ALIPACERS - WE NEED A HUGE PUSH TOMORROW, MONDAY, JUNE 8TH, AS WISCONSIN LAWMAKERS BATTLE OUT THE STATE BUDGET --- WE NEED EVERY AVAILABLE ALIPACER TO CALL THE WISCONSIN REPS AND DEMAND THAT (2) CLAUSES BE REMOVED FROM THE BUDGET...

Wisconsin Lawmakers brace for budget brawl (Illegal Alien Driver's Licenses and In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens)

By Eric Lindquist
Leader-Telegram staff

Putting together a state budget during the worst economic crisis in decades is no fun.

Yet that was the daunting task facing the Democratic co-chairmen of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, Sen. Mark Miller of Monona and Rep. Mark Pocan of Madison, this spring.

The result, approved by the Legislature's budget-writing committee May 29 after months of haggling and deliberation: a $63 billion, two-year spending plan that plugged a $6.6 billion shortfall with a mix of spending cuts and increases in taxes and fees.

The Assembly is expected to take up the budget proposal this week.

"We had to make a lot of tough decisions," Pocan said, noting that the budget calls for overall spending cuts totaling $3.2 billion, 5 percent across-the-board cuts for state agencies, layoffs for at least 1,400 state employees and most state workers enduring pay freezes and mandatory furloughs.

With the Democrats controlling the Assembly, the Senate and the governor's office for the first time since 1986, their Republican colleagues criticized the majority party for shutting them out of the budget process and relying too much on tax increases at a time when residents and businesses can least afford them.

To that charge, Pocan offered a simple response: It could have been much worse.

He pointed out that almost all states faced budget shortfalls this year when tax collections dwindled as workers lost jobs and consumers slashed spending in response to the recession.

Many states responded by enacting across-the-board income and sales tax increases and by making spending cuts that make Wisconsin's pale by comparison, Pocan said, mentioning Colorado eliminating full-day kindergarten, Utah trimming higher education funding by 36 percent and Oregon ending in-home care for the elderly as particularly painful examples.

"A lot of really bad things happened in other states," Pocan said.

Wiscon sin's proposed budget, by contrast, avoided payroll tax increases and across-the-board hikes in income and sales taxes and held the line on property taxes, he said. The only income tax increase would raise the rate by 1 percentage point for households making more than $300,000 a year.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects the average property tax bill in the state will rise 3.8 percent next year, which Pocan said is slightly less than the average annual increase in the past five years under GOP governors Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum.

"I know Republicans want to say we're tax-and-spend Democrats, but we didn't tax in this budget, and we cut a lot of spending, so I think they're not real happy that a lot of their rhetoric went out the door," Pocan said.

Overall spending would rise 7 percent under the budget approved by the Joint Finance Committee because of federal economic stimulus money, but spending of state tax dollars would decline by 3.4 percent.

Republicans argued the budget still includes too much spending and too many earmarks for districts represented by Democratic legislators.

"You don't expand programs when you don't have any money," said Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson.

The budget includes targeted tax and fee increases on such things as cell phones, hospital revenues, oil company profits, nursing home beds, boat registration, cigarettes, handgun background checks, utility bills, work permits and birth and marriage certificates.

"The rhetoric is that middle-class Wisconsin isn't hurt by this budget - 'We didn't raise their income tax; we didn't raise their sales tax' - but that's just part of the story," Rhoades said. "All of these little other things do add up."

Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, said the budget contains more than $4 billion in increased taxes and fees, including local property taxes that will rise because of school aid cuts.

"We are in tough economic times. How do we get back on the road to recovery? Do you grow government, or do you allow the private sector to grow?" asked Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls. "The more money you take from people ... to create a bigger government, the less money people have to spend someplace else within their own community."

Rhoades argued the Legislature should freeze spending, meaning it couldn't fund any new programs or the expansion of any existing programs.

"We have to get serious here," she said.

Pocan, however, maintained that Democrats did their best to protect key priorities - education, health care and public safety - while taking advantage of historically low interest rates to invest in capital projects intended to create jobs and accelerate the state's economic recovery.

