the polls.
Home sales rise 16.2%, but prices lag
Sales of existing homes in Wisconsin rose 16.2 %in January compared with a year earlier, but the pickup in activity didn't
result in a higher median sale price.
Madison
Walker warns state workers that layoff notices may be forthcoming
Associated Press - Wisconsin State Journal
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warns that state employees could start receiving layoff notices as
early as next week if a bill eliminating collective bargaining rights isn't passed soon.
Budget Blog: Assembly. Senate head to the floor
WisPo litics
The Assembly and Senate planned to head to the floor today with very different calendars.
134
Other states' officials split on Walker's move to repeal collective bargaining
Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON - Wisconsin's fight over collective bargaining rights is drawing comment from elected officials and opinion-
page writers across the country.
WEAC President Mary Bell responds to Governor Walker's Monday Press Conference (PDF)
WEAC
Labor group calls for general strike if budget repair bill is approved
The Capital Times
The South Central Federation of Labor is calling for a general strike of close to 100 unions, representing about 45,000
workers, if Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill is passed by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor.
Stalemate in the statehouse: Government in limbo as union debate rages
Senate Democrats are still in hiding and protesters are still packing the state Capitol, but Gov. Scott Walker and
Republican lawmakers said Monday they plan to push ahead with efforts to pass a controversial bill to curb collective
bargaining rights for public workers and make sweeping changes to Medicaid.
Running away is irresponsible
Editorial- Wisconsin State Journal
They made their point.
Forcibly returning Senate Democrats may be unconstitutional
The state constitution prohibits lawmakers from being arrested while the Legislature is in session, unless they're accused
of serious crimes.
Union supporters from other states pour in to help Capitol protesters
Scores of union members from other states joined the pro-labor rallies Monday at the state Capitol, saying they fear for
their own collective bargaining rights because of what's happening here.
Wisconsin's local governments never asked to end collective bargaining, as Scott Walker contends
by Joe Tarr- Isthmus
"Our position is we've sought significant modifications in bargaining laws, but we've never sought to eliminate collective
bargaining rights," says Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
Green Bay/ Appleton
Green Bay area officials bracing for local cuts with Wisconsin budget situation
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Local officials know their piece of the pie is shrinking again. For the better part of a decade, they've dealt with reductions
in shared revenue and school aid.
Editorial: It's time to start talking about a solution
So how is this going to end? What's it going to take? If you're Gov. Scott Walker and his Republican colleagues in the
Legislature, you'd say that i t ~ \ take the 14 Senate Democrats to come back from hiding in illinois and do the job they were
elected to do.
Appleton lawmaker Penny Bernard Schaber seeks key exemption in budget plan for transit workers
MADISON- A Fox Cities lawmaker is helping lead a push to preserve federal funding for transportation services.
Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan may tilt political plaving field
Associated Press -Appleton Post-Crescent
MADISON - The high-stakes fight in Wisconsin over union rights is about more than pay and benefits in the public
sector. It could have far-reaching effects on electoral politics in this and other states by helping solidify Republican power
for years, experts said Monday.
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Budget bill impasse continues in Madison
by Scott Bauer- Associated Press- Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
MADISON- No resolution appeared imminent Monday to the stalemate over union rights in Wisconsin, leaving Senate
Republicans resigned to forge ahead with less-controversial business such as tax breaks for dairy farmers and
commending the Green Bay Packers on winning the Super Bowl.
Editorial: Snatching defeat from the hands of budget victory
If balancing the state budget is truly Gov. Scott Walker's aim, the political brinksmanship can come to an end in the state
capitol. Union leaders agreed to the financial terms in Walker's budget repair bill that sparked massive protests in
Madison and virtually ground the legislature to a halt with 14 Democrat senators fleeing the state to prevent a vote on the
bill.
Hopper: Rolling back bargaining rights at root of fiscal sustainabilitv
Revoking most collective bargaining rights for public employees is at the root of stabilizing state, municipal and school
district budgets long term, Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond duLac, said Monday.
1,soo layoffs possible if bill not OK'd by Friday
As the standoff entered its second week, none of the major players offered any signs of backing down in a high-stakes
game of political chicken that has riveted the nation and led to ongoing public protests that drew a high of 68,ooo people
on Saturday. Thousands more braved cold winds and temperatures in the 20s to march again on Monday, waving signs
that said "Stop the attack on Wisconsin families" and "solidarity."
La CrossefEau Claire
Changes to Medicaid criticized: up to 70,ooo could lose coverage
La Crosse Tribune
Overshadowed in Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill is a provision that could lead to some 70,000 people
losing health insurance.
County approves worker contracts; unions OK one-year wage freeze
La Crosse Tribune
Supervisor Bill Feehan, who is the chairman of the La Crosse County GOP, abstained from voting. "To my way of thinking
this is being rushed," he said. "My concern is we don't rush into a decision that ties our hands once the budget repair bill
passes."
UW Health investigates doctors who wrote sick notes for protesters
Chippewa Herald
MADISON- UW Health is investigating reports of doctors writing sick notes last weekend to excuse Capitol protesters
from work, and the Wisconsin Medical Society has criticized the doctors' actions.
Wausau/Rhinelander
-EDITORIAL: Be honest about protest absences
Wausau Daily Herald
Hundreds of teachers locally called in sick on Friday to participate in protests against Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair
bill. It was intended as a form of protest, and it registered that way. Many local school districts, including Wausau and
Merrill, were closed for the day.
Local Walker supporters say it's time to make cuts
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune
About a week has passed, and some local conservatives still can't believe 14 state senators left Wisconsin to stall a budget
repair bill.
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From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Stephen Hayes
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:32AM
question ...
have you guys put together a list of the times scott-- or the campaign --talked about changing collective bargaining. i've
seen the mention in the teachers union flyer, which comes from the article below. it's about health care for teachers and
features ryan murray saying that scott would take the choice out of collective bargaining. (and, not insignificantly,
features the teachers union rep saying he would end collective bargaining altogether.)
Where else?
sfh
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
August 30, 2010 Monday
Final Edition
Saving millions on insurance I ELECTION 2010 Barrett, Walker plans would add workers to health pool I
BYLINE: JASON STEIN, jstein@journalsentinel.com Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
SECTION: News; Pg. NaN
LENGTH: 1244 words
Madison- Two leading candidates for governor say they could save taxpayers up to hundreds of millions of dollars a year
by revamping the way schools and local governments buy health insurance for more than 200, 000 public employees
around Wisconsin.
The plans are the centerpiece of proposals to cut government spending by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingCourity Executive Scott Walker, -Search using:
News, Most Recent 60 Days
Biographies Plus News
a Republican, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat.
The changes could save taxpayers substantial sums, though the saving could still fall short ofwhatthe candidates
suggest.
What neither candidate highlights, however, is that their plans also will mean taking away unions' right to negotiate with
their employers for their insurance carrier- a potentially explosive political fight.
Walker's plan would give school boards, city councils and village boards the ability to join the st9te health insurance pool
even if unions object. The Barrett plan would require local governments to insure their workers through the state pool
but not schools.
The state's powerful teachers union opposes Walker's plan and is signaling a fight over it if Walker is elected and moves
the idea forward.
"Our members oppose taking away their rights to collective bargaining, so they would definitely raise their voices
against it," Christina Brey, speaking for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said of Walker's plan.
Walker is running in the Republican primary against former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, who has said he would hold state
spending increases to 1 percentage point below the inflation rate but has not given details about how he would do that.
137
Already in pool Walker has said he wants to allow schools and local governments with higher health costs to buy into the
insurance pool for state employees- a step he says could save schools up to $68 million a year and local governments up
to $224 million. But schools and local governments already are allowed to buy into a state pool, according to the state
Department of Employee Trust Funds.
About 380 local employers, such as cities, villages and counties, are part of the pool, said Lisa Ellinger, deputy
administrator of the agency's Division of Insurance Services.
But only a handful of schools participate.
That's in part because of the close relationship between WEAC and a separate major insurer for school employees, WEA
Trust, that the union created, said Ryan Murray, campaign policy adviser for Walker. He said school districts often have
some of the most expensive health benefits in Wisconsin and could receive cheaper insurance through the state if they
didn't have to negotiate with unions about who would insure their members.
"The way the proposal would work is we would take the choice out of the collective bargaining process," Murray said.
Brey said that WEAC members have sought to keep their overall pay and benefits to reasonable levels in contract
negotiations. "Through the years, during the give and take that occurs at the bargaining table, teachers have looked at
good benefits for themselves and their families and foregone salary benefits for that," Brey said.
Murray said Walker would let schools and local governments keep any saving they get and would not seek to recover it
to help close a $2.7 billion projected budget deficit for the state 2011-'13 budget.
School boards back plan The Wisconsin Association of School Boards, which has studied the possible saving from such a
step, backs the proposal and believes that Walker's cost saving estimates are reasonable, said Sheri Krause, a lobbyist
for the group.
A similar proposal was passed as part of the 2003-'05 budget by the Republicancontrolled Legislature but was vetoed by
Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. He said in his veto statement he objected to "forcing this plan onto employees." Because
there aren't good estimates for local government health insurance costs, the Walker campaign relied on the average
estimated saving for teachers to calculate the "up to $224 million" in lower costs his plan might produce for local
governments.
Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said that likely would exaggerate the local government
saving, because schools in Wisconsin typically have higher health insurance costs.
Murray acknowledged that was possible and said that was why the Walker campaign was careful to say "up to $224
million" in saving.
For his part, Neumann said as governor he would look at the "big picture" and seek to hold down costs that the state
and local governments are paying for their employees overall, not just their health insurance or their salaries.
" (Voters) should expect me to be very tough on a bottom line total compensation package for the public employees;"
Neumann said.
'Win-win' situation Barrett's plan would require local governments to buy insurance through the state system, a step
that his campaign estimates would save $339 million a year. Barrett wants to include school districts in the state pool in
the future but feels that doing so right away would be politically difficult, campaign policy adviser Paul Vornholt said. He
noted that local employee unions are more familiar with the state insurance system because more local governments
use it.
"There wouldn't be much convinc;ing to do. It would reduce state employee costs and local government costs and be a
win-win," Vornholt said.
Vornholt said Barrett's plan would give state and local government more buying power in Wisconsin's insurance market.
Now, the state receives lower health insurance prices in Dane County- the seat of state government where the state has
its biggest concentration of workers and its greatest purchasing power.
Vornholt said Barrett's plan would give the state similar leverage and similar saving in other parts of the state. He said
that, unlike Walker's proposal, Barrett's plan would allow the state to keep the difference.
John Torinus, chairman of Serigraph Inc. in West Bend and a commentator on the issue of health care costs, said pooling
government employees together might not produce huge saving because large employers such as the state typically see
diminishing returns when they get even bigger.
David Riemer, a former state budget director under Doyle who has given advice to Barrett, said it also might be
challenging to achieve reductions with the plan in very rural areas with little competition among healthcare providers
now. But Riemer, now the director of the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, said Barrett's plan should lower
138
costs and improve competition in urban health care markets such as Milwaukee as providers compete to serve the
larger bloc of public employees.
"I think it's quite reasonable," Riemer said of Barrett's saving estimate. Murray said Barrett's plan protected the teachers
union, a key Democratic ally, by not including schools.
"That had a lot to do with who's supporting (Barrett) in the election," Murray said.
Vornholt countered that Walker's plan ran a risk by allowing school districts and local governments to choose not to
enter the state plan if they wanted. That leaves open the possibility that only school districts with the highest costs
might choose the state plan, which could drive up costs in the state pool, he said.
Copyright 2010, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already
copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.) Copyright, 2010, Journal Sentinel, All Rights Reserved.
LOAD-DATE: August 30, 2010
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
139
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Fyi and handle as you see fit
From: John Black rm:ilh''
Sent: Monday,
To: Hozeny, Tony- COMMERCE
Subject: Assistence
Mr. Hozeny-
Hozeny, Tony- COMMERCE
Volz, David J - COMMERCE
FW: Assistence
I am reaching out to you as I suspect you have the ability to speak to the Governor during this time of crisis. As
a small business owner in Madison that hopes to expand greatly, I hope my opinion matters. I recently heard
the Governor speak, and was impressed by his passion to be 'open for business'; his ideas; and his oratory
skills. He certainly is a leader, and we certainly need that ability right now with the entire country watching.
