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(WisPolitics) Milwaukee Notes July 1, 2009 
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Milwaukee Notes NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS Milwaukee Notes will be on a two-week hiatus and will return July 22. Keep track of the latest political news from Milwaukee and around the state at WisPolitics.com. Thank you for subscribing.
MILWAUKEE QUOTES OF THE WEEK One of the logical options that we've looked at is layoffs. --Milwaukee County Exec. Scott Walker, responding to an arbitrator's ruling that scuttled Walker's plan to move to 35-hour work weeks for county employees in order to help close a projected budget gap. The arbitrator said the shortened work week violates the county's contract with AFSCME District Council 48, the county's largest union. Walker's plan went into effect Monday after a judge Friday denied the union's request for an injunction against the plan. But with the arbitrator's conflicting decision, Walker has restored the 40-hour week for union and non-union employees. “If confirmed there's no question about her competence and her character and her ability to see the law and understand the law. She has many things that advocate in her favor.” --U.S. Sen Herb Kohl at Marquette Law School in Milwaukee following a meeting with a bipartisan advisory panel he created of Wisconsin legal experts and community leaders to advise him about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. See more in DC Wrap: http://blogs.wispolitics.com/dcwrap “I think we're going to have a huge wave in October and November of next year, but a rising tide only lifts the boats that are in the water.” --Former House speaker Newt Gingrich at a fundraiser for Walker predicting a banner year for the GOP in 2010 and calling upon Republicans to field candidates at all levels. Gingrich's appearance Monday drew 700 people to the $250 per-couple fundraiser, according to the campaign. Gingrich told reporters afterwards his presence wasn’t an endorsement of Walker in the GOP primary. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann officially announced his candidacy today, while Appleton businessman Mark Todd and former legislative candidate John Schiess have also filed to run as Republicans. See WisPolitics coverage: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=163181
DOYLE'S VETO COULD PUT THE BRAKES ON KRM LINE With local leaders upset over the guv's veto of a measure to fund local transit and public safety in Milwaukee, the future of a proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line could be in jeopardy. Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a budget deal that would have created a Milwaukee County RTA with authority to impose a 0.65 percent sales tax, with 0.5 percent to fund buses and 0.15 percent for public safety in the city of Milwaukee. He left intact, however, a KRM RTA that will be funded by an $18 car rental fee. Upset over the veto, Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway has threatened to appoint himself and an ally to the nine-member KRM board to oppose the project. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, miffed over the loss of the public safety funds, also says his two appointees won't back KRM until dedicated funding for public safety is addressed. “You have a situation where the county just got completely bypassed on its bus system, yet this county would be supporting almost all of the costs of the KRM line,” Holloway spokesman Harold Mester said, estimating 95 percent of the car rental fees would be generated at General Mitchell International Airport. Doyle's original budget included a Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee RTA with a 0.5 percent sales tax, but that was carved up by the Joint Finance Committee into a KRM RTA and a separate Milwaukee County one. Barrett said he understands the governor's desire for a more regional approach, but public safety funding must be included. “What I have always said, whatever we do for funding it has to include public safety,” Barrett said. “For us at the local level, public safety and local transit needs come before KRM,” Barrett said. “And those people most interested in pushing KRM seem more than content to throw both public safety and local transit needs under the bus in order to get KRM. That is not a long-term, winning strategy.” Barrett said he viewed the veto as a setback, but not the end of the discussion. State budget director Dave Schmiedicke said the sales tax would actually have been a detriment to the federal application for an RTA because it was only targeted to Milwaukee County. He said the governor looks forward to more discussions on the issue, but he believes the approach needs to be more regional to garner federal approval. Mester said Holloway believes the Milwaukee County RTA could be a jumping off point for a larger authority when others are ready. “The chairman believes Racine and Kenosha counties are not ready to go on regional transit,” Mester said, noting that Milwaukee already held a successful referendum for a sales tax to fund transit, parks and emergency medical services. Barrett expressed frustration over Racine's resistance to a county-wide sales tax and its preference of the car rental fee or a sales tax that excludes western Racine. “We have a problem here where the region has to decide does it want to have a regional authority or doesn't it?” Barrett said. Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, supports KRM and has worked extensively of regional transit issues. He said with a September application deadline for federal KRM funding and the lack of support from Milwaukee leaders, the future of KRM is at risk. Stone gave kudos to Racine and Kenosha officials for working out their problems with KRM and put the onus on Milwaukee leaders for creating stumbling blocks to the original RTA that led the JFC to “rip it apart to the point where there's hardly anything left that can go forward.” He said it's going to be difficult to get anything done legislatively to address the issues the way things stand now with Milwaukee leaders. “They're going to have to develop some kind of sense that they actually want to do something that's good for the region instead of protecting their own bailiwick,” Stone said. He faulted Barrett for wanting funding unrelated to transit in the RTA and Holloway for being “only concerned about who runs the buses and not whether they run well.” “They