February
23rd, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG)
President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement condemning 14
Wisconsin State Senators for fleeing the state to avoid a vote on
Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to end collective bargaining for public
pension and health care benefits:
“The 14 Senate Democrats have engaged in a
gutless move to flee their state rather than vote up or down on
Governor Walker’s proposals to balance the budget. At a bare minimum,
they shouldn’t be paid. But if a quorum cannot be reached to work on
budget matters, which requires 20 members be present, then Senate
Republicans will have to consider other options.
“The Wisconsin Senate, of course, could
move forward with a quorum of 17 to pursue legislation minus any budget
items. They should put a straight right-to-work law on the table,
which would give all workers in the state the option of whether they
want to join a union or not. They could move it to the floor and have
it on the calendar, and then adjourn for a day. The delinquent 14
Senate Democrats would probably come scurrying back rather quickly to
try to defeat the measure.
“But if they did not, Senate Republicans
could be even more aggressive with more legislation: lower Medicaid
eligibility requirements, saving the state tens of millions of dollars,
roll back authorizations for entire departments, enact a sunset rule
on all regulations issued by the state government, and require that all
regulations that affect more than 50 people be approved by the state
legislature. These are all items Senate Democrat would want to be
there to try to stop.
“Ultimately, these 14 faithless senators
need to get back to work on the budget. If Senate Republicans move
aggressively, the ‘Delinquent 14’ can be made to meet their
obligations.”
Permalink here.
No comments:
Post a Comment