Seems to me Governor Wall<er should turn the Union's (and Democrat's) tactic of trying to make this situation about
protecting the workers back on ihem -and in so doing help the good people of Wisconsin caught in the middle.
I know a few teachers, and have been tuned in to the buzz online, and they are ALL accepting of contributing to benefits-
to save jobs and because they certainly understand the economy is still recovering. (Despite the Governor's message
when running for office, people still were surprised when they saw the specifics in writing.)
The Unions, and the Democrats, are successfully making the issue "union busting" and grabbing the hearts of many of the
people by positioning Wisconsin as an historical leader in all the good Union's have done. They are, sadly, the only party
positioning themselves in the media effectively as the party of the people. This should be countered, if not for the present,
certainly for the future, as our young people are mostly hearing from a clearly biased base of teachers. And in any event,
the negativity surrounding the whole issue only serves to deflate the spirit of the young who otherwise might be inspired to
participate in government. Right now only one party is reaching out to them.
Reducing or severely limiting collective bargaining is a good thing, no doubt. The current system, where citizens are
required to join the Union; taxpayer money is used to collect dues; and then the dues (originating as taxpayer money paid
to state and local workers for services) clearly go to benefit the Democratic party, which is just as clearly not fair.
(I have heard good people make the argument that it is no different than businesses or their PAC's contributing to a
political party, but of course that is not true as that is not taxpayer money being used, and if someone does not like how a
business spends its political capital they can do business elsewhere, versus taxpayers who must pay tax money. NO
ONE is making this argument at all, and it is a good one.)
While not at all compromising on collective bargaining. and in fact expanding the concessions to include the fact that
Unions should reimburse the State for any dues collection or meeting space usage, the Governor should phase in the
employee contributions over two years, simply dividing them in half. Sure, the argument could be made that the budget
must be balanced, but between reimbursement for dues collection and finding other areas of cost reduction a compromise
could be reached. For most smart businesses looking at expanding in Wisconsin, I do not think this will be seen as
weakness, but instead as rational caring for the workforce- while still systemically changing that which is not equitable.
And such a compromise would be welcomed by the majority of decent, honest, THOUGHTFUL government
employees. And in so compromising the Governor would tangibly show Republicans are interested in helping people,
without compromising principles around limiting or removing an unfair collective bargaining system.
140
Whether or not a compromise might be reached, I hope the Governor and/or his ambassadors, will reach out ten times
more than currently- be on every radio show and TV and meeting- let those who want to yell do so, and when they run
out of breath calmly set forth with facts, and ideally graphics, why Wisconsin needs to change. And the Republicans
simply must reach out to the young, because they are our future. Don't wait for their parents to engage them. Let them
hear the message directly, in simple-but-not-condescending terms, that the system has some flaws currently and the
Governor is fighting for their future. He can be a very charismatic leader, and young people need that engagement right
now.
If asked to help, I will. In the meantime I will be sending out 'op ed' pieces on websites and trying to influence those who
will listen to reason.
Regards,
John J. Black, Sr. CPCU
CEO - BASE Consulting LLC
1522 Adams Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
Ph: 608
Proud Sponsor of the Midwest Gypsy Swing Festival!!!
http://www, m idwestqypsyswingfest.com/
141
From:
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To:
Subject:
DWD MB Communications Office
Barroi\het, Dan - DWD; Bartol, Fred - DWD; Baumbach, Scott C - DWD; Beckett, Laura L-
DWD; Berge, Sharon - DWD; Bernstein, Howard I - DWD; Black-Radloff, Rita - DWD;
Bolles, John - DWD; Brockmi\ler, William - DWD; Crary, Cathy - DWD; Denis, Gary J -
DWD; Dipko, John A- DWD; Falk, Elizabeth C- DWD; Fosdick, Anna- DWD; Gerrits,
Karen - DWD; Grant, Ken G - DWD; Grosso, Eric- DWD; Hodek, Scott A- DWD; Holt,
Deb - DWD; Jones, Richard - DWD; Kikkert, Becky- GOV; Lied I, Kimberly - GOV; Lingard,
Sue- DWD; Maxwell, Georgia E - DWD; McDonald, Scott - DWD; Morgan, Karen P -
DWD; Natera, Ramon V - DWD; OBrien, Christopher D - DWD; O'Brien, Pamela - DWD;
Perez, Manuel - DWD; Phillips, Amelia - DWD; Preysz, Linda - DWD; Reid, Andrea -
DWD; Reynolds, Dianne- DWD; Richard, JoAnna - DWD; Rodgers-Rhyme, Anne M -
DWD; Sachse, Jeff A - DWD; Schmalle, Verlynn C - DWD; Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Shutes,
David L - DWD; Solomon, Brian - DWD; Spurlin, Dennis A- DWD; Thompson, Heather-
DWD; Udalova, Victoria M - DWD; Vue, Mai Zong - DCF; Weber, Sue - DWD; Werwie,
Cullen J - GOV; Westfall, Grant- DWD; Williamson, Linda - DWD; Winters, Dennis K-
DWD; Wisnewski, Jerry- DWD; Wolfe, Brian M - DWD; Wurl, Mark W - DWD
Articles from CustomScoop, Monday 02.22.11
http://www. nvtimes.com/20 11/02/22/us/22union. html? r-1 &nl-todaysheadli nes&emc-tha 2
Union Bonds in Wisconsin Begin to Fray
By A. G. SULZBERGER and MONICA DAVEY, February 21, 2011
JANESVILLE, Wis. -Rich Hahan worked at the General Motors plant here until it closed about two years ago. He moved
to Detroit to take another G.M. job while his wife and children stayed here, but then the automaker cut more jobs. So Mr.
Hahan, 50, found himself back in Janesville, collecting unemployment for a time, and watching as the city's industrial base
seemed to crumble away. Among the top five employers here are the county, the schools and the city. And that was
enough to make Mr. Hahan, a union man from a union town, a supporter of Gov. Scott Walker's sweeping proposal to cut
the benefits and collective-bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin, a plan that has set off afirestorm of debate
and protests at the state Capitol.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22koch.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha24
Billionaire Brothers' Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute
By ERIC LIPTON, February 21, 2011
WASHINGTON- Among the thousands of demonstrators who jammed the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds this
weekend was a well-financed advocate from Washington who was there to voice praise for cutting state spending by
slashing union benefits and bargaining rights. The visitor, Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity. told a
large group of counterprotesters who had gathered Saturday at one edge of what otherwise was a mostly union crowd
that the cuts were not only necessary, but they also represented the start of a much-needed nationwide move to slash
public-sector union benefits.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/116603133.html
FluGen lands $7.8 million shot of investment capital
Micro-needle patches center on vaccines
By Kathleen Gallagher of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 21, 2011 1(2) Comments
FluGen Inc. has landed $7.8 million that should help bring one of its leading technologies into human clinical trials this
year. Knox LLC of Las Vegas, the investment vehicle for a wealthy University of Wisconsin-Madison alum, led the
company's latest round of fund-raising. Madison-based FluGen will use the money to fund a Phase I clinical trial for its
vaccine delivery device, a poker chip-sized, micro-needle skin patch the company says is more effective and less painful
than standard needle injections.
142
htto: 1/www .jsonline.com/business/116628808. html
Mining orders moving ahead, Bucyrus CEO says
By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 21, 2011 l<ol Comments
Large equipment orders are in and others have moved forward as Bucyrus International Inc. pursues projects in India and
South Africa. Last week, Chief Executive Tim Sullivan said contracts had been signed for mining shovels, draglines,
trucks and other gear needed by Indian power plant operator Reliance LLC to mine coal. The contracts followed months
of delays that put up to 1,000 U.S. jobs and $600 million in Bucyrus sales at risk.
' .
..
CustomScoop
Clip Report
- -" ,, ---- - -- ,.----o
"---- -
.-----
- ~ - - - - "
-----" --- --
.....
I wanted to draw your attention to these articles that appeared in my CustomScoop online news result
report.
Neither side budging in Wisconsin union fight << ',, .,. .. . ..... . .. >
Byline: SCOTT BAUER Tuesday
Source: Janesville Gazette (WI) 21900 [Registration Required]
Indexed At: 02/22/20117:41 AM
Keywords: Governor Scott Walker (5)
Abstract: ... state Capitol Tuesday in Madison, Wis. Opponents to Governor Scott Walker's bill to
. eliminate collective bargaining rights for many state workers are taking part in ...
. . . . < ' . .. - -: .. . . .. . . .... - ' ..... ' .
Caj;!itol Chaos: Stalemate Could Mean Laloffs
. ..... -. ' ..... _.-,.
/ .. < .
Byline: Lauren Leamanczyk
Source: Milwaukee WTMJ (WI) N/A
Indexed At: 02/22/2011 7:39AM
. Abstract: ... Capitol Chaos: Stalemate Could Mean Layoffs MADISON -Governor Scott Walker set a
time table for passing his budget repair bill Without laying off workers. Walker ...
' . . .. .. . ' .. ' .,.. . ... .. <' . : . ~ ... . '. < . .- . ... ..
Walker sals he won't acceRt union com12romise ,... . , . ..... '. . .. ..
Source: Oshkosh Northwestern (WI) 21400
Indexed At: 02/22/2011 5:05AM
Abstract: ... Feb. 21, 2011, in Madison, Wis. Opponents to Governor Scott Walker's bill to eliminate
collective bargainir)g rights for many state workers are taking part in-...
.
walker seizes chi!nceto tatse ()n unions
. ...... .. ... .. .......
.... ....
.. . . ...
. . . .... ..
Source: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com (WI) 52000
Indexed At: 02/22/2011 4:26AM
Abstract: ... Press February 21, 2011 MADISON It took Scott Walker only a few weeks to push the
Capitol into political chaos. The newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin has set his
sights on forcing public workers to pay more for benefits ...
' C . U '" ... ' I . . .. .' ' . I b. "-'
..
. . ....
. OL MN: Don. t R all games w1th JOb ess enefits
.
i Source: Fond du Lac Reporter (WI) 16300
i Indexed At: 02/22/2011 2:52AM
Keywords: Jobless (6)
.
. ...
....
..
. .... .. .....
"""" -------- --- " . --------- ---
143
. '-"'
:_:__:__ -_:_ ::
-
- :.:_ - _:_: '__'" -- cc
_----- -- --- "'
, I
Abstract: ... COLUMN: Don't play games with jobless benefits You will be redirected to the page you want I
to view in seconds. Three ... (
CAL THOMAS: Wisconsinas ground zero: Walker is in good . .. -
.
Byline: Cal Thomas
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) 186433
Indexed At: 02/22/2011 2:24AM
_Keywords: Governor Scott Walker (6)
Abstract: ... Now It's the turn of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker. So far, the 43-year-old
governOr, In office less than two months, has stood his ground against schoolteachers who
called ...
OeQartmellt of Workforce .
.. .. _ .. - ..
... _.-- .
..
-
. . . ... -. -.-. -
Byline: Jack ZemlickaC
Source: Wisconsin Law Journal (WI) N/ A
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 8:30PM
Keywords: workforce development (1)
Abstract: ... Jack ZemlickaC Department of Workforce Development crack down on worker
misclassification.The law, which went Into effect at the start of the ...
from absent -. _-- -.-
.. - . . .
. - .
_-_--
. .
Byline: T
Source: WKOW-TV 27 ABC (WI).N/A
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 7:41 PM
Keywords: Unemployment Insurance OR unemployment benefits (1)
Abstract: ... disclose, said former Governor Tony Earl solved an unemployment insurance funding

crisis in 1983 by asking two top lawmakers from both parties to hammer out ...
!
. - - _._-_ - .. . .. . . . . . .. - ._.. .. -.
.
- .... _- .- .. --
l::!oyse Cuts Targetmg Seniors ._
.. . . .
..
. .
Source: Milwaukee Business Journal (WI) 10400 [Registration Required]
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 2:44 PM
Keywords: Jobless (1)
Abstract: ... group to face very long-term unemployment and remain jobless for 99 weeks or more."
Public support for older adult jobs programs is extremely high, ...
Collective bargaining fisci!l imRact on government
.
.
. .. -
..
.
