Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Now that Scott Walker has been forced to end his delusions of securing the White House, Walker and his Republican cronies are up their old tricks.
Last week, Senator Roger Roth (R-Appleton) introduced a measure to overhaul the state’s civil service system.
According to Walker, Roth and other bill sponsors, the civil service system, which was established in 1905, needs to be revamped to allow for quicker and more efficient hiring in an effort to keep pace with the increase in retiring baby boomers.
Moreover, the GOP readily asserts that nothing in the bill will lead us back to the dark days of political patronage.
This contention may sound good on its face, but is it factual?Let’s examine the facts.Some of the provisions in the bill include:
• Eliminating hiring exams for state government job candidates in favor of a résumé system.
• Clarifying the‘just cause’ definition of fire-able offenses such as stealing from the state or showing up to work drunk.
• Prohibiting layoffs being done purely on the basis of seniority among state workers; and severely limiting state workers’ ability to separate from state service and then subsequently ‘bump back’ into civil service jobs.
• Lastly, the proposal centralizes all human resources work in the state Department of Administration, an agency is controlled more closely by the governor and his appointees than some other independent state agencies.
As we have seen time and time again, the GOP has no qualms about offering “solutions”to problems that simply don’t exist. In truth, Wisconsin’s civil service system has served our state remarkably well, and it has been a model for the nation,as well.
But, let’s not be naïve about the Republicans’ real agenda in advancing this legislation: seizing power and maintaining control.
Simply put: Walker and his political sidekicks view state workers as their vocal opposition.
In 2010, Walker nullified collective bargaining rights for most state workers.
Now, he’s poised to seize control of the very mechanism that determines who gets hired/fired as state employees.
To say that this legislation wouldn’t usher in a new era of political patronage is a blatant lie.
Furthermore, there is both truth and wisdom to the political adage:If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.