A year after state workers saw cuts to their total compensation, the state Department of Transportation has put together a program to give some of its private-sector consultants a 2% boost in pay.
State Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) said the move was unfair because using consultants for engineering work already costs more than using state employees.
“The private engineers should be treated the same as our state engineers,” she said. “Everyone who does work for the Department of Transportation should be part of the budget solution, as Gov. (Scott) Walker has said.”
3 thoughts on “State Dept. of Transportation proposes pay raises for private sector consultants”
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I am Jake’s complete lack of surprise. The GOP never really cuts spending, they just change who gets it.
And in Walker’s case, that means sending money from schools and workers, and giving it to his contributors with the road builders. The extra kicker here is the $138 million getting sent from the General Fund to the Transportation Fund over the next 12 months, making this an even bigger giveaway to the pavers.
The payoff and privatization continues:
Private sources funds Walker/Fitzgerald gang; Taxpayer funds private sources.
Certainly no need to get our knickers all twisted. Maybe we should trust our “patriot” cousins to charge forth and make a wild stink. After all if Tea Party activism is as fiercely grassroots as it is made out to be surely they will mobilize against this proposal. Let us not forget that it is the Tea Party line which insists that the taxpayer is the de facto employer of the public employee by virtue of taxpayer funds contributing to public sector wages. I’m sure, given we are a destitute state, the Tea Party of Wisconsin will step in with all the resources at their disposal to demand their tax dollars not be squandered on private sector wage increases. If their reasoning is solid and true then they will be outraged by bloated wages within the private sector which are directly paid for by the taxpayer. I’m sure they will also demand transparency and accountability from these privatized entities that match the levels of accountability for teacher salaries or, say, open records requests. Shouldn’t the public be allowed the same level of scrutiny of the privatized entities it supports from public monies? Shouldn’t all communications and company records be open to the public if the taxpayer is footing the bill for those private firms? If our Conservative friends are truly concerned about Limited Government most assuredly they will demand state government begin delimiting the size of its appendages by curtailing how much the government outsources. Perhaps we should contact our Tea Party friends and join together with them in a massive campaign in reducing the size of privatized government appendages? Nothing bloats the size of government more than its privatized appendages.