Source: Fond du Lac Reporter (WI) 16300
Indexed At: 02/21/201110:43 AM
Abstract: ... mat at a local restaurant.- 11:00 pm Gov. Scott Walker's office released the following
examples to explain from the governor
1
s perspective how collective bargaining fiscally impacts
governement. Currently many school districts participate in WEA ...
.. . . . . . . - . .. - ... .. _- . . . . ... .
ScQtt Walker-enters office with less than some new GOP governors,
ROll
. ...
. .. . -.. ..
. . ..
..
- -- .......
. .. -
---
Byline: Craig Gilbert
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) 186433
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 4:38 AM
Abstract: ... Scott Walker enters office with less popularity than some new GOP governors, poll says
Public Policy Polling has collected popularity ratings on Wisconsin's Scott Walker and ...
144
.... .....
'--- """ - - "- ..
..... ... .... .... ... .... ---- ------- ......
Trade jobs see brighter futu[e
.. ......
..
. ......
..
.
.
.
.
.. . .
..
Byline: Pete Bach Post-Crescent
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 4:22AM
Abstract: ... officer of the Town of Menasha-based Fox Valley Workforce Development Board. "We
talked about that prior to the downturn in the economy and we're back ...
' ' ;; . ,_. ; . . . .
AttorneY:: Walker's budget reRar b1ll changes labor game
. .
. \ .
Byline: Steve C
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 4:08AM
Keywords: Child labor (1)
Abstract: ... while unions played a critical role in ending child labor practices and establishing a five-day
workweek, their value has diminished. Collective bargaining costs take money ...
i New labor art exhibit ORens coincideotaiiY: at Overture
. . . ........ .. . ___c
. .. .1
Byline: Sasha Hayman Sunday
Source: Badger Herald (WI) N/ A
Indexed At: 02/21/2011 4:07AM
Abstract: ... developed at the request of Roberta Gassman, former Workforce Development Secretary.
She said she_ wanted to inspire people through the skills of Wisconsin workers, in ...
; Walk:el" !.!Rends CaRitoi ROiitics after less than two months in Qffice
.. .
Source: Wisconsin State Journal and Madison.com (WI) 91575
Inde,;ed At: 02/20/2011 4:3S PM
Abstract: ... For the juhkie in us all. It took Scott Walker only a few weeks to push the Capitol
intopolitical chaos. The newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin has set hissights on
forcing public workers to pay more for benefits as ...
Commoo Sense ConC:essions to save jobs
. .
...
..
. .. . .. . . .......
. ..
Byline: Christine Wodke
Source: The Examiner.com-Milwaukee (WI) N/A
Indexed At: 02/20/2011 2:33PM
Abstract: ... 7.1 percent according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. We
cannot continue to raise taxes on business and citizens. We are already one ...
....... .. ----- -- ... "---
145
From: Archer, Cynthia - DOA
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:10 AM
To: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV;
Murray, Ryan M - GOV
Cc: Huebsch, Mike- DOA
Subject: More info today coming.
We will get statewide numbers today for paid union time. I suspect the numbers will be far more impressive.
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 08:16AM
To: Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Archer, Cynthia - DOA; Murray, Ryan M - GOV
Subject: RE: Draft release for tomorrow early AM: Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue Part 2
I slightly edited. I think we need to get this out soon. We need to keep up the drumbeat of collective bargaining being
fiscal. Please send any edits asap.
Chris Schrimpf
Press Q(fice: 608-267-7303
Email: clnis.schrimpf@wisconsin.gov
From: Werwie, Cullen J- GOV
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 8:58PM
To: Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Archer, Cynthia - DOA; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Subject: Draft release for tomorrow early AM: Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue Part 2
February 21, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cullen Werwie, 608-267-7303
Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue Part 2
Madison-Today Governor Walker's office released more specific examples to show how collective bargaining
fiscally impacts government.
Example #1 Paid-Time off for Union Activities
In Milwaukee County alone, because the union collectively bargained for paid time off, fourteen employees
receive salary and benefits for doing union business. Of the fourteen, three are on full-time release for union
business. Milwaukee County spent over $170,000 in salary alone for these employees to only participate in
union activities such as collective bargaining.
Example #2 Surrender of Management Rights
Because of collecting bargaining, unions have included provisions in employee contracts that have a direct
fiscal impact such as not allowing management to schedule workers based on operational needs and requiring
146
notice and approval by the union prior to scheduling changes. As County Executive Walker attempted to
reduce work hours based on budget pressures and workload requirements by instituting a 35 hour work week
to avoid layoffs, which the union opposed. Additionally, government cannot explore privatization of functions
that could save taxpayers money.
Along with this release Governor Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, released the following statement:
Unfortunately for the millions of taxpayers who are currently paying these Senators' salaries and benefits,
Senator Julie Lasso and her 13 colleagues decided to take a 6 day vacation to Illinois to get 'to know a lot of my
fellow caucus members.'
While Senate Democrats are getting acquainted with each other in another state, Governor Walker is in
Wisconsin working to balance the state budget. Senators should return to Wisconsin and make their voice
heard through the democratic process by casting their vote.
###
147
From:
Sent
To:
Subject:
Hello,
Mo\epske, Louis
Sunday, February 20, 2011 6:37
Thank you for your message
With such a high number of emails supporting state employee collective bargaining rights
and the efforts of my legislative colleagues and I to protect those rights, my office is
.extremely busy. We are unable to respond to your email at this time. However, your
comments are very important to me. Please make sure you've left your name, address and a
brief message.
My staff and I are working tirelessly to stop this destructive policy. We n?ed your help.
In addition to emailing me, I encourage you to:
*call Governor Walker at 608/266-1212, and
*ask your friends and family to call or write to their own state representative, state
senator and the Governor.
Information on how to contact them is available
at: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx.
If your message is on another topic, we are doing the best we can to respond to emails
and phone requests as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Rep. Louis J. Molepske, Jr.
7lst Assembly District
52
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Attachments:
---------- Forwarded mE!SS<Ige
From: Luke Frans
Chris
Sunday,
Fwd: Call Follow Up Items
AFT _Fiyer.pdf
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 201116:05:02 -0500
Subject: Call Follow U
To: Luke Frans
Attached is the union flyer sent during the campaign regarding Governor Walker's discussion of these very issues.
The House-passed bill rolls discretionary spending back beyond 2008levels for the remainder ofthe fiscal year, so the
percentage of the increase from
2008 to 2010 that is rolled back would be more than 100 percent. Confirming precise figures.
WSJ: Campaign's Big
Spender<http:/ /online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303339504575566481761790288.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTI
opStories>,
10/22/10
1. AFSCME- $87.5 million
2. US Chamber of Commerce- $75 million 3. American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS- $65 million 4. SEIU- $44 mi!lion
.5. NEA- $40 million
No Way to Do Crisis Management <http:/ /blog.american.com/?p=27333>, AEI Blog
Three weeks ago, President Obama met for more than an hour on a Saturday with "his national security team" to discuss
the situation in Egypt, just before former Ambassador Frank Wisner was dispatched to meet with President Mubarak.
There were 11 people in the room in addition to the president. That was probably four or five too many, but the bigger
problem is that people who should have been there were absent, and some people who probably shouldn't have
attended were there. Here's the White House Press Office's "Readout of the President's Meeting on Egypt":
"At 1:00 pm today, the President convened a meeting of his national security team at the White House. Participants
included Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis
McDonough, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, National Security
Advisor to the Vice President Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes,
Senior Director for the Central Region Dennis Ross, Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa Dan Shapiro,
Chief of Staff Bill Daley, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Senior Advisor David Plouffe. The meeting lasted
just over an hour. The President was updated on the situation in Egypt. He reiterated our focus on opposing violence
and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights; and supporting concrete steps that. advance political reform within
Egypt."
Most striking is the paucity of people with substantive knowledge of the situation in Egypt, and even more is that there
was no one from State, Defense, or the CIA. Not only did those departments have the best sources of information
53
available to the U.S. government on the current situation, but they were the ones most responsible for implementing
any policies that the president might direct. Perhaps that helps to explain how an experienced diplomat like Wisner
could so quickly find himself speaking at cross-purposes with the administration. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs's attempt
to distance the White House from Wisner suggests a serious lack of coordination within the U.S. government: "Former
Ambassador Wisner is not an employee of the government. He was, based on his broad experience in Egypt, asked by
the State Department-and I would direct you to the State Department on the specifics of anything regarding him-to
travel to Cairo and have a specific conversation with President Mubarak."
The presence of so many political and public relations advisers in the meeting was also problematic. At best that tends
to produce a focus on the very short term at the expense of any forward thinking. At worst it produces a decision
process that begins with the question of how best to spin the position of the moment.
Luke Frans I Resurgent Republic
54
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
AFL's line
Ward, Jon.__.....,
Sunday, February 20, 201112:14 PM
Re: Follow up
"The so called budget issues are simply a smokescreen so Walker can fulfill his dream of playing dress up as Chris Christie
and trying to eliminate worker's voices and their unions. He proved this himself clearly on Saturday when the local
workers agreed to accept all his concessions on pay, benefits and pensions as a compromise if he would let them keep
their bargaining rights. He said no. The fact that he wouldn't agree to every economic change he himself proposed
clearly demonstrates what this is about; a political attack on working families to pay back his Wall Street campaign
supporters."
1)The local unions said they would accept ALL of his changes to pay, benefits & pensions and he only had to compromise
on not eliminating collective bargaining. He said no. So clearly his goal is to eliminate their bargaining rights since they
offered to accept all his economic concessions.
-----Original Message-----
From: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV <Chris.Schrimpf@wisconsin.gov>
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 12:54:35 2011
Subject: Re: Follow up
I would ask them
-----Original Message-----
From: Ward, Jon [ m a i l t ~
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 201111:43 AM
To: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV
Subject: Follow up
Any specifics on things the senate could/might take up and pass to motivate dems to come back?
Jon Ward
The Daily
55
56
From: Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Sent:
To:
Subject: RE: Possible topics to discuss tomrorow
I agree, he should focus on that. I just think he's going to get asked about the Doc's and out of state support. I think he
should be aware we got lots of emails on the Docs and that businesses have directly experienced out of state support for
the protestors.
Cullen Werwie
Press Secretary
Office of Governor Scott Walker
Press Office: {608} 267-7303
Email: Cullen. Werwie@WI.Gov
www. walker. wi.qov
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 201112:00 PM
To: Werwie; Cullen J - GOV
Subject: Re: Possible topics to discuss tomrorow
Key thing we need to get from ryan is how collective bargaining actually costs us money. We will need start pushing that
to(l'lorrow. Keith said ryan has the info
Sent.: Sunday, February 20, 2011 11:59 AM
Subject: Possible topics to discuss tomrorow
Here is some hard data on the fact that out of state people are supporting this stuff, possible talking point for the Gov
tomorrow if you think it's necessary. http://www.channel3000.com/news/26926717/detail.html
Also I think he should talk about the doctors handing out fake sick notices. That story is exploding in the media, and we
are receiving a lot of emails from doctors in WI who are furious, calling for the Guv to take action against those who
threaten the integrity of all Doctors in WI. http:/lmaciverinstitute.com/2011/02/fake-doctors-notes-being-handed-out-
at-wisconsin-gov-union-rally/
Cullen Werwie
Press Secretary
Press Office: {608} 267-7303
Email: Cullen. Werwie@WI.Gov
57
www. walker. wi.qov
58
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV
Cost of collective bargaining
Ryan- can you send over the facts you have on how collective bargaining costs the state?
59
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Re: Possible topics to discuss tomrorow
Key thing we need to get from ryan is how collective bargaining actually costs us money. We will need start pushing that
tomorrow. Keith said ryan has the info
Subject: Possible topics to discuss tomrorow
Here is some hard data on the fact that out of state people are supporting this stuff, possible talking point for the Gov
tomorrow if you think it's necessary. http://www.channel3000.com/news/26926717 /detail.html
Also I think he should talk about the doctors handing out fake sick notices. That story is exploding in the media, and we
are receiving a lot of emails from doctors in WI who are furious, calling for the Guv to take action against those who
threaten the integrity of all Doctors in WI. http:/!maciverinstitute.com/2011/02/fake-doctors-notes-being-handed-out-
at-wisconsin-gov-union-rally/
Cullen Werwie
Press Secretary
Press Office: {608} 267-7303
Email: Cullen. Werwie@Wf.Gov
www. walker. wi.qov
60
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jerry Beekman
Sunday, February 20, 201111:21 AM
Budget Repair Bill
We stand behind the Governor's Budget Repair Bill, and hope the Governor and Legislature have the courage to stand
firm. Based upon 34 years as an elected county official dealing with public sector unions, I feel changes to collective
bargaining are long overdue.
