Vos backs amendment to repeal 'Frankenstein veto'

State Rep. Robin Vos sent out a pitch today on removing the governor's so-called "Frankenstein veto." There's a statewide referendum April 1 on the issue, which would amend the state constitution to remove the governor's partial-veto power. The governor - whoever holds the office - would be allowed to reduce spending with a line-item veto under the proposed amendment.

Here's Vos' take on the proposal, which he helped write:

On April 1 voters will have the opportunity to take part in a statewide referendum on whether or not the Governor should be allowed to keep his powerful veto pen.

I am a cosponsor of this constitutional amendment and will voting "YES" to the following question:

"QUESTION 1: Partial veto. Shall section 10(1)(c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating a new sentence by combining parts of two or more sentences of the enrolled bill?"

This constitutional amendment was first considered by the Legislature in 2005 because of the irresponsibility Governor Doyle showed in the 2005-2007 budget. He used his partial veto 139 times to transfer $427 million from the segregated transportation fund to the general fund. He did this by crossing out 752 words and forming individual, unrelated words into a new sentence that spelled fiscal disaster for the state's transportation fund.

He also used his power in the most recent budget to allow local governments to raise taxes by increasing their levy limits to 3.86%.

No matter what party is in charge, this is too much power for one branch of government to wield when handling Wisconsin's finances. The only way in which this veto pen would be acceptable is if it were used to reduce spending amounts by eliminating numbers, or by writing in lower figures.

Fortunately, these things will still be allowed. And by allowing them, the Governor will still have the most powerful veto pen of any state in the nation.

Remember to go to the polls on April 1 and be sure to slay the Frankenstein Veto for good by voting YES.

Group raps Vos, says 'reproductive rights are not safe'

"Women's reproductive rights are not safe in Racine," according to the Women's Progressive Network of Racine County.

The group issued a statement today, in response to last week's mailing to Racine of 44,000 plastic fetuses by the Racine Chapter of Wisconsin Right to Life.

"In a perfect world, every pregnancy would be celebrated and each infant would be welcomed healthy and hearty into a community dedicated to the unlimited potential of every individual," the organization declared. "It is a world worth having, but one we are unlikely to achieve with the current impasse of opinion on women’s reproductive rights and increasingly limited access to health care and family planning options in Racine."

The group singled out Rep. Robin Vos, R-63rd Assembly District, criticizing his efforts on a number of issues relating to reproductive issues.

The rest of their statement after the break.

Thirty-four years after the Roe v. Wade ruling; there remain many salient reminders that the battle to protect women's health and safety is not over. Recently, State Rep. Robin Vos argued against and sought to amend the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, seeking to deny rape victim’s access to emergency contraception. This summer, when Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, asked for special funding to battle Racine’s infant mortality problem, the highest in the state of Wisconsin, Rep. Vos initially argued against it because “no one told him it was a priority.”

In addition to Compassionate Care for Rape Victims (SB166), Mr. Vos voted to dismantle the Healthy Women Program (SB552), voted to allow health care providers to withhold information and services to women even when their lives depended on it (AB207), voted to allow concealed and lethal weapons into health care facilities (SB403), and he voted to ban prescribing, dispensing and advertising birth control on UW campuses (AB343).

At the county level, as of Dec. 31, the Racine County Human Services Department discontinued Brighter Futures funding for all health departments in Racine County. This includes the City of Racine Health Department's Teen Parenting Program, despite the extremely high number of teen births in the city. Brighter Futures was a bi-partisan initiative begun by Governor Thompson to reduce teen pregnancy and other risky youth behaviors in Wisconsin. This program worked to help teenagers make responsible choices and prevent pregnancy through abstinence or birth control and to provide case management services for teenage parents to gain parenting skills and finish high school. These fragile families are on the frontline of the battle to reduce our infant mortality as a community.

If we are to have a meaningful discussion about the health and welfare of women, we must first start with the basics: all people, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, have rights that need to be respected. We deserve leadership that recognizes these rights and works to ensure the wellbeing of all people. While thoughtful people can disagree, we reject the attempts of special interest groups to reduce a complex social discussion down to public stunts. We urge opponents and supporters alike to work together this year to champion a prevention-first health care agenda that reduces unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion and helps build strong, healthy families.

What is the Women's Progressive Network of Racine County? We didn't know, so we asked their spokesperson, who sent us this information:

Initiated in the fall of 2007, the Women’s Progressive Network of Racine County is the result of an ongoing dialog between progressive and politically active local women who ultimately decided to combine resources, experience and information to create a hybrid organization which could be both agile and influential.

