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DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHO IS GOVERNOR?

The State Budget just came out a couple of weeks ago and the items that affected electricians in WI were major.  There are two major players in the writing of the Budget.  The first is the Governor who writes the initial draft and then has veto power on the final draft.  The second is the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) made up of legislators who can change the initial draft of the budget and then give it back to the Governor.  Both the Assembly and Senate vote on it in the end but the real work is done by the Governor and JFC.

1. State Apprenticeship Department: Initially the Governor proposed a million dollar increase and keeping the same amount of staff.  JFC cut it to $300,000 and reduced the number of staff in the department.  The Governor was able to veto the section in such a way as to have the increase in financing he wanted and keep the staff at the same amount.
2. State Utility Privatization – JFC added in a plan to privatize 32 state owned heating, cooling and wastewater plants.  The workers in these plants are all union.  The Governor vetoed out the entire plan.
3. Tax advantage for Temporary Help Agencies – JFC added in an amendment that would have canceled the sales tax placed on Temporary Help Agencies.  The Governor vetoed this plan.
4. Mandatory submission of payroll to the state for Prevailing Wage Jobs – The Governor put in the initial draft a requirement that all contractors on Prevailing Wage Jobs had to submit a certified payroll.  The JFC deleted this provision.

When we look at these items that could have drastically affected us, it seems clear why we need to be concerned who is the Governor and who controls the JFC.  The ABC has been trying to cut the Apprenticeship Department for years because the Department has oversight and enforces the standards of pay and benefits for apprentices.  Private ownership of the state plants would seriously cut our fairly automatic union work at these facilities.  If temporary help agencies are exempt from sales taxes they will be able to either cut their prices more for the construction workers they provide or just pocket more profits on these underpaid workers.  If we could have mandatory certified payroll for Prevailing Wage jobs we would save a lot of time and effort on trying to catch the cheaters and help shut them down.

Every budget veto we asked the Governor to make, he did.  Please take a moment to call to 608-266-1212 or go online to http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/contact.asp?locid=19 and make a comment.  Please thank him for listening and stopping these issues in the budgets that would have cost us jobs.

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Last modified: December 17, 2008