Public hearings on Wisconsin budget to take place OUTSIDE of Madison!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

Public hearings on Wisconsin budget to begin April 7 in Stevens Point

March 25, 2011
(AP) The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee will hold four public hearings on Gov. Scott Walker's two-year budget plan starting April 7 in Stevens Point.

Other hearings announced Friday are April 8 in Minong, April 11 at State Fair Park just outside Milwaukee and April 13 in Arcadia.

Committee co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Robin Vos (THUGS who we're hoping to recall) say the hearings are being held in geographically diverse locations to provide for maximum input from citizens.

A hearing on Walker's emergency budget bill that took away nearly all collective bargaining rights lasted 17 hours in the state Capitol last month before testimony was halted.

Vos and Darling say they remain committed to passing the budget before the end of the current fiscal year on Jun 30.
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Doesn't this mean they're holding the hearings in districts that are more RED??!!

:mad:

[xchrom]

1. Republicans play to win.

If only elected deems played as hard.

[Brigid]

2. They seem to be forgetting something.

Last time I checked, Wisconsinites have access to planes, trains, and automobiles.

[Bandit]

3. We will see.

I suspect there won't be all that much attention paid to these meetings..

[rzemanfl]

6. I expect that Wisconsinites will rise to the occasion Stevens

Point is a college town and Milwaukee has UW-M. They need to hold their meeting on Washington Island if they don't want a crowd.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

10. i think you are probably wrong

with all respect.

[gkhouston]

4. Here's hoping they do indeed get "maximum input" from the citizenry. n/t

[KamaAina]

5. These are public hearings, not legislative ones.

And Milwaukee isn't particularly Red (indeed, it was once a hotbed of socialism!). But it does seem odd they wouldn't have even one in the state capital.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

11. Odd, unless you don't want an avalanche of people opposing your bill- nt

[gratuitous]

7. Not unusual for a legislature to gather testimony in this way

Opponents of the Republicans would be well advised to find out how to get on the docket to submit testimony, so that the live part of the hearings isn't just a Tea Bagger parade of yammerers yelling "Cut, cut, cut!" Folks who can't attend in person, or who don't get scheduled to testify should find out how to submit written testimony to the committee.

[murielm99]

8. They will end up costing the state a lot of money in

legal fees. Everything will have to be fought out in the courts for a long time to come. They have already run up hundreds and thousands of dollars in overtime to cops of all sorts, in Madison, and around the state. My daughter told me some figures today, which I cannot remember. That is money the state owes Madison law enforcement alone. She says she saw many, many out of county policemen on duty in Madison, and even game wardens who had been called in to provide protection.

Special elections also cost money. These recalls are essential to the survival of the middle class, and to the survival of democracy in Wisconsin. But they will not be free.

They are also destroying the goodwill in the state. Wisconsinites are friendly and polite to each other. There is so much division now, that it will take years for them to regain their cordiality to one another. Way to go, "King" Scottie.

He thinks he is Reagan. I see more parallels to Nixon. It reminds me of Watergate. Every day there is some new circus aspect to this whole saga, just like the Watergate era.

[eyesroll]

9. There are usually outstate budget hearings.

That's not new. Stevens Point isn't particularly Red, and State Fair Park's accessible to Milwaukee, though not easily to those without cars. (You can get there by bus, but not directly, from most points in the city.) State Fair Park itself is in West Allis, which is pretty working class.

Still, they never do have hearings in the inner city, where the people who will be most adversely affected and least able to travel live.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

12. the UWSP will make a good showing.

I dont know enough about the other areas.