Federal stimulus money should enable the state to avoid much more severe cuts before the economy and tax revenues get back on track by the next budget cycle, Miller said.

Because the GOP is in the minority in both houses of the Legislature, Republicans acknowledged they are powerless to stop the proposed budget. However, Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, hopes that by speaking out about certain budget provisions Republicans can "embarrass some Democrats" - particularly those in vulnerable districts - into voting to remove those items.

The Democrats hold a 52-46 advantage in the Assembly and an 18-15 edge in the Senate.

"We have an opportunity, because the numbers are that slim, to get rid of the really bad stuff," Rhoades said.

The provisions Rhoades and Rep. John Murtha, R-Baldwin, would most like to see removed from the budget include several measures they believe would be bad for businesses and, thus, job creation.

Those items include expanding the state's prevailing wage law, increasing minimum auto insurance limits, allowing domestic partnership benefits for state employees, changing the way liability claims are handled by lowering the threshold at which defendants could be held liable for damages and repealing the Qualified Economic Offer, or QEO, law that effectively caps annual teacher compensation increases at 3.8 percent.

Repealing the QEO, a longtime goal of teachers unions, would hurt school boards' ability to deal with their own budget challenges, Harsdorf said.

Despite the Republicans' objections, Miller said he and Pocan worked hard to develop a budget they thought was a responsible document in difficult economic times and could pass both houses of the Legislature and earn the governor's approval without significant changes.

They expect the Assembly and Senate to pass the budget before June 30, when the current biennial budget expires.

"We're doing our best to get it done on time," Pocan said. "If we actually get it done on time, it will be the first time since 1973 when Pat Lucey, a Democrat, was governor."


Leader-Telegram reporter Tom Giffey contributed to this story. Lindquist can be reached at 833-9209, 800-236-7077 or eric.lindquist@ecpc.com.





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9 Comments
Thanks, Average...for going after 'em on this. It was an 11th hour provision tucked into the budget by the Dem-controlled Joint Finance Committee. I'm actually going to contact ALL the State Senators and Assemblypersons, and make sure the ones that OPPOSE this have plenty of ammo to shoot this one down. Please get this stuff out to EVERYONE on your own email list, and tell them to do the same. If the Assembly gets hammered by emails Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I think by the time they take up debate on Thursday they will know better than to try to ram this through. Sadly, they've been dictated to by an organization out of Milwaukee, "Voces de la Frontera" (which I call "Fraud de la Frontera"). Voces has been telling them, through their leader Christine Neumann-Ortiz and the media that panders to her, that illegals will cause less trouble if they can drive, and will all go buy insurance, and they will promise not to vote or do anything else stupid. YAH RIGHT!! Just be aware of the fact that during 2006 and 2007, Voces told illegals HOW TO DECEIVE THE D.M.V. when applying for licenses...they WARNED THEM NOT TO ALLOW THE DMV TO SEE THE STOLEN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER ON THEIR PAYSTUB WHEN THEY SHOW THE STUB AT THE DMV TO PROVE ADDRESS!! When each of those applicants signed their name at the bottom saying all their statements were true, they were filing a falsified application by not revealing they were using an American citizen's Social Security number - instead telling DMV they WERE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ONE! Voces learned that examiners were getting wise to the scam, so Voces put on their website HOW TO FAKE OUT THE D.M.V.!!! Yah, that's who we want dictating legislation to our government here in Wisconsin. They are also one of those organizations that uses "immigrant" to cover both LEGAL and ILLEGAL when it suits them, but then when they need benefits for more illegals, suddenly they know the difference when they lobby in the Capitol!

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 2:02:34 PM

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Ice man I think they hit a nerve with you. Thanks for bringing out some of the details. I too am totally opposed to illegals getting any sort of rights, except to be shipped back to the furthest point from our country.
I will be contacting my legislators and letting then know my opposition to this stupidity.


Report as inappropriate Posted by: Average-Person
at: 6/7/2009 12:25:50 PM

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TAX TAX TAX that is no budget. Contact your Reps, and have a look at this website www.recalldoyle.com and start brawling against your own crooked leaders.