care more about how do they get money that they control than whether or not we have a system of transportation that works,” Stone said. “That lack of leadership is only going to get the kind of results that we have, and that is something that doesn't work.” Racine leggies not happy either Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, said he found Doyle's veto "discouraging." "We had a week ago a hard-fought compromise between Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee-area legislators regarding KRM," Lehman said. "You can see what the governor's veto has created here. We had a compromise and now we are in a difficult place." Lehman said the key to winning federal approval of KRM is having strong local systems. He noted the sales tax for Milwaukee along with a vetoed provision requiring local matching of some of the car rental fees for Racine and Kenosha local transit would have accomplished that. He said legislators are meeting next week with representatives from the governor's office, but that with Doyle's seeming preference for a regional sales tax, all the sides "are back to square one." Lehman said he didn't see a sales tax in Racine and Kenosha as "politically possible" due to "loud and clear" citizen opposition. But he disagreed with the notion that not wanting a sales tax in Racine and Kenosha was a roadblock to regional transit and said the communities were open to other ways to fund it. "The federal folks when we talked to them pointed out there are other areas around the country that have local funding sources other than the sales tax," Lehman said. "It is possible to have a regional system that does not rely on a sales tax or mainly on a sales tax." Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, said he'll be proposing language similar to what passed the Assembly for local transit at next week's meeting. "It's not enough to just have a train in place," Mason said. "You have to have reliable bus services in all three of the counties to move forward with the train." He said the state made good progress in establishing the RTA and finding funding for the train, "but clearly we have some work to do on fixing buses and other transit in all three counties." "We all have a vested interest to work regionally and find a solution that's politically viable and acceptable to the FTA," Mason said. He reiterated Lehman's statement that a sales tax in necessary and said it's possible for different areas to have different funding mechanisms.
SPONSOR: Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce 
LEGGIES ANGRY OVER VETO BLOCK KRM STUDY FUNDS The Joint Finance Committee voted 10-6 yesterday to reject the guv’s request to spend $35,000 more on a study of the proposed KRM line after some members expressed anger at his veto of the Milwaukee County RTA. Voting against the request were Dem Reps. Mark Pocan, Pedro Colón, Tamara Grigsby and Gary Sherman, and Dem Sens. Lena Taylor and Judy Robson. Republican Sens. Alberta Darling and Luther Olsen and Republican Reps. Robin Vos and Phil Montgomery also voted against the proposal. Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, said Doyle's veto of the Milwaukee County RTA eliminated any chance to improve Milwaukee's existing transit system, a requirement for federal approval of a regional transit authority. "Any opportunity to make that a viable application was annihilated yesterday," she said, urging fellow JFC members to vote against the request. Colón, D-Milwaukee, joined her protest, saying that a proposal was carefully crafted by the committee during the budget process, and that agreement was not respected by the governor. "I feel like all the efforts of this committee have been a complete waste," he said.
VETO SENDS BARRETT BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD In his weekly newsletter “The Barrett Report” Friday, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wrote that he was pleased legislators included a 0.15 percent sales tax in the state budget to help fund public safety in the city and lauded the positive impact it would have. But Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a budget provision that would create a Milwaukee County Regional Transit Authority also nixed the public safety sales tax that was included in the measure. The tax was expected to generate $11.5 million annually. Barrett said he'll be working with the Legislature and the governor in an attempt to revive the sales tax, whether as part of an RTA bill or on its own. “We're going to continue to work with the Legislature and the governor, because we're faced with a very difficult budget for 2010,” Barrett said. Driving much of the city's budget troubles is the financial market collapse that battered the city's pension fund. Next year, the city's required contribution to its pension fund is expected to increase by more than $49 million and by an additional $12 million to $13 million for both 2011 and 2012. To help demonstrate the city's need, Barrett said he will craft his budget in a way that will show the impact of both having and not having the funds. “As I prepare my budget right now for fall, we're looking at a scenario where this will be a legal budget that will probably have a lot more draconian cuts in it, but we'll make it clear how we can avoid some of those cuts if there is a sales tax in place,” Barrett said. Barrett noted that the Legislature has already shown support for the public safety sales tax and he's asking the Legislature and governor to look at it again so the measure could be in place by January. “We're facing incredible pressures on our pension system right now,” Barrett said. “We understand the state's in a difficult situation, too. We've worked very closely to try to help them with their issues, but at the same time, we have to address our issues.”
MILWAUKEE CITY GOVERNMENT TO SEE PARTIAL SHUTDOWN TOMORROW Most city services in Milwaukee will shut down tomorrow as part of a furlough program to deal with a city budget crunch. According to the mayor's office, public safety services, garbage collection, parking enforcements, the tow lot, water works, the city call center and city hall operator will not be affected by the furlough. The furloughs will result in the closure of City Hall and city offices not related to the unaffected functions. Because of the Independence Day holiday, city offices will be also be closed on Friday. Normal business hours will resume on Monday. A similar furlough is planned for Sept. 8.