61
Downing, Kadey - GOV
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2011 10:29 AM
To: Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
Subject: wire story
Solid
From: Werwie, Cullen J- GOV
Til: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M -
Subject: International AP wire story
Below is the AP story that went up on the international wire this AM.
http:/ /hosted2.ap.org/txdam/54828a5e8d9d48b7ba8b94ba3 8a9ef22/ Article 20 ll-02-20-
Wisconsin%20Budget%20Walker's%20Moment/id-43b9c7e309d648228e7 5bf7 a9c923baa
. iWisconsin governor seizes chance to take on unions
, SCOTI BAUER, Associated Press ~
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - It took Scott Walker only a few weeks to push the Capitol into political chaos.
The newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin has set his sights on forcing public workers to pay more for benefits as he looks
to balance the state's budget- savings he needs to help cover the cost of tax cuts he demanded the day he took office.
Democrats, who are no longer in power, have likened Walker to a dictator, and demonstrators protesting a contentious Walker-backed
labor bill have waived signs comparing him to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Even President Barack Obama has weighed in,
calling the bill "an assault on unions."
Just seven weeks into his term, the 43-year-old son of a preacher has shown no sign of compromising. He has a GOP majority in both
houses of the Legislature that has already helped him make good on campaign promises.
Walker insists that his push to force concessions from public employees by doubling their health insurance contributions and requiring
them to pay half their pension costs is all about balancing the budget and not busting unions. But the bill also would strip them of most
collective bargaining rights.
"I got elected to get Wisconsin working again and to improve the economy," Walker said in an interview with The Associated Press. "At
the same time it meant fixing our budget crisis."
62
Wisconsin faces a $137 million budget shortfall by July. The concessions Walker seeks from the state workers would save $30 million
over four months. He would balance the budget this year mainly through refinancing debt.
The increased pension and health benefit costs would save Wisconsin $300 million over the next two years, which would help buy
down a projected $3.6 billion shortfall.
Michael Grebe, a Milwaukee business leader who has been a close Walker adviser and friend for the past 20 years, said the governor's
proposal was consistent with his political philosophy and budgets he put forward as Milwaukee County executive that also targeted
unions for concessions.
"If people are at all surprised by this then they haven't been paying attention," Grebe said. "He really does believe in skinny budgets
and protecting the taxpayers. What he's doing now is completely consistent with that."
As county executive for eight years before elected governor, Walker never proposed a higher property tax levy than what was
approved. To pay for that, he repeatedly sought to impose wage and benefit concessions on county workers, but was blocked by the
unions and Democratic-controlled county board.
Now he has a Republican-controlled Legislature backing him all the way.
"I've always been bold," Walker said. "I've been bold at the county, which is why there's always been a lot of passion there for folks who
supported me and those who opposed me, and I'm bold here, too. But you gotta be. We have no choice. Again, we're broke. We don't
have any more options.
11
As proof that unions knew they would be targeted, Walker points to a flier circulated during last fall's campaign by union AFT-Wisconsin
that warned that Walker wanted to curb the unions' power to negotiate.
In December, weeks after the election, he even suggested the possibility of abolishing unions altogether.
Anyone who didn't see it coming must have been in a coma, Walker said.
Union leaders insist they were blindsided.
"There wasn't any belief he was going to go for the nuclear option," said Gary Steffen, president of the Wisconsin Science
Professionals, the union that represents state scientists, including crime lab analysts, biologists, chemists and foresters. "We expected
concessions, but we just didn't think there was a mandate for this. We d i d n ~ see him getting rid of collective bargaining."
Union anger over the proposal set off a massive protest not seen in Madison since the Vietnam War era. Walker unveiled the bill on a
Friday and four days later more than 10,000 people came to the Capitol in protest. By the end of the week, the ranks had grown to
nearly 70,000, as schools closed around the state because teachers called in sick to join efforts to defeat the bill.
Assembly Minority Leader Rep. Peter Barca said Walke(s goal was to "ram it through in less than a week to avoid scrutiny and
discussion."
63
Walker has been in hyper-drive, calling the Legislature into special session the day he took the oath of office and asking them to pass
tax cuts for businesses, make sweeping lawsuit reform and other changes. He got everything of consequence that he wanted.
The business tax cuts he pushed through added about $117 million to the projected two-year deficit, fanning anger among Democrats
and unions that Walker argues he has to target public employees to balance the budget when he's found money for the tax breaks.
In an effort to slow down the union bill, Democratic senators skipped town on Thursday, delaying action in the state Senate indefinitely
by leaving it one vote short of a quorum. The Assembly adjourned on Friday and didn't plan to take up the bill until at least Tuesday.
Labor leaders believe public anger at the bill will grow the longer their standoff goes and force concessions from Walker and
Republican legislators. But Walker and Republican leaders in the Legislature say they have the votes they need to pass the bill with
every1hing they want in it.
If any1hing, they say, the protests are only hardening support. Walker's office says he's getting 1,000 e-mails an hour, nearly all of
which express support.
"There's a quiet majority out there who want us to do the right thing," Walker said. "This is bold politically, which is why there is all this
attention, but it is still modest in terms of what we're asking in terms of our government employees."
The concessions amount to an 8 percent pay cut for the average worker.
Unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay
organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be
approved by referendum.
In exchange for bearing more costs and losing bargaining leverage, public employees were promised no more of the layoffs or
furloughs they've had to deal with for more than two years. The next forced unpaid day off was scheduled for Monday, Presidents Day,
and state workers were sure to be out in force protesting at the Capitol.
Grebe, Walker's longtime friend, said he has been in regular contact with the governor since the protests started and he believes the
activity is only reinforcing his belief the bill is the right way to go.
"I don't think it has affected his resolve at all," Grebe said. "He is committed to this."
Cullen Werwie
Press Secretary
Press Office: {608} 267-7303
Email:
www. walker. wi. qov
64
65

To: 1 - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
Subject: International AP wire story
Below is the AP story that went up on the international wire this AM.
http:/ /hosted2.ap.org/txdarn/54828a5e8d9d48b7ba8b94ba3 8a9ef22/ Article 20 ll-02-20-
Wisconsin%20Budget%20Walker's%20Moment/id-4 3 b9c7 e309d648228e7 5bt7 a9c923baa
!Wisconsin governor seizes chance to take on unions
[SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press e
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - It took Scott Walker only a few weeks to push the Capitol into political chaos.
The newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin has set his sights on forcing public workers to pay more for benefits as he looks
to balance the state's budget- savings he needs to help cover the cost of tax cuts he demanded the day he took office.
Democrats, who are no longer in power, have likened Walker to a dictator, and demonstrators protesting a contentious Walker-backed
labor bill have waived signs comparing him to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Even President Barack Obama has weighed in,
calling the bill "an assault on unions."
Just seven weeks into his term, the 43-year-old son of a preacher has shown no sign of compromising. He has a GOP majority in both
houses of the Legislature that has already helped him make good on campaign promises.
Walker insists that his push to force concessions from public employees by doubling their health insurance contributions and requiring
them to pay half their pension costs is all about balancing the budget and not busting unions. But the bill also would strip them of most
collective bargaining rights.
"I got elected to get Wisconsin working again and to improve the economy,'' Walker said in an intervieW with The Associated Press. "At
the same time it meant fixing our budget crisis."
Wisconsin faces a $137 million budget shortfall by July. The concessions Walker seeks from the state workers would save $30 million
over four months. He would balance the budget this year mainly through refinancing debt.
The increased pension and health benefit costs would save Wisconsin $300 million over the next two years, which would help buy
down a projected $3.6 billion shortfall.
66
Michael Grebe, a Milwaukee business leader who has been a close Walker adviser and friend for the past 20 years, said the governor's
proposal was consistent with his political philosophy and budgets he put forward as Milwaukee County executive that also targeted
unions for concessions.
"If people are at all surprised by this then they haven't been paying attention," Grebe said. "He really does believe in skinny budgets
and protecting the taxpayers. What he's doing now is completely consistent with that."
As county executive for eight years before elected governor, Walker never proposed a higher property tax levy than what was
approved. To pay for that, he repeatedly sought to impose wage and benefit concessions on county workers, but was blocked by the
unions and Democratic-controlled county board.
Now he has a Republican-controlled Legislature backing him all the way.
"I've always been bold," Walker said. "I've been bold at the county, which is why there's always been a lot of passion there for folks who
supported me and those who opposed me, and I'm bold here, too. But you gotta be. We have no choice. Again, we're broke. We don't
have any more options."
As proof that unions knew they would be targeted, Walker points to a flier circulated during last fall's campaign by union AFT-Wisconsin
that warned that Walker wanted to curb the unions' power to negotiate.
In December, weeks after the election, he even suggested the possibility of abolishing unions altogether.
Anyone who didn't see it coming must have been in a coma, Walker said.
Union leaders insist they were blindsided.
"There wasn't any belief he was going to go for the nuclear option," said Gary Steffen, president of the Wisconsin Science
Professionals, the union that represents state scientists, including crime lab analysts, biologists, chemists and foresters. "We expected
concessions, but we just didn't think there was a mandate for this. We didn't see him getting rid of collective bargaining."
Union anger over the proposal set off a massive protest not seen in Madison since the Vietnam War era. Walker unveiled the bill on a
Friday and four days later more than 10,000 people came to the Capitol in protest. By the end of the week, ihe ranks had grown to
nearly 70,000, as schools closed around the state because teachers called in sick to join efforts to defeat the bill.
Assembly Minority Leader Rep. Peter Barca said Walker's goal was to "ram it through in less than a week to avoid scrutiny and
discussion. u
Walker has been in hyper-drive, calling the Legislature into special session the day he took the oath of office and asking them to pass
tax cuts for businesses, make sweeping lawsuit reform and other changes. He got everything of consequence that he wanted.
The business tax cuts he pushed through added about $117 million to the projected two-year deficit, fanning anger among Democrats
and unions that Walker argues he has to target public employees to balance the budget when he's found money for the tax breaks.
67
In an effort to slow down the union bill, Democratic senators skipped town on Thursday, delaying action in the state Senate indefinitely
by leaving it one vote short of a quorum. The Assembly adjourned on Friday and didn't plan to take up the bill until at least Tuesday.
Labor leaders believe public anger at the bill will grow the longer their standoff goes and force concessions from Walker and
Republican legislators. But Walker and Republican leaders in the Legislature say they have the votes they need to pass the bill with
everything they want in it.
If anything, they say, the protests are only hardening support. W a l k e ~ s office says he's getting 1,000 e-mails an hour, nearly all of
which express support.
"There's a quiet majority out there who want us to do the right thing," Walker said. "This is bold politically, which is why there is all this
attention, but it is still modest in terms of what we're asking in terms of our government employees."
The concessions amount to an 8 percent pay cut for the average worker.
Unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay
organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be
approved by referendum.
In exchange for bearing more costs and losing bargaining leverage, public employees were promised no more of the layoffs or
furloughs they've had to deal with for more than two years. The next forced unpaid day off was scheduled for Monday, Presidents Day,
and state workers were sure to be out in force protesting at the Capitol.
Grebe, Walker's longtime friend, said he has been in regular contact with the governor since the protests started and he believes the
activity is only reinforcing his belief the bill is the right way to go.
"I don't think it has affected his resolve at all," Grebe said. "He is committed to this."
Cullen Werwie
Press Secretary
Press Office: {608} 267-7303
Email:
www. walker. wi. qov
68
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Cool. Thx
Jon Ward
The Daily
....

Sunday, February 20, 2011 8:15AM
Re: criticism
From: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV <Chris.Schrimpf@wisconsih.gov>
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 09:14:15 2011
Subject: Re: criticism
Within the hour I think
From: Ward, Jon [matiltol
Sent: Sunday, February
T!l: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Subject: Re: .criticism
Any eta?
Jon Ward
The Daily
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 08:09:34 2011
What's a number I can have the governor call you on this morning?
