Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Earlier this week, our country had occasion to celebrate its 240th birthday.
And, one of the pillars of our Democracy is open and transparent government. Regrettably, this political mindset is not equally shared by my Republican colleagues in Madison. Truth be told, July 6, 2015 is a date that should stand infamy here in the Badger State.
As many Wisconsinites will remember, it was late in the evening (on that date) during the last day of deliberations on the deeply unpopular 2015- 17 Wisconsin State Budget that Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee snuck an ominous provision into the budget, which would have all but eliminated Wisconsin’s open record laws.
The public outcry was immediate and intense from residents all across the state. Republicans were finally forced to remove the contentious amendment from the final budget proposal, which kept Wisconsin’s open records law in place.
In recent years, the open records process has shed light on potential corruption by Republicans in power. Those revelations include but are not limited to: (1) the Governor’s office’s involvement in trying to gut the Wisconsin Idea in the state budget; (2) the state’s jobs agency WEDC continued to pursue giving economic development assistance to a business owner even after they learned that he had promised state loan money to pay off the lease on his Maserati and other luxury cars; (3) the Republicans’ secrecy oath to keep details of the state redistricting plan from the public; and(4) the revelation that major mining company donors essentially re-wrote large sections of Wisconsin’s environmental laws.
When Scott Walker took office in 2010, he immediately declared that Wisconsin was now open for business.
But, what has ensued on Walker’s watch can only be construed as a dereliction of duty by a state chief executive.
With that being said, the GOPs’ continuing efforts to undo many of our political safeguards (i.e.– Open Records Laws, Civil Service System, and Government Accountability Board) is nothing more than a full frontal assault.
This is terrible public policy but, more importantly, it speaks directly to the GOP’s obsession to win elections and for greater political control.