GOOD STUFF HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN

Since Governor Scott Walker signed the Budget Reform Bill, limiting collective bargaining for state employees to wages only on March 11, Wisconsin school districts and cities have been rescuing their budgets.  No longer, for example, were the districts forced to purchase health insurance from the teachers’ union insurance company (WEA Trust Insurance) at exorbitant rates.  The savings have been substantial (all figures and quotes compiled from local news reports):

Ashland  School District – saved $378,000 on health insurance.

Kimberly School District – saved $821,000 by dropping WEA Trust Insurance.

Edgerton School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $500,000.

Baraboo  School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least  $660,000.

Dodgeland School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save  $260,000.

Elmbrook School District – changing health care provider, savings  estimated at $878,000.

Mequon-Thiensville School District – saving $49,000 on  dental insurance coverage.

Marshfield School District – saving $850,00 by  dropping WEA Trust.

City of Sheboygan – Mayor Bob Ryan says collective  bargaining reforms will provide  enough savings to make up for the  reduction in state aid.

Wauwatosa School District – tax levy decreasing, no  programs will be cut, class sizes won’t increase, thanks to the reforms in  collective bargaining.

Manitowoc – Laid-off city workers may get their jobs back due to the wage/benefit reforms contained in Walker ‘s budget. Changes to overtime rules saving the county $100,000.

Pittsville – will see a 9%  decrease in the school portion of their property tax levy. "This is the first  year we have not needed to short-term borrow," stated Board President  Strenn.

Appleton School District – will save $3.1 million just in health  insurance costs due to being able to bid out the coverage and being able to  drop WEA Trust.

Racine County Prison – inmates can now be used to perform tasks such as landscaping, painting and shoveling sidewalks. Executive Ladwig states  this is a win/win for the inmates and the county. It frees up county  employees for other tasks, gives the inmates a sense of value, and helps the  county maintain property that has been neglected."

Kaukauna School  District – hiring additional teachers, reducing class sizes, enacting a merit  pay system, and due to Walker’s Budget Bill, Kaukauna’s operating budget has  moved from a negative $400,000 to a positive $1,500,000. Much of this savings  was due to being able to drop WEA Trust.

Hartland School District –  switched from WEA Trust and saved $690,000;

Hudson School District – saved $832,000 on health insurance due to ability to bid the insurance.

Obviously, the union insurance company has been ripping off Wisconsin school districts for years.  One can only imagine the many millions Wisconsin taxpayers would have saved if the union had "allowed" school districts to bid out their insurance.

And there’s more good stuff.

Gov. Walker and the Republican-led legislature passed a state budget on time, without tax increases, that leaves our state in the black for the first time in over 10 years.  He has turned a $3 billion deficit into a $300 million  surplus cut bonding by nearly 20% and cut more than 1,000 government jobs, including 735 long-term vacancies. In the first 6 months of 2011, Wisconsin showed job growth more than twice the national rate.

Walker has now paid off Wisconsin’s $60 million debt to Minnesota under the former tax reciprocity agreement. And he has paid back over $200 million to the Injured Patients and Families Fund. This is money that Gov. Doyle unconstitutionally raided from the  Patients’ Compensation Fund.

In addition, our votes are now protected by requiring a picture I.D. at the polls.

We’ve become the 49th state to  recognize our 2nd Amendment right to carry concealed weapons.

And Walker expanded the prohibition against tax money being used to subsidize abortion.

All of this since last January (the governor and legislature were sworn in on January 3).  Not bad for nine months’ work in the face of hysterical and often violent union protests. Wisconsin leads the way!

Paul A. Kramer is the manager of the Skilled Trades Division of the Superior Resource Group in Green Bay Wisconsin.