From: Ward, Jon
Subject: criticism
Hey Chris, here are a few questions I've come up with based on the most cogent criticisms from the left (ezra klein in
particular) of the gov's proposal. Would LOVE to get his side on this stuff:
-The economic policy institute says public employees receive less compensation for comparable jobs in
Wisconsin than do those in the private sector. Do you disagree with that? How relevant do you think it is to
the current debate?
73
-Ezra Klein says unions aren't to blame for the budget because they didn't cause revenues to drop
precipitously. He blames the recession (Wall Street, housing market, etc) and your tax cuts from the special
session. He says you added $120 million to the 2011-2013 deficits. How would you counter that?
-Klein also says unions are becoming a budget scapegoat in the same way that liberals reflexively turn to
taxing the rich when they need more revenue. Do you think there's any truth to that?
-Another criticism is that the budget crisis, while real, is being used as cover for an assault on unions, and that
the collective bargaining component is not directly a part of the budget problems. You've said differently.
Explain why.
-Some are saying that your budget reforms are a form of default. Do you think that's accurate?
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonwardll
74
Sent: Su 20, 2011 8:14 AM
To:
Subject:
Within the hour I think

Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2011 08:13AM
Any eta?
Jon Ward
The Daily
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 08:09:34 2011
From: Ward, Jon r m:ilttol
Subject: criticism
the current debate?
precipitously. He blames the recession {Wall Street, housing market, etc) and your tax cuts from the special
Explain why.
75
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonward11
76
From: Ward, Jon
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Any eta?
Jon Ward
The Daily
Re: criticism
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 08:09:34 2011
From: Ward, Jon [mailto..--a
Sent: Sunday,
Subject: criticism
the current debate?
Explain why.
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonwardll
77
From: Schutt, Eric - GOV
Sent: 20, 2011 7:57AM
To: Schrimpf. Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
we,rwie. Cullen J- GOV
Subject: Re: Washington Post Profile
Wow ...

Sent: 201110:23 PM
To: Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
I thought the NYTimes was good. Holy crap.
19, 2011 09:51PM
To:-Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Subject: Fw: Washington Post Profile
From: Chris Schrimpf
Sent: Saturday, February 19,
Subject: Washington Post Profile
http://www .washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011102/19/ AR2011021904205 pf.html
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has history of going up against unions
By Brady Dennis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 19, 2011; 9:28PM
MADISON, WIS. -On a Tuesday afternoon in September 2003, during Scott Walker's first term as Milwaukee
County executive, scores of union workers gathered at the local courthouse to protest layoffs he had ordered as
part of an aggressive effort to balance the budget and avoid what he said would otherwise be necessary tax
increases.
They shouted anti-Walker chants, and union officials and Democratic officeholders took turns denouncing his
slash-and-burn approach.
The layoffs Walker had announced that sunnner decimated the county's public parks staff and also reduced the
number of county social workers, corrections officers and janitors. As a result, park bathrooms were shuttered
and pools were closed. Trash was piled up so high in the Milwaukee County Courthouse that visitors had to
sidestep apple cores and coffee cups, and some judges resorted to cleaning toilets, a local newspaper reported.
78
Despite the deep cuts and the union uproar, Walker cruised to reelection the following spring and remained in
his post six more years, until his successful gubernatorial run in the fall.
The 43-year-old governor has garnered national attention in the past week- challenging unions in a birthplace
of the progressive movement and joining other high-profile governors such as New Jersey's Chris Clnistie (R)
in pushing deep budget cuts and straight talk on fiscal restraint - but allies and opponents alike say they are
hardly surprised. While deficit reduction and spending cuts are in style these days in Washington and beyond,
they have been Walker's bread and butter for two decades.
"Anybody who said they didn't see this coming wasn't paying attention to the election," said Joe Sanfelippo, a
member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and a Walker supporter. "He's true to his word ... he's
not going to back down."
Indeed, Walker showed little concern for the sea of protesters singing Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take
It" outside his window Friday evening. Dressed in a navy suit and red tie, he shrugged off the chants for his
resignation and the signs portraying him as a dictator.
"My last couple budget addresses [in Milwaukee County], I literally had protesters from the unions in the
chambers standing up during my speech holding signs .... I had people catcalling and the whole bit; I'm used to
it," he said in an interview in his spacious Capitol office, with its dark wood furniture and tightly drawn
burgundy blinds.
"Obviously these guys have a right to be heard, but this is still a small fraction of the percentage of all state and
local government workers," he said. "I can't let these voices overpower the voices of the millions of other
taxpayers I represent."
Asked whether his experiences with unions as county executive had influenced his bill to curb state employee
benefits and put tight restrictions on their collective-bargaining rights - the same measure that brought the
chanting masses to his doorstep - he didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely," he said. "Totally."
During his eight-year tenure in Milwaukee County, Walker never raised property taxes. He cut the county
workforce by 20 percent, improved its bond rating and gave back hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own
salary as part of the effort to trim spending. But he also saw his relations with local unions deteriorate.
Union leaders say Walker never negotiated in good faith and had a singular solution to every budget problem:
cut. Under his watch, the county privatized public jobs, laid off workers and placed others on furlough.
"The guy's a one-trick pony. His playbook is very limited," said Rich Abelson, executive director of AFSCME
District Council48, Milwaukee's largest union. "The result of that is an absolute devastation of the programs
and services in Milwaukee County."
Abelson said the union filed multiple lawsuits against Walker over the years for unfair labor practices, and the
relationship continued to sour as Walker kept "cutting wages and benefits for working people."
Walker argued that collective bargaining was the biggest hurdle to balancing the budget and that unions had
little incentive to give ground because they almost always prevailed in arbitration. He said that the cuts he
proposed were intended to prevent layoffs and accused union leaders of being uninterested in compromise.
79
"Ifl could go after ... the pension and health-care contribution, I could have avoided layoffs; I could have
avoided other service cuts," he said. "But because of the way the law is, local governments just can't do that."
Walker, a native of Colorado Springs, spent his formative years in a small town 60 miles south of Madison,
called Delavan, where his father served as pastor at the Baptist church. He became an Eagle Scout and idolized
Ronald Reagan.
He attended Marquette University but left just shy of a degree to take a marketing job with the American Red
Cross, making him the first Wisconsin governor in more than half a century not to have a college degree.
At 25, he won election to the state Assembly and served for nine years. But in 2002, Milwaukee County
Executive Tom Ament, a Democrat, resigned in the wake of a county pension fund scandal, and Walker became
the rare Republican to win office in the area by vowing to clean up the mess.
Friends and foes alike describe Walker as hardworking and amiable, a devoted husband and father of two
teenage sons. They also call him a gifted and ambitious politician who has never strayed from his conservative
ideals.
"He was tea party before there was a tea party. He's always been ideologically pure," said Mordecai Lee, a
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor who sparred with Walker on a weekly television
show during his Assembly days. "He would do whatever it took not to raise taxes. He never wavered, never
doubted."
Lee said Walker's repeated success at the polls, even in Democratic strongholds, came as no surprise. He
preached fiscal conservatism but also campaigned on his own frugality, noting that he packed ham-and-cheese
sandwiches for lunch and drove a weathered Saturn.
"Scott Walker is the Republican Obama - he's likable, he's nice, so voters saw that [side] rather than the very
ideological Republican," Lee said. "He's one of the most impressive politicians I've ever seen."
On Friday evening at the Capitol, Walker remained true to the portrait painted by supporters and detractors alike
- calm and composed even during the tensest moments but utterly unwavering and unapologetic in his views.
Guards stood outside every entrance to the governor's office. Walker talked about finding time to watch
"American Idol" with his wife the previous night. The crowds outside chanted, "Kill the bill!" Walker talked
about texting with his sons throughout the day. "They've been following this. They're intrigued," he said.
Outside, the sun was setting. The crowd sang "We Shall Overcome." The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson had arrived to
fire up the tens of thousands of protesters in their fifth day of demonstrations.
Inside, the governor prepared to slip quietly out ofthe Capitol and head 80 miles north to welcome home
members of a National Guard unit from Iraq, a brief and welcome respite from the budget battles.
He predicted that the legislative impasse would soon end and that he would have the votes to push through his
bill. As for the union backers who would surely return day after day to shower him with their discontent- well,
he wasn't looking for their affection.
"I sleep all right," he said.
80
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
I feel like we should tweet this:
2011 7:29AM
Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
Schutt, Eric - GOV
Re: Washington Post Profile
By battles through! the years have prepared me to do what's right to balance the budget: (link)
From:-. .
To: Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Sent: Sat Feb 19 22:23:37 2011
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 09:51 PM
Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Post Profile
http://www .washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011102/19/ AR2011 021904205 pf.html
By Brady Dennis
MADISON, WIS. -On a Tuesday afternoon in September 2003, during Scott Walker's first term as Milwaukee
increases.
The layoffs Walker had announced tbat summer decimated the county's public parks staff and also reduced the
and pools were closed. Trash was piled up so high in the Milwaukee County Courthouse tbat visitors had to
sidestep apple cores and coffee cups, aud some judges resorted to cleaning toilets, a local newspaper reported.
81
of the progressive movement and joining other high-profile governors such as New Jersey's Chris Christie (R)
burgundy blinds.
"Obviously these gnys have a right to be heard, but this is still a small fraction of the percentage of all state and
Asked whether his experiences with unions as county executive had influenced his bill to curb state employee .
benefits and put tight restrictions on their collective-bargaining rights -the same measure that brought the
salary as part of the effort to trim spending. But he also saw his relations with local unions. deteriorate.
District Council 48, Milwaukee's largest union. "The result of that is an absolute devastation of the programs
Walker argned that collective bargaining was the biggest hurdle to balancing the budget and that unions had
82
"If I could go after ... the pension and health-care contribution, I could have avoided layoffs; I could have
avoided other service cuts," he said. "But because ofthe way the law is, local govemments just can't do that."
Ronald Reagan.
Cross, making him the first Wisconsin govemor in more than half a century not to have a college degree.
ideals.
doubted."
Lee said Walker's repeated success at the polls, even in Democratic strongholds, carne as no surprise. He
"Scott Walker is the Republican Obarna- he's likable, he's nice, so voters saw that [side] rather than the very
ide,ological Republican," Lee said. "He's one of the most impressive politicians I've ever seen."
Guards stood outside every entrance to the govemor's office. Walker talked about finding time to watch
Inside, the governor prepared to slip quietly out of the Capitol and head 80 miles north to welcome home
members of a National Guard unit from Iraq, .a brief and welcome respite from the budget battles.
83
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jon Ward
The Daily
.......
Ward, Jon
Sunday, February 20, 2011 7:11
Re: criticism
To: Ward, Jon
Sent: Sun Feb 20 08:09:34 2011
From: Ward, Jon rm,.;l>nl
Subject: criticism
the current debate?
precipitously. He blames the recession {Wall Street, housing market, etc) and your tax cuts from the special
Explain why.
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonward11
84
To:
From: Ward, Jon fllliilltg
Subject: criticism
the current debate?
Explain why.
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonwardll
1
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:

Sunday,
criticism
the current debate?
precipitously. He blames the recession (Wall Street, housing market, etc} and your tax cuts from the special
Explain why.
Jon Ward
The Daily
@jonwardll
2
From:
Sent:
To:
Ward, Jon
Hey Chris, I just found out you're working for Gov. Walker- sure you're quite busy. I saw he sat down with the Wash
Post and wanted to see if since he's talking to national media I could get him on the phone for 5 to 10 minutes. In
particular, would like to draw out the point about collective bargaining's impact on the budget b/c that's become a flash
point. Thanks!
Jon Ward
The Daily
3
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Saturday, February 19, 201110:24 PM
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV;
Re: Washington Post Profile
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 09:51PM
To: Scott, Kevin - DOA; Gilkes, Keith- GOV; Murray, Ryan M ' GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Subject: Fw: Washington Post Profile
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011102/19/AR2011021904205 pf.html
By Brady Dennis
MADISON, WIS.- On a Tuesday afternoon in September 2003, during Scott Walker's first term as Milwaukee
mcreases.
The layoffs Walker had announced that summer decimated the county's public parks staff and also reduced the
ofthe progressive movement and joining other high-profile governors such as New Jersey's Chris Christie (R)
4
burgundy blinds.
benefits and put tight restrictions on their collective-bargaining rights - the same measure that brought the
relationship continued to sour as. Walker kept "cutting wages and benefits for working people."
avoided other service cuts," he said. "But because of the way the law is, local governments just can't do that."
