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Below is a copy of a letter which I have just sent to Rep. Petryk. I just wanted my opinions to have a wider circulation than one recalcitrant representative. There is no need to respond to me. However, feel free to send the letter on to whomever you wish. I doubt that my letter will impact Rep. Petryk, but I sure do hope that it causes him (and others who read it) to ponder what is happening.
Nick Smiar
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Dear Rep. Petryk,
Although we may disagree regarding particular political issues, I hope that we can agree that the constitution of the state of Wisconsin and the principles imbedded in it should be preserved. I am very concerned about what I see to be erosion of those principles, especially in the alteration and destruction of our system of checks and balances. The Budget Repair Bill and the Budget Bill, in one ideological sea change, give the governor sweeping authority beyond what the constitution intends his or her powers to be, e.g., in the sale of public assets, the re-definition of positions, changes in income maintenance and health care programs, privatization of state functions, destroying the public employee unions, and more.
Sale of assets: The governor seeks authority to sell off state assets, i.e., state-owned and operated power plants. We can disagree about the wisdom of a one-time sale, but I hope that we can agree that the sale behind closed doors and without transparency goes against basic Wisconsin principles of open government. At the very least, you should require that the governor follow the current law regarding such sales and that the legislature exercise its constitutional oversight and authority through open debate.
Re-definition of positions: When you approve of the re-definition of positions into political patronage/appointive positions and, even worse, grant authority to the governor to extend those definitions, you de-stabilize state administration and hand over responsibilities of the legislature and the electorate. We already experience de-stabilization when administrations change. Increasing the number of patronage/appointive positions and granting authority to extend the re-definitions will de-stabilize even more. It may seem advantageous to your party to do this, to consolidate party power in state administration. However, remember that you and your party will not remain in power and will probably complain loudly when the other party pitches all of your people out of those positions. Such shenanigans only deprive the people of Wisconsin of competent officials. Also, what does this have to do with budget repair?
Changes in Badgercare and other income maintenance programs: There is a reason why such changes now must be reviewed and approved by the entire legislature. The budget bills remove this responsibility from the legislature and give it over to the governor, who intends to centralize and privatize the programs. Here, again, we may disagree about the best way to rein in program costs. However, are you willing to roll over and give away your constitutional responsibilities here? The centralization of the program will create an inefficient nightmare of a program whose only purpose will be to make the services inaccessible to the very people who have the greatest needs. Centralization will dismantle a highly effective and efficient county-based system, with well trained professionals assisting very vulnerable people. The proposal is to require that access be via computers (picture that!), without assistance from professionals, and jobbed out to a business whose primary objective is making a profit, not serving the most vulnerable citizens. I realize that privatization is very attractive to Republicans, but remember that there is NO EVIDENCE that privatization saves any money. In fact, there is ample evidence that privatization, in the long run, is much more expensive because you have introduced a profit motive and moved a public function out of public view. This is why we have a state law which requires a cost-benefit analysis of any such measure, and that analysis is to be reviewed by the legislature. Once again, do not give over your responsibilities.
Collective bargaining: Honestly now, what does destruction of the unions have to do with budget repair? Especially when the unions gave the concessions the governor sought. I am sure that we will not agree on this point. However, you have heard the roar outside your window and you know that there is a price to be paid for disrespecting the people and taking a heavy-handed and middle-of-the-night approach to cutting wages, especially when all of this hubbub distracts attention away from those who should really be talking about paying their fair share, the large corporations. Notice that I did not say “business,” and that is because I do not mean the small businesses. Who is bankrolling all of this political storm: big corporations, and I don’t mean just the Koch brothers. Are you not paying attention to the man behind the curtain? Your job is to represent the interests of the people of Wisconsin, not the profits of the big corporations.
We Wisconsinites have accepted this strange practice of inserting policy changes into our budget bills. We have been doing this for many years. It is not in our best interests to operate this way. Please advocate for separating those functions and providing the public space for review and debate of policy changes, especially ones that affect constitutional authority.
Sincerely,
Nick Smiar
320 Broadway Street
Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 833-0550
P.S.: I intend to share this letter with as many people as I can find who would take the time to read it.
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