VUKMIR CHALLENGE SETS UP COMPETITIVE CONTEST FOR 5th SD Rep. Leah Vukmir's challenge of Sen. Jim Sullivan in the 5th Senate District sets the stage for what will likely be one of the most expensive and closely watched state legislative races on 2010. Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, announced Thursday that she would challenge Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa and one of four freshman Dem senators facing re-election in 2010. For Republicans, flipping just two of those four races means re-establishing control of the chamber lost in 2006. A GOP source says a number of Republicans are also mulling runs against the three other freshman Dems -- Pat Kreitlow of Eau Claire, John Lehman of Racine, and Kathleen Vinehout of Alma. But the Sullivan-Vukmir contest already is shaping up as the most noticed race, given its presence in the Milwaukee media market and the influence of Milwaukee conservative talk radio, which already has taken time out to beat up on Sullivan and boost Vukmir. "We need a senator who cares about getting people back to work instead of figuring out how to squeeze more tax revenue from our families and employers,” Vukmir said in announcing her candidacy. “This campaign isn’t about me. It’s about the people of the 5th Senate District getting the representation they deserve." The fourth-term Assemblywoman, who has become one of her caucus's leading conservative voices, had $10,155 cash on hand at the end of 2008 according to her most recent campaign finance report filed with the Government Accountability Board. Sullivan, by contrast, had just $3,217 on hand in his January 2009 report. He bested Tom Reynolds of West Allis in 2006 with just less than 52 percent of the vote in a district that had leaned Republican, although both Doyle and Obama won there in 2006 and 2008. Sullivan -- the lone Democrat to vote against the state budget bill -- said he was taking his district's needs into account with his vote. "I have lived up to my promise to be a strong, independent voice for the people of the 5th Senate District," Sullivan said in a response to Vukmir's announcement. "Rep. Vukmir, on the other hand, is incapable of putting aside her extreme partisanship to do what is right." *Subscribers can see more on possible 2010 Senate matchups in last Friday's WisPolitics REPORT: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=162957 --By Andy Szal
LEGAL THREAT PROMPTS CAMPAIGNS TO SUBMIT FINANCE REPORTS Delinquent finance reports from 2008 legislative campaigns reports are now streaming in following a threat of legal action from the Government Accountability Board, an attorney for the board told WisPolitics today. The GAB announced Monday it would file lawsuits against eight legislative campaigns from 2008 over their failure to report campaign finance data originally due in February. Those targeted for lawsuits included current state Reps. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee; Scott Newcomer, R-Hartland; Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee; and Annette Polly Williams, D-Milwaukee. Others facing action were 60th AD Dem candidate Perry Duman, who lost to Rep. Mark Gottlieb, R-Port Washington; and GOP Assembly candidates Jess Kufahl, who lost to incumbent Dem Donna Seidel in the Wausau-area 85th AD; David Nickel, who challenged Tony Staskunas, D-West Allis, in 15th AD; and Jason LaSage, who lost a primary fight against Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, in the 24th AD. But GAB attorney Michael Haas said Williams, Grigsby, Sinicki and Duman have submitted their complete reports as of this afternoon and others have said they're on the way. Haas said the GAB has heard from all of the campaigns except for Kufahl. Haas said filers could still face forfeitures, but the board would handle each on a case by case basis. Statutes allow for a forfeiture of $500, with an increase of $50 or 1 percent of the sought position's annual salary for each day the report is late. GAB director Kevin Kennedy said the former State Elections Board had taken similar steps before, but that these are the first such filings since the inception of the GAB. Kennedy said the number of delinquent reports isn't unusual, but that board staff is usually able to resolve the issues prior to legal action. Kennedy added that none of the late reports stem from difficulties with the board's new online disclosure system and that the board believes this action will be enough to get the attention of the campaigns.
MILWAUKEE NAMES IN THE NEWS Gubernatorial candidate SCOTT WALKER has named GOP activist MICHAEL GREBE chair of his campaign. Grebe is the president and CEO of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee See the release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=163148 MICHAEL CLEARY, chairman and CEO of the investment firm Cleary Gull Inc, is slated to discuss the economy and investment strategies before the Milwaukee Rotary Club at its weekly noon meeting Tuesday at the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center, 750 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive, Milwaukee. Dr. STEVE DUNCAN, Marcus professor of human and molecular genetics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, will address the group the following week. The Milwaukee 7 Water Council is hosting a Water Summit July 20 at Discovery World in Milwaukee. The summit features a morning presentation, moderated by MIKE GOUSHA, with guests JOEL BRAMMEIER of Alliance for the Great Lakes and A. JUDSON (“JUD”) HILL of San Diego-based Summit Global Capital, followed by a panel discussion including FELIX CARABELLO, director of alternate investment for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; MARK EISWERTH, a professor of economics with UW-Whitewater; JEFFREY RIPP, water conservation coordinator for the Public Service Commission; and JAMES WHITE, executive director of the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan in the Cleveland area of Ohio. The lunchtime keynote speaker will be ASSAF BARNEA, CEO of Kinrot Ventures, an Israeli-based technological incubator dedicated to water technologies. See details: http://www.milwaukee7-watercouncil.com
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