Report as inappropriate Posted by: rasor999
at: 6/7/2009 10:56:38 AM

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To get the background and citations on the facts I've presented, please go to: www.NumbersUSA.com and www.FAIRUS.org. Also, please ask your local law enforcement why their department hasn't signed up for the 287(g) program of federal grants and training to FAST-TRACK ILLEGAL OUT OF THE COUNTRY WHEN YOUR LOCAL COPS NAB THEM FOR OTHER STUFF!! Ask your local DMV examiner about the period from 2004 to 2007 when Minnesota had stopped giving illegals licenses, but Wisconsin still was handing them out. Ask them about the vanloads of illegals coming over the rivers (Mississippi and St. Croix) to use some buddy's mailing address as their own, and then taking their newly-minted I.D. and license back to Minnesota or Iowa or points west. Contact top DMV personnel (find them on the DMV website) and ask them why they want to STRANGLE THE FLOW OF BUSINESS AT THEIR OFFICES WITH TONS OF ILLEGALS, and then FORBID THE EXAMINERS FROM CALLING THE POLICE OR THE FEDS! I've been told examiners can't bust you for showing SOMEONE ELSE's Social Security number, unless you also have fake documents. That's nice to know, isn't it? Especially if some illegal has YOUR number. Please raise holy h e l l on this issue with all legislators and newspapers in the state. Once the facts are out there, I'm guessing there are some editors at newspapers that will want to hazard a guess that this will be a mess, like it was ONLY TWO YEARS AGO.

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 10:47:20 AM

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History on this is very clear...just google Tennessee driver certificates. The state of Tennessee thought they'd be kinder and gentler with illegals in their state, and THEY BECAME A HUGE MAGNET FOR ILLEGALS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!! The only people who benefitted from the deal were a few crooked examiners and THE DOCUMENT FRAUDSTERS WHO MADE WHATEVER ILLEGALS NEEDED TO GET TENNESSEE DRIVER CARDS! Folks, we don't want that in Wisconsin. This country has FINALLY gotten down to only 3 states that still issue licenses to illegal aliens: New Mexico (go figure), Illinois (home of our fearless leader and tons of corruption), and Washington (must be a heck of a commute to the apple orchards). Utah issues driver cards (and will come to regret it, I'm guessing, just like TN), and Hawaii will still grant I.D. cards to illegals. DO WE REALLY WANT WISCONSIN TO BECOME A "DESTINATION STATE" WHEN SMUGGLERS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS TALK TO THEIR CLIENTS DOWN IN MEXICO?? I can just hear their sales pitch: "Si, senores and senoras, this place Wisconsin has lots of cows to milk, horses to wrangle, hotels and restaurants to work in, tree nurseries galore, construction jobs, and even a furniture maker that TELLS ITS OWN CONGRESSMAN THAT IT DOES "NOT" USE THE FEDERAL E-VERIFY PROGRAM, which would check your information for legal status before you get hired up there! Come on, everyone! Plenty of businesses that don't use E-Verify and don't train their employees to spot a fake Social Security card! That will be $5000.00 a head please...thanks."

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 10:37:17 AM

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People, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO AID AND ABET THE ILLEGAL STAY IN THE UNITED STATES OF ANYONE! And yet our state Legislature and Governor want to MAKE WISCONSIN A "SANCTUARY STATE!!" Please cut and paste anything of mine you want to in order to put it in as many emails you can send to as many friends and relatives in Wisconsin. Share the link with them to find their own legislators, WHO NEED TO GET THESE EMAILS AND CALLS THIS WEEK!!! Here's the link: http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx It takes you to where you put in your address, and it shows your State and Federal representatives so YOU CAN HIT THEM HARD WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIENS NOT DESERVING TO DRIVE OR GET ANY KIND OF GOVERNMENT I.D.!! By the way, also mention that you don't want illegals to get IN-STATE TUITION at WI colleges...another JOKE of a provision brought to you by the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature!!

