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.