Ronald Reagan.
5
ideals.
doubted."
Lee said Walker's repeated success at the polls, even in Democratic strongholds, came asno surprise. He
"Scott Walker is the Republican Obama- he's likable, he's nice, so voters saw that [side] rather than the very
6
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
~ 19,20119:52 PM
--Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV;
Fw: Washington Post Profile
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011!02/19/AR2011021904205 pf.html
By Brady Dennis
mcreases.
The layoffs Walker had announced that sununer decimated the county's public parks staff and also reduced the
The 43-year-old governor has garnered national attention ip. the past week- challenging unions in a birthplace
of the progressive movement and joining other high-profile governors such as New Jersey's Chris Christie (R)
7
chambers standing up during my speech holding signs .... I had people catcalling and the whoJe bit; I'm used to
it," he said in an interview in his spacious Capitol office, with its dark wood fmniture and tightly drawn
burgundy blinds.
local government workers," he said. '\I can't let these voices overpower the voices of the millions of other
"Ifi could go after ... the pension and health-care contribution, I could have avoided layoffs; I could have
avoided other service cuts," he said. "But because of the way the law is, local govemments just can't do that."
Ronald Reagan.
8
ideals.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor who spmTed with Walker on a weekly television
doubted."
preached fiscal conservatism but also cmnpaigned on his own frugality, noting that he packed ham-and-cheese
"Scott Walker is the Republican Obmna- he's likable, he's nice, so voters saw that [side] rather than the very
ideological Republican," Lee said. "He's one ofthe most impressive politicians I've ever seen."
Outside, the sun was setting. The crowd sang "We Shall Overcome." The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson had mTived to
bill. As for the union backers who would surely return day after day to shower him with their discontent - well,
. he wasn't looking for their affection.
"1 sleep all right," he said.
9
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Chris Schrimpf
Saturday, February 19, 2011 9:48 PM
Washington Post Profile
http://www. washingtonpost.co m/wp-dyn/ content/ article/20 11102/19/ AR20 11021904 205 pf.html
By Brady Dennis
Satnrday, February 19, 2011; 9:28PM
increases.
The layoffs Walker had announced that summer decimated the county's public parks staff and also reduced the
his post six more years, tintil his successful gubernatorial run in the fall.
ofthe progressive movement and joining other high-profile governors such as New Jersey's Chris Christie (R)
burgundy blinds.
10
local govermnent workers," he said. "I can't let these voices overpower the voices of the millions of other
District Council48, Milwaukee's largest union. "The result of that is an absolute devastation of the programs
proposed were intended to prevent layoffs and accused union leaders of being uninterested in compromise;
avoided other service cuts," he said. "But because of the way the law is, local govermnents just can't do that."
Ronald Reagan.
Friends and foes alike describe Walker as hardworking ahd amiable, a devoted husband and father oftwo
ideals.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor who spalTed with Walker on a weekly television
doubted."
11
"Scott Walker is the Republican Obama- he's likable, he's nice, so voters saw that [side] rather than the very
bill. As for the union backers who would surely return day after day to shower him with their discontent - well,
12
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
liliiililiit' 2011 5:33 PM
Matejov, Scott - GOV;
Tomorrow
, Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Governor- wanted to see if there was anything you needed in preparation for tomorrow morning. I plan on meeting you
at the residence at 7 am for the ride over to wkow, so we'll have about 30 minutes to talk on the way over.
Questions I expect could include on the unions conceding, the national implications, your comments on the haves vs the
havenots, your budget crisis, the senate dems being gone, the end game, what your real goals on collective bargaining
are, if you want wisconsin to be a right to work state, and why not break off the legislation separately from the budget.
Chris
13
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Schutt, Eric- GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV
Fw: question
Interesting that fitzgerald is bringing it up. I'm just going to ignore
From: John McCormack
Subject: question
Hi Chris,
Talked to Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald, and he said it would be possible to "split the question"--vote on
collective bargaining with just a simple majority present and then do the budget stuff with 2/3 present. He didn't
really go into detail as to why Republicans don't want to do that. On background, could you elaborate on why
that strategy isn't being pursued? Or might it be in the future if the Democrats don't return to work? Thanks.
-John
John McCormack
Online Editor
The Weekly Standard
1150 17th Street, NW
Suite 505
Washington, DC 20036
15
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Chris,
John McCormack
question
Talked to Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald, and he said it would be possible to "split the question"--vote on
collective bargaining with just a simple majority present and then do the budget stuff with 2/3 present. He didn't
really go into detail as to why Republicans don't want to do that. On background, could you elaborate on why
that strategy isn't being pursued? Or might it be in the future if the Democrats don't return to work? Thanks.
-John
John McCormack
Online Editor
The Weekly Standard
1150 17th Street, NW
Suite 505
Washington, DC 20036
16
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
~ 19,20113:52 PM
__... Schutt Eric - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV
Fw:
Governor- another question you might get is about public sector pay and if its really out of line with the private sector.
Some details on that issue are below.
Subject:
Posted at 2:30PM ET, 02/19/2011
Wisconsin: Dueling Statistics About Public
Employees
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
As the Battle of Madison continues, I can't resist calling attention to two charts in two newspapers Saturday
morning that point to quite different conclusions about the relative pay and benefits of public- and private-sector
workers.
The Wall Street Journal has a chart showing that "state and local govemrnent workers" clearly do better that
"private-industry workers." According to the Joumal, state and local government workers make $26.25 cents an
hour, compared to the $19.68 an hour that workers in private industry average. This chart clearly feeds the
narrative that public-sector workers are - depending on you point of view - "better-paid" or "overpaid."
But the New York Times has a more subtle chart that tells the real story. Focusing only on Wisconsin, the
Times chart shows that among workers without a bachelor's degree, state workers are, indeed, better paid than
private-sector workers- the figures are $37,000 annually for state workers, $33,250 for private-sector workers.
However, among workers with a bachelor's degree, private-sector workers earn more than state workers --
$57,113 for private-sector workers, $51,921 for public-sector workers.
The Times provides a helpful explanation of these numbers:
Wisconsin state workers have a median wage of$45,691, 22 percent more than the median wage earned by
workers in the private sector. But these figures, which do not include benefits, can be deceptive because the
state workforce is much better educated than the private-sector workforce. In Wisconsin, more than 60 percent
of state workers have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with just over 20 percent in the private sector,
according to census data. College-educated workers on the state payroll in fact earn a median wage that is 9
percent less than that of their peers in the private sector.
17
Bear these numbers in mind in the polemics that we will no doubt hear in the coming months about public
employees. It is hugely misleading to compare all public workers to all private workers for the reasons outlined
by the Times: A large share of public workers do jobs- one thinks of teachers and nurses, for example- that
require a substantial amount of formal education, but they tend to have lower compensation levels than the jobs
done by other, comparably educated, private-sector workers. The Economic Policy Institute (a pro-labor group,
it should be said) has a fascinating chart on its Web site showing that in Wisconsin, the more educated the
group of workers, the larger the gap between the public and private sectors- again, in favor ofthe private
sector. According to EPI, those with professional degrees earn $225,644 in total compensation in the private
sector, but $143,569 in the public sector. EPI, by the way, also shows a very small gap ($47,469 to $46,213) in
favor of the private sector even among workers with only high school degrees. But the point is clear: the higher
the education level, the larger the income gap is in favor of private-sector workers.
Does that mean that less-educated workers in the public sector are "overpaid"? I have to say that I find it pretty
outrageous for well-off conservatives to say that -- I'm calculating on the basis of The New York Times
numbers here --that people earning $712 a week are "overpaid" and ought to be making only the $639 a week
that comparably educated private-sector workers make. I'd argue it the other way around: that the problem in
our society is that private-sector wages for people at the bottom of the income stmcture are too low relative to
everyone else's and this rising inequality is a real problem. You could also say that unions do, indeed, lift the
pay and benefits of the least well placed in our society, and that this is a social benefit.
I have left to last a brief reply to my colleague Chuck Lane's post Friday. By the way, Chuck, I was very sorry
to hear you weren't feeling well, and I hope you feel better. And just so you don't have to rise from a sickbed
over the long weekend, I'll try not to be polemical here and require a reply. Just one factual point: You write
that Harold Meyerson, Ezra Klein and I had "retreated" to "a more defensible line" in the arguments we
advanced about the problems with Gov. Scott Walker's position. I don't know how I could have "retreated"
since the post to which Chuck replied was my first comment on the Wisconsin controversy. I had no position
from which to "retreat". (I don't really think Ezra or Harold retreated, either, but I'lllet my colleagues sort that
out.)
I'll leave any other disagreements I might have with Chuck to next week. And one word of praise for him: I did
appreciate his reference to "the glorious blogger-proletarian alliance." He meant it archly, and it was a nice line.
And I'm perfectly happy if he wants to think of me as part of that no doubt hugely influential group.
New York Times chart
http:/ /www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20 ll/02/19/us/19union graphic.html ?ref=us
EPichart
http://www.epi.org/economic snapshots/entry/wisconsin public servants already face a compensation penal
tv
18
From:
Sent:
To:
Chris Schrimpf
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Schrimpf, Chris- GOV
Posted at 2:30PM ET, 02/19/2011
Wisconsin: Dueling Statistics About Public
Employees
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
As the Battle of Madison continues, I can't resist calling attention to two charts in two newspapers Saturday
morning that point to quite different conclusions about the relative pay and benefits of public- and private-sector
workers.
The Wall Street Journal has a chart showing that "state and local government workers" clearly do better that
"private-industry workers." According to the Journal, state and local government workers make $26.25 cents an
hour, compared to the $19.68 an hour that workers in private industry average. This chart clearly feeds the
narrative that public-sector workers are- depending on you point of view- "better-paid" or "overpaid."
But the New York Times has a more subtle chart that tells the real story. Focusing only on Wisconsin, the
Times chart shows that among workers without a bachelor's degree, state workers are, indeed, better paid than
private-sector workers- the figures are $37,000 annually for state workers, $33,250 for private-sector workers.
However, among workers with a bachelor's degree, private-sector workers earn more than state workers --
$57,113 for private-sector workers, $51,921 for public-sector workers.
The Times provides a helpful explanation of these numbers:
Wisconsin state workers have a median wage of$45,691, 22 percent more than the median wage earned by
workers in the private sector. But these figures, which do not include benefits, can be deceptive because the
state workforce is much better educated than the private-sector workforce. In Wisconsin, more than 60 percent
of state workers have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with just over 20 percent in the private sector,
according to census data. College-educated workers on the state payroll in fact earn a median wage that is 9
percent less than that of their peers in the private sector.
Bear these numbers in mind in the polemics that we will no doubt hear in the coming months about public
employees. It is hugely misleading to compare all public workers to all private workers for the reasons outlined
by the Times: A large share of public workers do jobs- one thinks of teachers and nurses, for example- that
require a substantial amount of formal education, but they tend to have lower compensation levels than the jobs
done by other, comparably educated, private-sector workers. The Economic Policy Institute (a pro-labor group,
it should be said) has a fascinating chart on its Web site showing that in Wisconsin, the more educated the
group of workers, the larger the gap between the public and private sectors- again, in favor of the private
sector. According to EPI, those with professional degrees earn $225,644 in total compensation in the private
19
sector, but $143,569 in the public sector. EPI, by the way, also shows a very small gap ($47,469 to $46,213) in
favor of the private sector even among workers with only high school degrees. But the point is clear: the higher
the education level, the larger the income gap is in favor of private-sector workers.
Does that mean that less-educated workers in the public sector are "overpaid"? I have to say that I find it pretty
outrageous for well-off conservatives to say that-- I'm calculating on the basis of The New York Times
numbers here-- that people earning $712 a week are "overpaid" and ought to be making only the $639 a week
that comparably educated private-sector workers make. I'd argue it the other way around: that the problem in
our society is that private-sector wages for people at the bottom of the income structure are too low relative to
everyone else's and this rising inequality is a real problem. You could also say that unions do, indeed, lift the
pay and benefits of the least well placed in our society, and that this is a social benefit.
