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April 15, 2011

Walker Admits No Fiscal Benefit to Anti-Union Provision 
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker visited Capitol Hill Thursday for an
appearance before the House Oversight committee. Under questioning from
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Walker admitted a key provision curbing
union rights had no fiscal benefit.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Can you please explain to me and members of this
committee how much money this provision saves for your state budget?"

Gov. Scott Walker: "That and a number of other provisions we put in
because if you’re going to ask, if you’re going to put in place a
change like that, we wanted to make sure we protected the workers of our
state, so they got value out of that."

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Would you answer the question? How much money
does it save, Governor?"

Gov. Scott Walker: "It doesn’t save any."

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin also appeared before the panel. In a rebuke
of Walker's approach, Shumlin criticized the targeting of workers'
rights and benefits in the name of balancing budgets.

Gov. Peter Shumlin: "I don't start with collective bargaining and I
don't start with my public pensions. I start with the true costs. In
Vermont, and this is true of most of the states of the country,
healthcare is my biggest rising cost."



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