From Democratic State Sen. Chris Larson’s latest “Larson Report” comes news of the partisanship of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s “Waste Commission.”
Governor Walker proved once again this past week that he cannot work together with others on such bipartisan issues as finding savings for Wisconsin taxpayers. The supposedly bipartisan Waste, Fraud and Abuse Commission was scheduled to release a report detailing additional savings at the end of the year. Unfortunately, this Commission became little more than a political propaganda ploy. The Commission rarely met, chose to ignore members of the minority party, avoided important subject matter, and denied members the opportunity to vote on or approve the final report it produced.
Governor Walker derived his Waste, Fraud and Abuse Commission from a campaign pledge in which he promised to find $300 million in waste, fraud and abuse in state government. Walker created the Commission through Executive Order #2 on January 3, 2011. The order required the Commission to “identify waste, fraud and abuse in state government programs and state appropriations and recommend solutions.” The Commission was expected to identify new savings of state tax dollars to uphold Governor Walker’s promise. Unfortunately, the Commission was a failure.
Instead Walker’s report takes credit for savings the state has nothing to do with or savings already accounted for from previous actions of state government. In response to the Walker report, we offered an honest, straight-forward alternative that does not take credit for previous state government action, future federal action or budgeting gimmicks. The alternative plan contains potential savings of hundreds of millions of dollars each biennium.
The Commission heard testimony on the significant money government can save when municipalities are allowed to work cooperatively. Unfortunately, the Governor continues to restrict local government from working together on such simple things as filling potholes. The Governor also chose to ignore his own report by refusing to fill staff positions dedicated to catching corporate tax cheats.
Finding savings and efficiencies in government is something that we can all agree is necessary. There is no reason for Governor Walker to turn such important efforts into a political game.
Dissatisfied with the partisan nature of Gov. Walker’s Waste, Fraud and Abuse Commission, Sen. Larson and Democratic State Rep. Mark Pocan have submitted their Alternative Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Report, which is worth a read.
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