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Assembly Passes Bills To Eliminate Treasurer’s Office, Bar Union Labor Requirements

Proposals Now Go To Statewide Referendum, Governor's Desk

By
Rough Tough, Real Stuff (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The Wisconsin state Assembly passed measures Thursday eliminating the state’s treasurer’s office and barring local governments from requiring union workers on public construction projects.

The proposal to eliminate the treasurer’s office has now passed the state Assembly and state Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. That means voters can weigh in on the proposal in April 2018 because it will be a statewide referendum.

“I say let the people decide,” said Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, the sponsor of the bill. “If they decide not to eliminate his position, I’ll be the first legislator to step forward and to put responsibility back into that elected position.”

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Supporters of eliminating the treasurer’s office, including the incumbent treasurer, say most responsibilities have been transferred out of the office to other state agencies. The treasurer’s only remaining responsibility is serving on the state Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.

A bill that would bar local governments from requiring union workers on public construction projects also passed Thursday, and is now headed to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk.

The state Assembly approved the bill on a party line vote, with Democrats voting against. The state Senate passed the measure last month.

The proposal would bar local governments from requiring contractors to enter into so-called “project labor agreements” on public construction projects. Those agreements set things such as working conditions and whether union workers or representatives of certain minority groups are hired to work on the project.

Rep. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, is one of the bill’s sponsors. He said it opens up opportunities for non-union workers in the state.

“This bill is not an anti-union, nor is it a pro-union piece of legislation, but it is a pro-worker piece of legislation that we should all be able to get behind,” Hutton said during debate Thursday.

But Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, said the bill is a “solution looking for a problem.”

“The bottom line, after all this debate, is this really is just another Republican attack on Wisconsin workers,” Sinicki said.

Opponents also say the change would lead to lower wages, and declines in working conditions and project quality.