Progressive Thinking

Research shows Wisconsin most gerrymandered state in the country and system for drawing legislative district lines is broken beyond repair. Gerrymandering districts thwart the will of the voters.

MADISON - Responding to recent research showing Wisconsin to be the most gerrymandered state in the nation, State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) called on the Legislature to pass his non-partisan redistricting bill to restore fairness in Wisconsin elections.

“Recently conducted research shows beyond a doubt that Wisconsin’s system for drawing legislative district lines is broken beyond repair,” said Hansen. “Regardless of which party is responsible gerrymandering districts to thwart the will of the voters is counter to fair elections and a cancer on our democracy.”

In 2011 the Republicans assumed total control of state government and set in motion a partisan redistricting process which was designed to protect their members in the State Assembly and Senate and preserve their majorities in both houses for years to come regardless of the overall popular statewide vote.

An example of the advantage Republicans gave themselves is reflected in the 2012 election results in which Democrats received 53.5% of the vote statewide but less than 40% of the seats in the State Assembly.

“Gerrymandering has existed for decades, but the kind that has occurred in Wisconsin under the republican majority is gerrymandering on steroids. It has corrupted our elections and state policy as the Governor and legislative Republicans have pursued an agenda that is far outside the mainstream with no fear of being held accountable at the ballot box.”

The study conducted by Professor Simon Jackman of Stanford University is being used to bolster nationwide challenges to partisan redistricting by both parties shows that Wisconsin’s districts are gerrymandered significantly more than states like Illinois and Texas, states that are commonly viewed has having long histories of corruption in both their elections and their governments. On the other side, Democrats in Rhode Island have gerrymandered their state’s legislative districts to freeze out the voices of Republican voters.

“In a democracy “one person-one vote” is supposed to matter. But here in Wisconsin there are thousands of voters whose voices have been frozen out of the ballot box and in turn their government because the elections have been rigged to the point their legislative votes don’t matter. It is time to begin the process of restoring people’s faith in their government and it starts with passing legislation to end partisan election rigging.”

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Link to redistricting study here.

This week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the WEDC and problems plaguing this entity. The Legislative Joint Audit Committee will be meeting to discuss the latest LAB audit findings which show WEDC still has work to do to improve.

MADISON - Imagine how private firms do business with the State of Wisconsin. The companies provide something of value for taxpayers and, in return, receive state money.

This happens all the time in state government: private companies build roads, computer systems, pay Medicaid bills, and even educate children.

What if the sole reason tax dollars went to a company was to create jobs?

Recognizing that taxpayers would want to know companies were actually creating jobs, lawmakers wrote state law requiring verification of information sent by businesses applying for tax dollars. Not really a whole lot different than making sure road builders actually poured the required amount of concrete on our roads.

But the public accountability is a lot less when it comes to job creation.

In 2011, Governor Walker established the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which administers 29 economic development programs funded almost entirely with state money.

WEDC’s name is misleading – it is not a corporation. It is a state ‘authority’ and is – or should be – accountable to taxpayers for dollars it spends. That’s why the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has been auditing WEDC since its creation.

Findings from the LAB May 2015 audit revealed that WEDC awarded grants and loans to companies to create or retain jobs, but WEDC staff did not require those companies to submit payroll or other records showing that jobs were actually created or retained.

WEDC staff wrote off some loans not collected, deferred payments due and forgave loans. Program reports did not contain clear, accurate or complete information on outcomes. In some cases, the WEDC Board actually created policies in direct conflict with state law.

Evidence in several audits show WEDC broke state and federal laws. Illegal action in approving Community Development Block Grants led to fines that are still being paid by taxpayers.

During its first three and one half years, WEDC staff didn’t independently verify the job creation or retention information by annually reviewing a sample of grant and loan recipients, as required by state law. They allocated tax credits to projects that started before the company actually contracted with WEDC to start the project. WEDC staff did not consistently collect companies’ verified financial statements for recipients of certain grants and loans.

So, what is the answer to questions about job creation or if the 29 programs were successful? The answer is “We don’t know.” Early in WEDC’s existence, zero jobs were independently verified – which was in direct conflict with state law.

The May 2015 audit is the fourth in two years reporting similar findings.

If a program in any other part of state government failed to follow state laws and failed to deliver goods and services bought with state tax dollars, the public and the press would hound lawmakers until they shut down the program or made massive changes.

It is not so with WEDC. Only recently, after pressure from legislators did the Joint Legislative Audit Committee Co-Chairs schedule a public hearing on the May audit. During this public hearing, scheduled for September 2nd, I expect WEDC officials to try to discredit the stellar work of the nonpartisan LAB.