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 10:23:08 AM

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4) Proponents of driver cards for illegals say they will all be safer drivers and will all go buy insurance, and will be easier to identify for law enforcement. ABSOLUTELY FALSE AND A COMPLETE JOKE!! Two examiners confirmed for me that many illegals will do what they used to do: just keep showing up for road tests, hoping to get lucky. No practice or minimal practice, no insurance, no English. Just a death ride for the examiner. Oh, and 3, 4, or 5 tries at the test which keep bumping Johnny American kid back further and further on his wait time for a test. Insurance...well, ask anyone who's had a crash with an illegal alien how highly insured they are...or if they're insured at all. They didn't buy that much insurance when they had FULL licenses here; they're not going to start now. As for law enforcement identifying them easier, there are two big points to be made. First, THEY ARE NOT "UNDOCUMENTED," as some like to call them. THEY HAVE MANY DOCUMENTS, just none from this country. Law enforcement often received voter cards, consular cards, foreign birth certificates, foreign military service ID booklets, and all manner of ID from illegals. And second, illegals are great at playing the "No Habla" game as soon as law enforcement is there, and too many agencies have allowed them to skate away to AVOID THE RED TAPE! It tells you all you need to know that THE ACTUAL TEXT OF THIS BUDGET PROVISION SAYS THAT INSURANCE AGENTS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THE FACT THAT THE ILLEGAL PRESENTS ONE OF THESE HOKEY DRIVER CARDS AS EVIDENCE THAT HE'S IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Here, law enforcement, hold this evidence in your hand that this guy isn't here legally, but then you are FORBIDDEN from following up with the Feds!! And Mr. Insurance Agent, I know you're underwriting this illegal aliens's risk, and won't see hide nor hair of him if anything BIG happens, BUT YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM DROPPING HIS COVERAGE OR DEN

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 10:17:21 AM

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3) It is estimated more than 60,000 ILLEGAL APPLICANTS FOR WI LICENSES WILL COME FORWARD, and TOTALLY GUM UP YOUR LOCAL DMV! Oh yeah, all of this while the Governor makes ALL STATE WORKERS TAKE 16 UNPAID DAYS OFF OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS! Then, add in the fact that THOUSANDS OF ILLEGALS FROM OTHER STATES WILL JOIN THE PARTY, using fake residency documents, and well, let's just say, "Good luck getting a road test appointment, Johnny American!" And for you school bus and CDL drivers who need to take written tests, well, "Good luck getting that done while you wait for a test machine BEHIND HUNDREDS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS TRYING THEIR TESTS AFTER SHOWING SUB-PAR IDENTIFICATION"...while YOU are expected to have top quality birth certificate, REAL Social Security card (the illegals won't even have to have a Social number AT ALL!!), and any other documents the DMV make us citizens show while the illegals get to skate.

Report as inappropriate Posted by: ICEmanCometh
at: 6/7/2009 10:01:44 AM

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Not a single mention of the most dastardly provision in this budget: DRIVER CARDS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS!! Contact your legislators by going to: http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx There you can put in your address, and it tells you who your state Senator and state Assemblyperson are, and their phone and email. HIT THEM WITH BOTH PHONE AND EMAIL, especially the Assembly this week, as they will debate the budget first. By next week, it's supposed to be in the Senate, and then to the Governor. CONTACT ALL THREE AND TELL THEM: 1) Illegals will get a FREE RIDE compared to AMERICAN CITIZENS when it comes to AUTHENTICITY OF IDENTITY DOCUMENTS. The DMV will have to have a "substitute" list of documents illegals will be able to use, and this will include many questionable and shady documents from foreign countries the DMV will have no way of verifying. Meanwhile, us CITIZENS will have to stick to the high road and use only the highest quality documents or BE DENIED! 2) Illegals FROM OTHER STATES WILL CONVERGE ON WISCONSIN FOR THE DRIVER CARDS! When Minnesota stopped licenses for illegals in 2004/5, Minnesota illegals STREAMED into WI for licenses and ID's until WI DMV finally stopped issuing to illegals in 2007. ONLY TWO YEARS LATER DOYLE AND THE LEGISLATURE WANT TO FLIP-FLOP BACK TO HAVING WISCONSIN BE A "MAGNET" FOR ILLEGALS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!!

http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-new ... K7JA2VAKAU