I have left to last a brief reply to my colleague Chuck Lane's post Friday. By the way, Chuck, I was very sorry
to hear you weren't feeling well, and I hope you feel better. And just so you don't have to rise from a sickbed
over the long weekend, I'll try not to be polemical here and require a reply. Just one factual point: You write
that Harold Meyerson, Ezra Klein and I had "retreated" to "a more defensible line" in the arguments we
advanced about the problems with Gov. Scott Walker's position. I don't know how I could have "retreated"
since the post to which Chuck replied was my :first comment on the Wisconsin controversy. I had no position
from which to "retreat". (I don't really think Ezra or Harold retreated, either, but I'll let my colleagues sort that
out.)
I'll leave any other disagreements I might have with Chuck to next week. And one word of praise for him: I did
appreciate his reference to "the glorious blogger-proletarian alliance." He meant it archly, and it was a nice line.
And I'm perfectly happy if he wants to think of me as part of that no doubt hugely influential group.
New York Times chart
http ://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20 11/0 2/19/us/19union graphic. htrnl ?ref=us
EPI chart
http://www.epi.org/economic snapshots/entrv/wisconsin public servants already face a compensation penal
1Y
20
Sent: 19, 2011 2:34 PM
To:
Subject: Profile
I think I would probably not tweet your own profile unless in the context of saying something about larson and this not
being a surprise
http://www. nytimes .com/2011/02/20/ us/ po litics/20wa Ike r. htm I? s r c ~ t w r h p
From
Sent: Saturday, 19, 2011 02:28 PM
Subject: Re: New York Times Profile
Do u have link?
::.aluru1av. r"<Jru.arv 19, 2011 02:21 PM
To: Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Matejov,
Scott-
Subject: Fw: New York Times Profile
To: Schrimpf, Chris- GOV
Subject: New York Times Profile
For Wisconsin Governor, Battle Over State Finances Was Long in the Making
By MONICA DAVEY
MADISON, Wis.- Just last fall, people here were waving campaign signs. But the blocks around the State
Capitol have been filled for the past week with protesters brandishing signs with a different message -
demanding a recall of Gov. Scott Walker, calling him a bully and likening him to Scrooge, Hosni Mubarak,
even Hitler.
Seemingly overnight, Mr. Walker, a Republican, has become a national figure, the man who set off a storm of
protest, now spreading to other states, with his blunt, unvarnished call for shrinking collective bargaining rights
and benefits for public workers to help the state repair its budget.
Wisconsin may seem to the rest of the country like an unlikely catalyst, but to people who have watched the
governor's political rise through the years, the events of the week feel like a Scott Walker rerun, though on a
much larger screen and with a much bigger audience.
Critics and supporters alike say Mr. Walker has never strayed from his approach to his political career: always
pressing for austerity, and never blinking or apologizing for his lightning-rod proposals.
21
He regularly clashed with the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors over the past decade when he was that
county's elected executive. He pushed to privatize cleaning and food service workers and sought changes to
pension and health contributions and workers' hours. At one point, he proposed that the county government
might want to consider, in essence, abolishing itself. It was redundant, he suggested.
"All I can think is, here we go again," said Scott Larson, one of 14 Democratic state senators who fled
Wisconsin last week to block a vote on Mr. Walker's call to cut benefits. Mr. Larson knows the governor well,
having served on Milwaukee County's board when Mr. Walker was the executive. He says that Mr. Walker is a
nice guy on a personal level, "a good listener," but that his politics are another matter.
"Unions have always been his pinata, over and over," Mr. Larson said. "And this time I think he's trying to out-
right-wing the right wing on his way to the next lily pad."
Mr. Walker's supporters cheer the governor for what they see as delivering on the campaign pledge of frugality
that got him elected in November and forced a surprising makeover, at all levels of government in the state,
from Democrats to Republicans.
"This doesn't faze me one bit," Mr. Walker said Friday as thousands of protesters from around the countty
marched and screamed and filled every ungnarded crarmy of the Capitol, just as they had all week.
He said he had seen plenty of labor proteste1s before. Crowds of them in green T -shirts once even showed up
when he presented a Milwaukee County budget proposal- one of nine proposals in a row, he boasts now, that
included no tax increase over the rate the board had settled on the year before.
"I'm not going to be intimidated," Mr. Walker said, "particularly by people from other places."
Mr. Walker, 43, is the son of a Baptist preacher and a former Eagle Scout. He opposes abortion. He rides a
motorcycle. For years, he has carried the same bagged lunch to work (two ham and cheese sandwiches on
wheat)- a fact he has been fond of mentioning on campaign trails. His political heroes: Tommy Thompson,
this state's former governor, and Ronald Reagan.
"He didn't flinch," Mr. Walker said of Reagan. "Obviously, I take a lot of inspiration from that."
Mr. Walker once lost a bid for class president at Marquette University (which he attended but did not receive a
degree from), but won a seat in the State Assembly several years later.
By 2002, when a pension scandal engulfed the Milwaukee County government, the county executive stepped
down and Mr. Walker ran on a reform platform to replace him. He was never an obvious fit for a county that
leans Democratic and that, in the view of Mr. Walker, was "addicted to other people's money."
Mr. Walker describes himself as a fiscal conservative with a populist approach. It .is a label that many in the
enormous and angry crowds here would question, but it has won Mr. Walker backing in recent years from Tea
Party supporters, who plarmed counterprotests this weekend in Mr. Walker's defense.
Barack Obama won Wisconsin in 2008, but last November, Republicans swept into power in the state, shocking
many who pointed to its long tradition of union power.
Republicans took control of the State Assembly, the State Senate and a United States Senate seat held by a
longtime incumbent, Russ Feingold, in addition to the governor's office. Former Gov. James E. Doyle, a
Democrat, did not seek re-election, and Mr. Walker- who promised to bring 250,000 new jobs to Wisconsin
22
in his first four-year term- defeated Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and a Democrat, 52 percent to 46
percent.
"This is the one part of the equation people are missing right now," said Scott Fitzgerald, who became the
Republican majority leader in the State Senate after the election and whose brother became the speaker of the
Assembly. "Scott Walker and I and my brother Jeff went into this session with the understanding that we had to
deliver on campaign promises, that people wanted the Republicans to make change, that the more feathers you
ruffle this time, the better you'll be."
Within days of becoming governor, Mr. Walker- who hung a sign on the doorknob of his office that reads
"Wisconsin is open for business"- began stirring things up, and drawing headlines.
He rejected $810 million in federal money that the state was getting to build a train line between Madison and
Milwaukee, saying the project would ultimately cost the state too much to operate. He decided to turn the state's
Department of Commerce into a "public-private hybrid," in which hundreds of workers would need to reapply
for their jobs.
He and state lawmakers passed $117 million in tax breaks for businesses and others, a move that many of his
critics point to now as a sign that Mr. Walker made the state's budget gap worse, then claimed an emergency
that requires sacrifices from unions. Technically, the tax cuts do not go into effect in this year's budget (which
Mr. Walker says includes a $137 million shortfall), but in the coming two-year budget, during which the gap is
estimated at $3.6 billion.
Democrats here say Mr. Walker's style has led to a sea change in Wisconsin's political tradition.
"Every other Republican governor has had moderates in their caucus and histories of working with Democrats,"
said Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman for the state's Democratic Party. "But he is a hard-right partisan who does
not negotiate, does not compromise. He is totally modeled after a slash-and-bum, scorched-earth approach that
has never existed here before."
The protests last week have put people in surprising circumstances. Mr. Fitzgerald and other legislators have
needed police escorts to leave their offices. Protesters have swarmed to Mr. Walker's home, apparently to the
deep dismay of his wife, Tonette.
But Mr. Walker was already preparing the ground for his showdown last fall. While still waiting to take office,
he urged lawmakers; many of whom he already knew from his years in the Assembly, not to approve new
contracts for state workers during their lame-duck session. Once he came into office, he would need "maximum
flexibility," he said at the time, to handle the state's coming budget.
In the end, after emotional fights in both legislative chambers (one lawmaker was deposed by his colleagues
from his leadership role), Mr. Walker got his wish. And that gave him his chance to push his own plan. Last
week, he announced that he wanted to require state workers to pay more for pensions and health care; to remove
most collective bargaining rights, aside from wages, from discussion; and to require unions to hold armual
membership votes.
As the battle here grew into a standoff, with the protesters' numbers swelling every day and the legislation tied
up and waiting to be voted on, Mr. Walker said he was feeling perfectly fine.
To the anger of his critics, who say he thrives on publicity, he has been on television and radio call-in shows
and has taken phone calls of support from some of his Republican friends. He said he was speaking with Gov.
23
Chris Christie of New Jersey on Thursday night while exchanging e-mail messages with Gov. Mitch Daniels of
Indiana, whom he describes as a "great inspiration and mentor," and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.
"Months from now, when this is enacted and people realize it's not the end of the world," Mr. Walker said, "not
all, but I think the vast majority, including the vast majority of the public employees, will realize this was not
nearly as bad as they thought it was going to be. And we'll get back to work in the Capitol."
24
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
~ 1 9 , 20112:31 PM
__.Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV;
Murray, Ryan M - GOV
Fw: Balz Article
I wouldn't be surprised if on the Sunday show you got a question along the lines of this article. Have you awoken a
sleeping giant? Have you overreached? Its a modest proposal to balance our budget and avoid massive layoffs
From: Chris Schrimpf rmailt<)l
To: .Schrimpf, Chris - GOV
Subject: Balz Article
In Wisconsin and Washington, budget battles reshape political landscape
By Dan Balz
If the post-election lame-duck session belonged to President Obama, Republicans in Washington and the states have seized the
offensive in the early weeks of 2011. But to what end?
Budget battles in D.C. and Wisconsin- and soon in other states- provide Republicans with the opportunity to make good on
their campaign promises from the last election. Whether Republican leaders can keep the public on their side as they try to
implement their tough fiscal agendas will be the most influential question in the next election.
Only a partial answer will come from what happens in Washington, where Republicans have taken a significant first step. In
the early hours of Saturday, House Republicans approved a measure that would cut more than $60 billion out of the budget
and take aim at any number of Democratic constituencies and favored projects.
That measure is just the first of many anticipated battles over spending levels and priorities this year. The endgames could
include everything from a government shutdown to a grand bargain between the president and Republican congressional
leaders over entitlements. Or there could simply be middle-ground compromises that allow both sides to claim some measure
of victory but that leave activists on both sides frustrated or angry.
The decision by House Speaker John Boehner (R) to open up debate and allow numerous amendments offered Republicans,
particularly the new freshman class, a chance to voice tea party-inspired demands for bigger and bolder cuts than their elders
might have preferred. The measure approved Saturday will stiffen Democratic resistance in the short term as a March 4
deadline for funding the government nears. Obama will be tested repeatedly by challenges from the opposition.
But as important as the battles in Washington may be, what happens in the states will be as or more significant in shaping
public attitudes heading toward 2012. In Washington, Democrats still control the Senate and the White House, greatly limiting
Republicans' ability to work their will. In many states, Republicans control the governor's mansion and both houses of the
legislature, in some places by significant margins.
That's why Wisconsin looms so large at this moment. Gov. Scott Walker (R) has put down an early marker in the budget wars.
His proposal to scale back benefits for public employees and, more dramatically, to curtail collective bargaining rights for
many of those workers, has triggered the most significant clash yet. Someone is likely to lose big in this battle, although it
might take months for it to be clear who.
25
Madison has not had demonstrations like this in years, perhaps not since the Vietnam War. Obama's Organizing for America,
an offshoot of the Democratic National Committee, has claimed some credit for helping to mobilize the protesters, but the
demonstrations have been more bottom-up than top-down. Labor unions have been in the forefront, joined by other
progressive groups and angry citizens.
The demonstrations in Madison and the reaction to the House budget measure raise an important question. Have Republicans,
in their desire to move boldly and swiftly to deal with state and national budget problems, aroused the progressive wing of the
Democratic Party? Through much of the Obama presidency, progressives have been quiescent, lethargic or disappointed. Now
they are awake. And not just labor unions. There is a similar reaction among other groups- not just to events in Wisconsin but
to some of the cuts in the House bill, such as the amendment to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.
If the progressive movement is truly awakened, Republicans could pay a significant price politically. Obama couldn't rouse it
in the fall, at least not enough to avoid historic losses in November's midterm elections. Labor leaders couldn't, either. Labor
unions spent heavily to try to defeat Republican candidates for governor. Now they see Wisconsin as part of a do-or-die
struggle. But if they lose there, and in other states, the movement could be permanently weakened.
