GAB Elimination is Good, Another Board is NOT

Official Press Release of Restoring Wisconsin View this email in your browser For Immediate Release November 9, 2015 Contact: 262.393.1618   The GAB Elimination is Good, Another Board is NOT In extraordinary session the Wisconsin State Senate passed Senate Bill 294 (an amended version of Assembly Bill 388) that will eliminate the Government Accountability Board (GAB). Based on the failures of the GAB over the past 8 years we at Restoring Wisconsin are happy with the decision to separate the ethics from the elections process but are troubled by the continuation of more boards that do not answer to the people of Wisconsin. For 40 years we have tried using political appointees to run our elections with the latest attempt calling itself "non-partisan" due to its use of retired judges. Now we have legislators willing to say that the GAB needs to be replaced due to its "hyper-partisan" nature but they are doing so with more political appointees. This has proven to be a failed strategy. Here in Wisconsin, 71 of 72 counties elect our Chief Elections Officer, the person solely responsible for oversight and duties related to our elections, this partisan elected official is none other than our County Clerk. They hire staff that serves at the will of the office to ensure that our elections are not only handled properly but fairly. We as voters have the ability to elect, reelect and, if need be, recall this person from office if they fail in their mission or they begin to bias our elections process.  Thirty-nine (39) States elect their State Elections officer and up until 1974 we did so as well here in Wisconsin. We can all be happy with the death of the GAB but until we return the power of our elections to the hands of the people of Wisconsin we are just putting true election reform on the calendar for future legislation. ********** Restoring Wisconsin is a group devoted to returning duties to the elected offices of State Treasurer and Secretary of State in order to provide real transparency and tax savings to the voters and taxpayers of Wisconsin. Copyright © 2015 Restoring Wisconsin PAC, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

AJR 5 - Tell Assembly NO!

Official Press Release of RestoringWI View this email in your browser

For Immediate Release October 27, 2015 262.393.1618   AJR 5 to be voted on TODAY -- Tell your Assemblyman NO! Merriam-Webster defines Treasurer as: someone who is officially in charge of the money that is taken in and paid out by a government, business, organization, etc.  Today the State Assembly will take up Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 5 which would pave the way to amend the State Constitution in order to eliminate the office of State Treasurer thereby permanently putting out financial future in the hands of unelected appointees. We are disheartened to say that our State Treasurer is in favor of AJR 5. Treasurer Adamczyk released a press release on State Treasurer's letterhead that the Treasurer (see definition at the top) is an "unnecessary position" and an "antiquated office." If this is the case then why has the legislature moved all of the duties of this 'antiquated and unnecessary' position to the Department of Revenue (DoR)?  Proponents of AJR5 state "Eliminating the office will save taxpayers money." Really?!? Our State Treasurer proposed to reduce the budget by $600,000 in the next 2 years and reduce the office by 3 FTE (full time equivalents). Good job, right? NO! The Department of Revenue (DoR), which SHOULD be reporting to the Treasurer, will see an INCREASE of $45,000,000 over the next 2 years and INCREASE their office by 106 FTEs!!! Call your legislator today and tell them we want smaller more responsive government to the voters NOT bureaucrats; they should say NO to AJR 5. Retain the Executive office of State Treasurer and eliminate the BIG GOVERNMENT Department of Revenue! Share Tweet Forward

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Sponsors of AJR 5 All Voted to Increase DoR Spending by $45 Million

Official Press Release of RestoringWI View this email in your browser For Immediate Release October 18, 2015 262.393.1618   Sponsors of AJR 5 all voted to increase DoR Spending by $45 Million In every organization the treasurer is ultimately responsible for cash management and oversees departments that handle the finances. Wisconsin's founding fathers included in our State Constitution the executive office of Treasurer for just this purpose.  However, the the 90's, in a blatant power grab for political purposes the legislature began the process of systematically removing the treasury duties from the State Treasurer and moved them from an elected office holder to a political appointee of the Governor. Politically this is a good thing when your side is in power however it becomes a political hot potato when you are out of power. The State Treasurer's office, a Constitutional Executive office, is once again facing the potential of elimination due to Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 5 which would amend the State Constitution to eliminate the office of State Treasurer thereby permanently putting out financial future in the hands of unelected appointees. Our State Treasurer ran on the elimination of the office in order to reduce the burden on the taxpayers of Wisconsin and as far as that office is concerned he has proposed to reduce the budget by $600,000 in the next 2 years and reduce the office by 3 FTE (full time equivalents). Good job, right? NO! The Department of Revenue (DoR), which SHOULD be reporting to the Treasurer, will see an INCREASE of $45,000,000 over the next 2 years and INCREASE their office by 106 FTEs!!! Every sponsor and co-sponsor of AJR 5 voted for this DoR increase and the State Treasurer has been silent on this increase in spending by an office he should have oversight for, this is appalling from people who claim to have the best interest of the taxpayers in mind and for those who claim to be conservative! Restoring Wisconsin has searched to see if similarly worded amendments to political organizations, both county and state, and county government have been submitted by these same legislators and currently they have not. If they truly believe that this is best for the people shouldn't we expect to see the treasurers of our political organizations become a thing of the past? Call your legislator today and tell them you should have a say in how the state runs and that they should say NO to AJR 5 and support reinstating the duties of the State Treasurer so that better financial management can take place here in Wisconsin. Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2015 Restoring Wisconsin PAC, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

