If you think the collective bargaining for state employees is the only significant issue potentially impacting Wisconsin from a standpoint of fundamentally changing the structure of state governance, consider this:
In another Scott Walker power play, the budget (which includes the union busting provisions) also splits off the University of Wisconsin - Madison from the rest of the UW education system around the state. What does this mean? More fun for the Koch brothers, more no-bid contracts, and who knows what else. But I think there's a darker agenda. There always is with these folks.
I'll also say right up front that I have a bit of personal interest in this - my dad received his law degree from UW-Madison, and met my mother when they were both working at the Edgewater. I was born in Madison. Anyway, enough about me. How about 21 members on the UW-Madison board of trustees, and Walker will get to control 11 of those members. Interested in vote stacking? Read on...
Yes, this is another Scott Walker power play. From the Wisconsin State Journal this morning:
UW-Madison would be governed by a 21-member board of trustees — 11 appointed by Gov. Scott Walker — under a proposal likely to be included in Walker's budget.
More details emerged Wednesday about what a split from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System would look like...
The proposed separation comes after UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin spent the last year lobbying for more freedom from what she calls burdensome state regulations on purchasing, building, personnel and tuition. She said Gov. Scott Walker approached her with the idea that UW-Madison could gain more flexibility by splitting from the UW System.
But leaders from the UW System say Martin struck a deal with Walker without airing the issue publicly or even telling members of the UW Board of Regents — her bosses. [emphasis mine]
Burdensome. Yep, that's what those rules requiring set-asides and competitive bidding are all about. They're burdensome. Maintenance and construction? Yeah, you know, hiring a competent A/E firm and getting the best bang for your project management dollar is so...troubling and time consuming.
But in the end, I would think that's not what the gambit is all about (though certainly, with the other potential for the state selling off its operating assets, such as power and heating plants, UW-Madison surely has some gold for the privateeris hidden in that). I think this once again comes down to labor. Basically, he's stacking the board of trustees with rubber stamp votes regarding the operation of the entire university. I would assume their area of responsibility would include faculty, faculty benefits, tenure...the whole magilla.
Anyway, I think this is an important, and so far overlooked, data point in the GOteaP takeover of Wisconsin Kochlandia.