Thursday 3/31

Today has been somehow very slow. And yet, important things have happened.

Duh. That's because tomorrow is Friday. So no matter how many big things happen, the Republicans will probably wait until tomorrow to do anything major in response.  Again, timing is everything.

In a beautiful use of Open Records laws, the Journal Sentinel requested the documentation for the original DOA estimate of $7.5 million for cleaning up the Capitol (back during the Capitol Access hearings, which, for the record, DOA is still in violation of the court order that came out of that process).  It turns out that it was a pretty easy records request for DOA to fulfill, since was just one page of notes. (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118951264.html).  Ironically, notes are generally not considered to be official records, but I suppose in this case, it was in the state's best interest to show *something*.  


Of course, we are still waiting on a more realistic estimate (they did backpedal from that one pretty quickly), and while the Capitol interior is mostly fine, the lawn did get trampled pretty badly. Luckily, it is spring, and so this is about the time that one would be doing lawn maintenance anyway, I believe.


Dane County Circuit Court Judge Sumi ruled that Act 10 is not actually law: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118986974.html. This is big news because on Tuesday, she refused to rule on the issue of whether or not it had been published and put into effect.  The amended TRO from Sumi: http://thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0331/0331sumi.pdf. (One thing I am LOVING, as a source-citing geek, is the broad circulation of primary source documents. From  a civics perspective, it is fantastic because it is getting more of us to be more involved with the actual laws, rules, proposals and statements. From a historical perspective, it means that many of us are basing our documentation on the primary source, rather than secondary accounts). 

Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne (who filed the suit) isn't sure what led to Judge Sumi's action: http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/ozanne-unsure-what-prompted-sumi-to-act.html

Of course, Vos (a republican) believes that a judge doesn't have the right to do this: http://budget.wispol...itics.com/2011/03/vos-blasts-sumi-order.html

The other Republicans have started to weigh in, when they were able to take breaks from their busy work day of creating jobs, while the rest of us lounge around and drink...whatever it is that we drink.  

Senator Fitzgerald has finally used the term....JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0331/0331fitzgeraldtro.pdf.  This is crucial for him to point out, because there is an election next week for a Supreme Court Justice, and obviously it is in the administration's best interest to remind us all of the dangers of "activist judges".  

On a more serious note, I find it frightening that many of the top-ranking state officials seem to be misunderstanding the separation of powers/checks and balances system. They are correct that judges don't make the law...but the courts are responsible for enforcing the law, and also, for determining whether the laws themselves are legal within the confines our our pre-existing Constitution, etc.  And in this case, she is not ruling that the law is bad, she is ruling that other laws may have been broken in the process, and if those laws were broken, then this law cannot stand.  Having immunity doesn't mean you didn't break the law; it just means you can't be prosecuted for it. And having immunity certainly doesn't mean that the law doesn't apply to you.

Today's JFC hearings focused on education: The UW, K12, and Tech Colleges.  The DPI Superintendent (Tony Evers) testified on behalf of the Department of Public Instruction, and on behalf of the people (his position is elected, rather than appointed).  He spoke about the the impact of the budget on local school districts and their ability to function under the proposed budget cuts and revenue caps.   He compared some of those cuts to some of the areas in the budget where we are increasing spending.  He also spoke about the need to continue to mandate that the Choice schools use the same standardized tests as public schools, and the importance of teacher licensing in Charters.  He also asked, "What's up with that?" with regard to some of the proposals.   Finally, he drew attention to the potential legal problems and fiscal irresponsibility of creating a new (in addition to the one we already have) 3rd grade reading initiative housed in DOA, rather than DPI. 

Read it at  http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_32.pdf. Seriously. What IS up with that? It's a question a lot of us have been asking lately. 

 

Walker also announced the creation of a reading task force: http://thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0331/0331walkerreading.pdf. At least *something* proactive is being done regarding education?

 

I'm actually not sure what tomorrow will hold. Possibly some sort of legal action by the administration against Judge Sumi? Possibly they will attempt to re-pass the Budget(less) Repair Bill (as Sumi has suggested, in order to save taxpayer money)? Possibly something else. 

Tomorrow, I am hoping to finish my post on education (especially now that the JFC hearing has happened and I can factor that in). Also this weekend, stay tuned for Rek-Tangle's Election Endorsements!