State Elections Board Redux?

Legislature unveils GAB reform bill. View this email in your browser

Is this really the Reform we were looking for? So now we see what the legislature has been up to in their quest to replace the Government Accountability Board (GAB) with the following bill: GAB Reform Bill  They want to separate the Elections from the Ethics - As it was prior to the GAB They want the members to be political appointees - As it was prior to the GAB They want to put in place all the things that they railed against only eight short years ago. Here is what they think the legislation is:

This board will be bipartisan - yes! Much better than the current "non-partisan" GAB...but the State Elections Board was bipartisan and it was a train wreck! This board will be transparent - um, not sure how it is any more transparent then the current GAB OR the State Elections Board since it is comprised of appointees! The good part of this bill is the removal of most of the "investigative" abilities that the GAB had. This board will be accountable - Not sure how they think they can claim this. The closest you can come is the fact that there will be more budget constraint which was lacking in the current GAB format. And once again this is a board (sorry Commission) that will be loaded with political appointees. The voters are EXCLUDED from holding this board accountable.

So the remaining question is, who will lead the State Elections Commission as the Chief Elections Officer for the State? Well that will be up to the appointed board to nominate one of its members and that person must be confirmed by the State Senate - or to put it another way - it will be an individual that is unelected and unaccountable to the voters and taxpayers of Wisconsin.

What we need is to ELECT our Chief Elections Officer for the State of Wisconsin as we do our Chief Law Enforcement Officer (a.k.a. Attorney General). This would allow the voters and taxpayers of the State to ensure that our elections are fair and managed correctly. The election duties at the local level are handled by the County and Municipal Clerks and in 71 of 72 Counties we entrust our partisan elected County Clerks to handle the job. So why can't we do this at the State level? Thirty-nine (39) states put their State elections process in the hands of their Secretary of State as we did until 1974 when the State Elections Board was created. Maybe the legislature should consider this prior to sending our elections back into the hands of political appointees.

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The GAB needs reform, but this is not the right way

For Immediate Release
October 8, 2015

Contact: 262.393.1618
 

The GAB needs reform, but this is not the right way

On Wednesday State Senator Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and State Representative Dean Knudson (R-Hudson) introduced a bill that would effectively return Wisconsin to the State Elections and Ethics Boards in which the Government Accountability Board (GAB) was meant to replace.

For 40 years we have tried using political appointees to run our elections with the latest attempt calling itself "non-partisan" due to its use of retired judges. Now we have legislators willing to say that the GAB needs to be replaced due to its "hyper-partisan" nature but they are planning to do so with more political appointees. This has proven to be a failed strategy, it is time to reevaluate what works.

Here in Wisconsin, 71 of 72 counties elect our Chief Elections Officer, the person solely responsible for oversight and duties related to our elections, this partisan elected official is none other than our County Clerk. They hire staff that serves at the will of the office to ensure that our elections are not only handled properly but fairly. We as voters have the ability to elect, reelect and, if need be, recall this person from office if they fail in their mission or they begin to bias our elections process. 

Thirty-nine (39) States elect their State Elections officer and up until 1974 we did so as well here in Wisconsin.

Legislators need to scrap the current bill and consider returning the power of our elections to the hands of the people of Wisconsin. No longer should the Speaker of the Assembly have to publicly ask for the resignation of our Chief Elections Officer when we could simple vote him out of office.

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Restoring Wisconsin is a group devoted to returning duties to the elected offices of State Treasurer and Secretary of State in order to provide real transparency and tax savings to the voters and taxpayers of Wisconsin.