Two concepts are important to remember in reading any news account of the upcoming hearing. What does it mean to verify or make sure jobs were actually created? Is WEDC required to follow state law on when and how to award state tax dollars?

WEDC officials claim that asking a company to sign a “progress report” form is measure enough the company has created the jobs. They also argue laws were not broken even though auditors reported numerous instances when contracts were written or amended and even board policies were created in violation of state law.

In any other part of state government executives would be fired and programs eliminated with the type of negative results found in just one audit – not four audits in two years.

WEDC officials claim they created a ‘business friendly’ environment and placing too many restrictions on businesses receiving state money might discourage the business from applying for grants or tax credits in the first place.

But, if we can’t ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent, why do we have these programs?

August is a time for all of us to step back from politics and enjoy the world around us. So this week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the annual tradition of the county fairs and shares details about what she saw and heard at them.

ALMA, WI - “We were working on a peach pie at 11:00 pm last night,” a 4-H mom whispered. “We were working on brownies at 2:00 am,” said another mom who overhead the conversation.

We were outside the 4-H food judging at the Pepin County Fair. You could have heard a pin drop inside the room as the judges sampled the entries. “What a great job,” I thought. “Dessert judge at the county fair.”

County fairs have a deep tradition in our state. Thousands of families, FFA members, 4-Hers and other youth poured their time, energy, talent and creativity into projects exhibited at Wisconsin’s many county fairs.

“Did you see the chicken made of egg shells?” the superintendent of crafts and woodworking at the Trempealeau County Fair asked as I walked through the craft building. He led me over to the top prizewinners on special display.

Indeed, there was a chicken made of broken brown eggshells. Each flawlessly placed shell piece matched the shade and shape of the shells around it and covered the perfectly shaped chicken.

“How did she get the beak to fit together?” I wondered out loud. “It’s a Styrofoam mold underneath that she carved,” the superintendent explained. I very much admired her amazingly detailed work.

“Over here,” the superintendent showed me the woodworking and mechanical-type entries. Beautiful hardwood tables were finished to a shine. He showed me an incredibly large doghouse, complete with shingles and a gutter system that filled up the dog’s water bowl - ingenious.

“His dad helped him design and build the house,” the superintendent said. “How did he transport it?” I asked. “It’s got wheels. He just rolled it in.”

“Transport problems? You ought to see this.” He led me over to the mechanical toys. In the corner was a huge contraption. It is hard to describe the contraption except that it was over five feet tall and had what looked like lots of Ferris wheels connected to each other with all kinds of other mechanisms attached.

“It really works,” the superintendent told me. “The young man who built it had it running for the judge. But you should have seen the family get it here. Dad drove the truck with the trailer and the young man and grandpa held it steady in the trailer.”

I marveled at the complexity of this mechanistic wonder - gears, flags, wheels, and poles – very small, intricate mechanical parts.

Amazing work was also done by youth showing cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and llamas.

At the Eau Claire County Youth Fair, the beef judge complemented the 4th through 6th graders that bravely led market weight steers and full-grown cows.

“This youngster has been in the show ring all day,” said the judge. “She’s doing a marvelous job with that steer. He goes where she wants and he’s 12 times her size.”

Fairs are also a great way to catch up with your neighbors and extended family. All the relatives come out to see the youngsters show; and neighbors provide a friendly rivalry whether it is with the cattle or the corn.

I enjoy the fairs for so many reasons. One reason is the relaxed, friendly, rural environment of the fair helps folks more freely share what’s really on their mind.

“Just for the record,” the man at the Jackson County Fair told me “we shouldn’t finance that stadium for the Bucks. The money should have gone into the roads. The Jackson County roads are a mess.”

Indeed. Jackson County is turning some asphalt roads back into gravel. The growing sand mines are adding exponentially more wear and tear to the rural roads.

One man followed me from the Trempealeau County Fair to the Jackson County Fair and finally to the Buffalo County Fair before he caught up with me. “I waited an hour here to see you,” he told me. I was impressed.

Many folks had issues with some form of government they wanted help resolving. That’s good. Others just wanted someone like me to hear their opinions. That’s good too.

Miss me at the fair? I’m headed to Pierce County next. See you there!

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the 50th birthday of Medicare and Medicaid. These health programs provide access for the elderly and people without the means to purchase health insurance. Medicare moved many elderly out of poverty and Medicaid is important not only to those covered but the health providers which serve them.