Some argue that Walker has gone too far by including public employees' bargaining rights as part of the package. Not every
Republican governor plans such an assault. Still, labor and Democratic legislators are bracing for battles in other states,
including Ohio, where protests have begun over a measure backed by Gov. John Kasich (R) that also -would curtail bargaining
rights.
Given the precarious condition of state budgets, there is some public support for reducing pension and health benefits for
public employees. Favorability ratings for unions are at a historical low, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.
And the public is divided over whether it supports unions or state governments in such disputes- though tipping slightly to the
unions.
Walker has stood firm in the face of the Democrats' protests, sounding confident that he can win passage of his package and
persuade the public it is necessary. His fight has expanded beyond the borders of his state. Wisconsin's battle has gone
national.
Walker is not the only governor setting the pace for the GOP. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the unusual step of
traveling to Washington last week to chide Obama for being too timid and too patient in the face ofthe federal government's
fiscal problems.
Obama has moved with predictable caution. He suggests he is playing a longer game on the budget and will not allow criticism
to rush him into laying out a plan for reining in entitlement programs. He called Walker's bill an "assault" on unions. That
pleased union leaders, but others in the progressive movement see his response as tepid, given the stakes involved.
No one knows where this will end. What is clear is that we are in the early phase of a clash of ideas and a struggle for power
that have profound implications for the country's future.
26
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Do u have link?
Re: New York Times Profile
S e n ~ r y 19, 2011 02:21 PM
To:__. Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Matejov,
Scott- GOV
From: Chris Schrimpf 1
By MONICA DAVEY
MADISON, Wis. -Just last fall, people here were waving campaign signs. But the blocks around the State
even Hitler.
Seemingly overulght, Mr. Walker, a Republican, has become a national figure, the man who set off a storm of
Critics and supporters alike say Mr.. Walker has never strayed from his approach to his political career: always
27
. "Unions have always been his pinata, over and over," Mr. Larson said. "And this time I think he's trying to out-
"This doesn't faze me one bit," Mr. Walker said Friday as thousands of protesters from around the country
marched and screamed and filled every unguarded crarmy of the Capitol, just as they had all week.
He said he had seen plenty oflabor protesters before. Crowds of them in green T-shirts once even showed up
Mr. Walker describes himself as a fiscal conservative with a populist approach. It is a label that many in the
rl!!:!Y supporters, who plarmed counterprotests this weekend in Mr. Walker's defense.
percent.
Within days of becoming governor, Mr. Walker -who hung a sign on the doorknob of his office that reads
28
Milwaukee, saying the project would ultimately cost the state too much to operate. He decided to tum the state's
for their jobs.
not negotiate, does not compromise. He is totally modeled after a slash-and-burn, scorched-earth approach that
he urged lawmakers, many of whom he already knew from his years in the Assembly, not to approve new
contracts for state workers during their lame-duck session. Once he carne into office, he would need "maximum
most collective bargaining rights, aside from wages, from discussion; and to require unions to hold annual
membership votes.
up and waiting to be voted on, Mr. Walker said he was feeling perfectly fme.
Indiana, whom he describes as a ' ~ g r e a t inspiration and mentor," and Jeb Bush, the former govemor of Florida.
29
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Matejov, Scott - GOV
Wow. Chris Larson said I was a nice guy and a good listener.
Sent: February 19, 2011 02:21 PM
To: Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J - GOV; Matejov,
-GOV
From: Chris Schrimpf fm<3ilt<JI
For Wisconsin Governor, Battle Over State Finances Was Long in ilie Making
By MONICA DAVEY
Capitol have been filled for the past week with protesters brandishing signs wiili a different message -
even Hitler.
protest, now spreading to oilier states, with his blunt, unvarnished call for shrinking collective bargaining rights
30
Mr. Walker's supporters cheer the governor for what they see as delivering on the campaign pledge offrugality
marched and screamed and filled every unguarded cranny of the Capitol, just as they had all week.
He said he had seen plenty of labor protesters before. Crowds of them in green T -shirts once even showed up
Mr. Walker, 43, is the son of a Baptist preacher and a former Eagle Scout. He opposes abottion. He rides a
Mr. Walker once lost a bid for class president at Marguette University (which he attended but did not receive a
Party suppotters, who planned counterprotests this weekend in Mr. Walker's defense.
in his first four-year term- defeated Tom Barrett, the mayor ofMilwankee and a Democrat, 52 percent to 46
percent.
31
"Wisconsin is open for business" - began stirring things up, and drawing headlines.
for their jobs.
most collective bargaining rights, aside from wages, from discussion; and to require unions to hold annual
membership votes.
As the battle here grew into a standoff, with the protesters' nun1bers swelling every day and the legislation tied
32
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Wow!
Saturday, 19, 2011 2:28 PM
Schrimpf, Chris - GOV; Gilkes, Keith - GOV; Schutt, Eric - GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV;
19, 201102:21 PM
To-.rGilkes, Keith- GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M - GOV; Werwie, Cullen J- GOV; Matejov,
Scott- GOV
By MONICA DAVEY
even Hitler.
governor's political rise through the years, the events ofthe week feel like a Scott Walker rerun, though on a
33
Mr. Walker's supporters cheer the govemor for what they see as delivering on the campaign pledge offrugality
this state's former govemor, and Ronald Reagan.
By 2002, when a pension scandal engulfed the Milwaukee County govemment, the county executive stepped
Party supporters, who planned counterprotests this weekend in Mr. Walker's defense.
in his first four-year tenn- defeated Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and a Democrat, 52 percent to 46
percent.
"This is the one part ofthe equation people are missing right now," said Scott Fitzgerald, who became the
34
Milwaukee, saying the project would ultimately cost the state too much to operate. He decided to tum the state's
Department of Commerce into a "public-private hybrid," iu which hundreds of workers would need to reapply
for their jobs.
that requires sacrifices from unions. Techoically, the tax cuts do not go into effect in this year's budget (which
But Mr. Walker was already preparing the. ground for his showdown last fall. While still waiting to take office,
contracts for state workers during their Janie-duck session. Once he came into office, he would need "maximum
week, he announced thathe wanted to require state workers to pay more for pensions and health care; to remove
most collective bargaining rights, aside from wages, from discussion; and to require unions to hold aunual
membership votes.
35
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Chris Schrimpf
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Balz Article
In Wisconsin and Washington, budget battles reshape political landscape
By Dan Balz
If the post-election lame-duck session belonged to President Obama, Republicans in Washington and the states have seized the
offensive in the early weeks of 2011. But to what end?
Budget battles in D.C. and Wisconsin- and soon in other states- provide Republicans with the opportunity to make good on
their campaign promises from the last election. Whether Republican leaders can keep the public on their side as they try to
implement their tough fiscal agendas will be the most influential question in the next election.
Only a partial answer will come from what happens in Washington, where Republicans have taken a significant first step. In
the early hours of Saturday, House Republicans approved a measure that would cut more than $60 billion out of the budget
and take aim at any number of Democratic constituencies and favored projects.
That measure is just the first of many anticipated battles over spending levels and priorities this year. The endgames could
include everything from a government shutdown to a grand bargain between the president and Republican congressional
leaders over entitlements. Or there could simply be middle-ground compromises that allow both sides to claim some measure
of victory but that leave activists on both sides frustrated or angry.
The decision by House Speaker John Boehner (R) to open up debate and allow numerous amendments offered Republicans,
particularly the new freshman class, a chance to voice tea party-inspired demands for bigger and bolder cuts than their elders
might have preferred. The measure approved Saturday will stiffen Democratic resistance in the short term as a March 4
deadline for funding the government nears. Obama will be tested repeatedly by challenges from the opposition.
But as important as the battles in Washington may be, what happens in the states will be as or more significant in shaping
public attitudes heading toward 2012. In Washington, Democrats still control the Senate and the White House, greatly limiting
Republicans' ability to work their will, In many states, Republicans control the governor's mansion and both houses of the
legislature, in some places by significant margins.
That's why Wisconsin looms so large at this moment. Gov. Scott Walker (R) has put down an early marker in the budget wars.
His proposal to scale back benefits for public employees and, more dramatically, to curtail collective bargaining rights for
many of those workers, has triggered the most significant clash yet. Someone is likely to lose big in this battle, although it
might take months for it to be clear who.
Madison has not bad demonstrations like this in years, perhaps not since the Vietnam War. Obama's Organizing for America,
an offshoot of the Democratic National Committee, bas claimed some credit for helping to mobilize the protesters, but the
demonstrations have been more bottom-up than top-down. Labor unions have been in the forefront, joined by other
progressive groups and angry citizens.
The demonstrations in Madison and the reaction to the House budget measure raise an important question. Have Republicans,
in their desire to move boldly and swiftly to deal with state and national budget problems, aroused the progressive wing of the
Democratic Party? Through much of the Obama presidency, progressives have been quiescent, lethargic or disappointed. Now
they are awake. And not just labor unions. There is a similar reaction among other groups- not just to events in Wisconsin but
to some of the cuts in the House b i l ~ such as the amendment to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.
36
If the progressive movement is truly awakened, Republicans could pay a significant price politically. Obama couldn't rouse it
in the fall, at least not enough to avoid historic losses in November's midterm elections. Labor leaders couldn't, either. Labor
unions spent heavily to try to defeat Republican candidates for governor. Now they see Wisconsin as part of a do-or-die
struggle. But if they lose there, and in other states, the movement could be permanently weakened.
Some argue that Walker has gone too far by including public employees' bargaining rights as part of the package. Not every
Republican governor plans such an assault. Still, labor and Democratic legislators are bracing for battles in other states,
including Ohio, where protests have begun over a measure backed by Gov. John Kasich (R) that also would curtail bargaining
rights.
Given the precarious condition of state budgets, there is some public support for reducing pension and health benefits for
public employees. Favorability ratings for unions are at a historical low, acc.ording to a survey by the Pew Research Center.
And the public is divided over whether it supports unions or state governments in such disputes- though tipping slightly to the
unions.
Walker has stood firm in the face of the Democrats' protests, sounding confident that he can win passage of his package and
persuade the public it is necessary. His fight has expanded beyond the borders of his state. Wisconsin's battle has gone
national.
Walker is not the only governor setting the pace for the GOP. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the unusual step of
traveling to Washington last week to chide Obama for being too timid and too patient in the face of the federal government's
fiscal problems.
Obama has moved with predictable caution. He suggests he is playing a longer game on the budget and will not allow criticism
to rush him into laying out a plan for reining in entitlement programs. He called Walker's bill an "assault" on unions. That
pleased union leaders, but others in the progressive movement see his response as tepid, given the stakes involved.
No one knows where this will end. What is clear is that we are in the early phase of a clash of ideas and a struggle for power
that have profound implications for the country's future.
37
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
20112:21 PM
--Gilkes, Keith- GOV; Schutt, Eric- GOV; Murray, Ryan M- GOV;
Fw: New York Times Profile
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 02:19 PM
By MONICA DAVEY
even Hitler.
He regularly clashed with the Milwankee County Board of Supervisors over the past decade when he was that
having served on Milwankee County's board when Mr. Walker was the executive. He says that Mr. Walker is a
right-wing the right wing on his way to the next lily pad." -
38
motorcycle. For years, he has canied the same bagged lunch to work (two ham and cheese sandwiches on
this state's former. governor, and Ronald Reagan.
Party supporters, who plarmed counterprotests this weekend in Mr. Walker's defense.
percent.
Republican majority leader in the State Senateafter the election and whose brother became the speaker of the
"Wisconsin is open for business" - began stining things up, and drawing headlines.
39
for their jobs.
not negotiate, does not compromise. He is totally modeled after a slash-and-bum, scorched-earth approach that
he nrged lawmakers, many of whom he already knew from his years in the Assembly, not to approve new
week, he armounced that he wanted to require state workers to pay more for pensions and health care; to remove
most collective bargaining rights, aside from wages, Jl'om discussion; and to require nnions to hold armual
membership votes.
Chris Christie ofNew Jersey on Thursday night while exchanging e-mail messages with Gov. Mitch Daniels of
40

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DAY 5: Wisconsin and Missouri have taken different approaches to taxation, public employees and public services.

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