Republicans in the state Legislature don't have the 17 votes necessary to pass a bill being rushed through the process to make it more difficult to recall incumbent GOP lawmakers from office.
Republican Sen. Dale Schultz told The Associated Press on Monday that he does not support the measure and will not vote for it. Republicans have 17 seats in the Senate and need all 17 of those votes to pass the bill, assuming all 16 Democrats vote against it.
The bill was hastily introduced by Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, on Friday and scheduled for a hearing Monday afternoon before the Senate elections committee, which Lazich chairs. The bill would bring the new Republican-friendly legislative boundaries into effect immediately and for any recall elections that would take place next year.
Politicians, in times of desperation, will quickly elevate self-preservation above any other rational consideration. One can even argue Schultz is doing what is in his best political interest.
That said, this whole can of worms was opened by Kevin Kennedy, who suggested that given the wording of Act 43, present legislators already represent their new districts while any elections prior to November 2012 would use the boundaries of their old districts.
The common sense fix? Pass a bill that clarifies what nearly everyone has assumed from the beginning of time: new districts are first used in the first general election following their creation, and for the purposes of representation, new districts become effective the day those legislators first elected on those maps are sworn in.
This situation is only complicated to the extent that politicians are trying to game an advantage instead of doing what makes sense.
Addendum, 12/17/11: As the intrepid work of Brett Healy and those at the MacIver Institute have driven some new traffic to this post, including people who may not have an everyday familiarity with Wisconsin politics, allow me to clarify two points.
First, the term "Crazy Mary" is in no way intended to imply that Sen. Lazich is actually insane. She does have a longstanding history of offering legislation that panders to the rightest of the right-wing, and a long history of being a difficult legislator for whom to work. The phrase was one that was quickly introduced to my lexicon by coworkers shortly after arriving as a legislative staffer in 2001. And to the extent that Sen. Lazich frequently departs from proportion or moderation, it's hardly an inaccurate label.
Second, why a GAB official would ever make a public comment on a commentary regarding an election-related matter blows my mind. I'm not suggesting public employees don't have a right to an opinion, but David Buerger may wish to exercise better discretion in the future. I do, however, appreciate his readership and agree with him completely on the Mickey Mouse/Adolf Hitler thing. Asking GAB to establish any kind of criteria for throwing out signatures is a slippery, slippery slope and that sort of thing is better handled by the campaigns of opposing candidates.
Addendum, 12/17/11: As the intrepid work of Brett Healy and those at the MacIver Institute have driven some new traffic to this post, including people who may not have an everyday familiarity with Wisconsin politics, allow me to clarify two points.
First, the term "Crazy Mary" is in no way intended to imply that Sen. Lazich is actually insane. She does have a longstanding history of offering legislation that panders to the rightest of the right-wing, and a long history of being a difficult legislator for whom to work. The phrase was one that was quickly introduced to my lexicon by coworkers shortly after arriving as a legislative staffer in 2001. And to the extent that Sen. Lazich frequently departs from proportion or moderation, it's hardly an inaccurate label.
Second, why a GAB official would ever make a public comment on a commentary regarding an election-related matter blows my mind. I'm not suggesting public employees don't have a right to an opinion, but David Buerger may wish to exercise better discretion in the future. I do, however, appreciate his readership and agree with him completely on the Mickey Mouse/Adolf Hitler thing. Asking GAB to establish any kind of criteria for throwing out signatures is a slippery, slippery slope and that sort of thing is better handled by the campaigns of opposing candidates.
1 comment:
This makes me wonder what might have been said to Schultz during tense moments last spring.
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