ALMA, WI - “Whatever you do,” the elderly woman in Gilmanton told me a few years ago, “Keep your government-run hands off my Medicare.”

Medicare and Medicaid turned 50 years old on July 30, 2015. After decades of political leaders grappling on the issue of health care, it was in 1965, that then President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law.

Today we take for granted what was a seminal political accomplishment. Medicare, a federally run program, provides health care for those over 65 through a Social Security payroll tax. Medicaid, a state and federally administered health program, provides aid for the poor. Both are government-run.

The Center for Medicaid Advocacy reported that before Medicare, less than 50% of elders had health insurance and 35% lived in poverty. By the 1970s, 96% of seniors were covered.

In our current era of health care controversy, we often forget the past political struggles. President Johnson sent “Medicare” bills to Congress in 1961 and 1962. Congress did not even give the bill a hearing until 1963.

Success in Medicare and Medicaid legislation was finally achieved through political compromise. Medicare “Part A” benefited hospitals. “Part B” benefited the oppositional Medical Society.

The concept of a ‘fiscal intermediary’ or the ‘moneyman in the middle’ that paid providers was a nod to hospitals and especially physicians who worried the legislation would open the door to ‘socialized medicine’, which they feared would drive down physicians’ salaries. To address this fear, Medicare paid physicians ‘usual’ and ‘customary’ fees; and what began as a creation of the hospitals and the doctors: Blue Cross (hospital insurance) and Blue Shield (physician coverage) pay providers of Medicare coverage.

While Medicare for all elderly – not just poor elderly – was a victory for Johnson, Medicaid – care of the poor – benefited those without the means for health care as well as doctors and hospitals.

Many hospitals have their genesis in care of the poor. Religious organizations served the poor through “hostels” during the Middle Ages. Wealthy individuals could afford private doctors and live-in nurses. Poor folks had no choice but charity.

In the mid-twentieth century, unions had raised wages and benefits. Health care became a standard benefit. However, left out were the elderly (who worked prior to the strength of unions) and the poor who worked in ‘day-labor’ without union representation.

Hospitals continued charity care but realized the benefits of a program that covered poorer folks. About the time of the first hearing on Johnson’s ‘Medicare’ bill, the Hospital Association dropped its opposition because they realized the potential benefits of Medicare and Medicaid.

The original compromise that created Medicare and Medicaid was never designed to control health costs or to cover preventive or maintenance of health care. Johnson’s compromise was designed to pass the legislation.

Over the years, health costs have grown and government has put in place a number of ‘cost savings’ measures. Blue Cross and Blue Shield eventually divested themselves of their founders: the hospitals and physicians. They even divested of their non-profit roots in Wisconsin and many other places. Medicare moved toward a plethora of for-profit insurance plans - with mixed results.

Within states, the mechanisms for administering Medicaid increasingly involved contracts with for-profit companies. In Wisconsin, these costs more than doubled in the last 5 years. The budget just passed provided a 20% cost increase for health administration contracts with private companies.

Medicare and Medicaid continue to struggle balancing costs and quality care. In Wisconsin Medicaid takes up 32% of the total (all funds) state budget and is growing faster than any other program. About 80% of the over $2 billion increase in state spending went to Medicaid.

Increases in costs and the number of elders caused some to speak of “phasing out” Medicare. Do we really want to go back to a world where 35 out of 100 seniors live in poverty?

Future generations will grapple with balancing health costs, high quality and access. There are answers. One of the unsung successes of the Affordable Care Act is the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Using science and best practices in health care can help manage costs and provide high quality coverage for generations to come.

Republicans who call the shots in Madison want to butcher the state’s open meetings law and turn our independent elections watchdog agency into a lapdog. It’s easy to focus on condemning the attacks, but let's think of ways to make open government laws sturdier and government more trustworthy.

MADISON - Those who call the shots in Wisconsin’s Capitol show themselves to be most comfortable working in the dark. They tried to butcher the state’s open meetings law, and only backed down when their action whipped up a public firestorm. They want to do away with the highly respected state audit office. They’re itching to turn a nationally acclaimed, politically independent elections and ethics watchdog agency into a lapdog.

They must have a lot to hide.

With open government laws under assault, it’s easy to focus entirely on condemning the attacks and seeking to prevent further harm. It’s harder, especially in times like these, to take the time to think up ways to make our open government laws sturdier and the business of governing more transparent and trustworthy. It’s not enough to bear witness to destruction or even to try to stand in the way of the demolition crews. Blueprints for new construction need to be drawn.

It’s only a start, but here are 11 ways to bathe the encroaching darkness in light:

1. Require all legislative proposals – every bill, every amendment, every budget provision – to have named sponsors. Whoever wants a proposal drafted and considered has to be publicly identified.

2. Strengthen the open records law by clarifying how promptly government agencies must respond to public records requests. Wisconsin’s law just requires them to do it “as soon as practicable and without delay.” In Illinois – Illinois, for crying out loud – officials are given five business days to either comply with or deny a request or put in writing a darn good reason for needing more time. Maybe five days is not enough time, but 352 is definitely too much. That’s how long one Wisconsin newspaper was made to wait.

3. Further strengthen the open records law by narrowing the exemption for draft proposals. Once the official developing the proposal shares it with colleagues or other officials, it should be a public record.

4. Strengthen the open records law even more by clarifying that electronic records – or “electromagnetic information” as it’s called in Wisconsin’s law – have to be treated just like paper records when it comes to storage and retrieval. Make it abundantly clear that sudden mass email deletions and other destruction of electronic public records are crimes.

5. Create an open data law requiring the government to publish data online in an open format, and require government responses to public records requests to be made available in an open data format. Harnessing the power of the Internet to drive transparency, efficiency and innovation is gaining momentum globally, and was written into law for the first time anywhere in the U.S. by a major American city in 2010. Wisconsin has dabbled in a few open data projects, but has no overarching open data law.

6. Sharpen Wisconsin’s open meetings law to address the reality that members of public bodies too frequently go into closed session simply because they believe they can speak more candidly that way. When enough members are present to constitute a quorum, the meeting should be open to the public, with very limited exceptions. And it should be made clear that the open meetings law applies fully to the legislature, even when members of just one party gather.

7. Instead of dismantling the independent Government Accountability Board, make the GAB stronger by giving it the staffing and funds needed to carry out its duties and deal with the work backlog identified by arecent audit. That audit pointed out that the GAB keeps being given more and more to do on top of its regular workload, including administering recall elections in 2011 and 2012, overseeing a statewide election recount, implementing redistricting legislation, and preparing for a photo identification requirement for voting. Yet the GAB’s funding has actually shrunk, decreasing 3% from $5.8 million in 2009-10 to $5.6 million in 2013-14.

8. End the home-court advantage for public officials who find themselves in trouble. This would fix one of the two major flaws in the 2007 law establishing the Government Accountability Board. That law allows any legislators and other state officials accused of wrongdoing to be criminally prosecuted in the county where they live. All other citizens are charged where the offense allegedly occurred. This double standard gives state officials – and no others accused of crimes – the ability to go court shopping and choose where they will be tried.

9. Make Government Accountability Board records related to complaints and investigations public, and require all actions by the Board regarding complaints and investigations to be done in open session. Currently, records pertaining to complaints filed with the GAB and investigations by the agency are confidential, and all Board actions dealing with these matters take place in closed session.  This change, along with repealing the law’s measure making it a crime punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine to publicly discuss or disclose any records about an investigation into ethics or campaign finance violations, would repair the second substantial flaw in the law creating the GAB and unmuzzle the watchdog.

10. Bring Wisconsin’s conflict of interest laws into the 21st Century. State law prohibits public officials from knowingly taking any action “substantially affecting a matter in which the official, a member of his or her immediate family, or an organization with which the official is associated has a substantial financial interest.” The law – written back in 1973, long before campaign contributions played the dominant role in elections they do today – is silent on whether political donations could create a conflict of interest for Wisconsin officials. Likewise, the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct allows judges to rule on cases involving their biggest campaign supporters. Both the judicial ethics code and the broader 1973 state law should be rewritten to disqualify officials from participating in decisions that could benefit individuals or groups that spend large sums to get them elected.

11. Follow Minnesota’s lead and ban gifts of travel and lodging to public officials from lobbying groups, even when passed through an organization that is not a registered lobbying group. Better yet, prevent the unregistered groups doing the passing of gifts from gaming the system by treating them as lobbying operations and requiring them to publicly disclose their activities and obey Wisconsin’s law prohibiting officials from accepting “anything of value if it could reasonably be expected to influence the state public official’s vote, official actions or judgment, or could reasonably be considered as a reward for any official action or inaction.”

Here you have 11 ideas for making governing more open and honest that should be under active consideration at the Capitol but currently are not. Surely others can come up with another 11. Or 111. There is much to be done to reverse Wisconsin’s descent into darkness.