With no formal membership or association, the Women’s Progressive Network of Racine County facilitates a dialog with over 100 local women representing a variety of progressive organizations and agendas. The WPN serves to support women and educate the community on issues pertaining to:

Access to health care and reproductive freedom
Educational equity and opportunity
Human rights and social justice
Environmental safety and conservation

The Women’s Progressive Network of Racine County maintains a public website and moderates a private email community and blog.

The Women’s Progressive Network encompasses business and civic leaders in the community who work together to coordinate resources and information, advocate for political accountability and positive societal change that directly benefit the lives of women and their families in Racine County.

The organization's website is HERE.

Membership is by referral and only open to women.

Vos pushes referendums on KRM, but opposes direct legislation

So is Rep. Robin Vos interested in direct legislation? Last week it seemed he was when he announced his support for Regional Transit Authorities that would be created through referendums. In short, if communities want to increase their sales tax to fund buses and commuter rail, they can vote to do that.

Throughout the debate over KRM, Vos supported sending the issue to voters instead of implementing a tax increase on rental cars to pay for the system. It was a courageous stance given the pressure from the business community and the fact that his district would be one of the primary benefactors of a commuter rail line connecting Kenosha to Milwaukee with stops in Racine and Caledonia.

While Vos supports voter input on KRM, he opposes it on most other issues. That became clear this week when he voted in favor of AB363, which would significantly limit the state's direct legislation law.

Under current law, people who live in cities and villages can force a referendum on an issue by circulating petitions and collecting signatures equal to 15 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election for governor. Residents in Appleton used the law to ban smoking in the city, while several other communities used to limit municipal spending and to voice disapproval of the Iraq War.

AB363 would allow local governments to ignore direct legislation petitions if the proposed resolution does not "substantially relate" to a local governmental function or responsibility, or if the proposal is primarily "ceremonial or aspirational."

The bill passed the Assembly 50-46 on Tuesday. Reps. Cory Mason and Bob Turner, both D-Racine, voted against the bill.

It's hard to say how the bill would be used, but as it's worded, it seems local governments could ignore direct legislation on smoking, Iraq and ... commuter rail, which one could easily argue doesn't "substantially relate" to local government.

It's easy to understand the need to limit direct legislation. The petitions are an added expense for local officials, and likely a nuisance, especially for smaller villages and cities.

Based on the 2006 governor's election, it would take about 10,650 signatures to force a county-wide vote. In Racine, it would take about 4,736 signatures. In Caledonia it would take 1,715. In Elmwood Park it would take 40.

But it's interesting to see Vos support a referendum on legislation he's working on, while opposing a process that encourages a swell of voter participation. If legislators are concerned about frivolous referendums, increase the number of required signatures.

It's also odd that the vote was partisan, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed (meaning it won't get through the Democrat-controlled Senate). Are Democrats more likely to push direct legislation? Who is pushing the need to shutdown this process?

Robin Vos' KRM initiative ... gets icy reception

UPDATED, 01/11: The reaction to Vos' proposal was chilly enough to reverse global warming. "If you were trying to author a bill that would not succeed, that's maybe how you would draft it," said Karl Ostby, RTA chairman, as quoted in the Journal Times. Dave Eberle, RAMAC chairman, said, "Most people in the room were fairly disappointed."

Admit it: You thought this post would be blank!

"Many people think the answer to Racine's future is a train," State Rep. Robin Vos said today. "I have not said KRM would not be a good thing ... the only thing I've said is that the funding mechanism was wrong."

With that preamble, Vos, R-63rd Assembly District -- characterized by some as the Darth Vader who single-handedly killed the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee rail initiative -- announced his plan to fund KRM: a sales-tax-supported Regional Transit Authority. As opposed to the $13 car rental tax plan that was effectively pronounced truly and fully dead earlier this week.

Vos is meeting tomorrow with the boards of directors of the Racine County Economic Development Corporation (RCEDC), Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce (RAMAC) and Forward Racine to get their input -- and support? -- for his proposal, a bill still being drafted that he hopes to introduce in the Legislature next week.

The as-yet-untitled bill (Vos laughed when I suggested it be called the "Robin Vos Doesn't Really Hate Trains Act") would allow the establishment of Regional Transit Authorities anywhere in Wisconsin, if local voters supported the idea through a referendum. "This is not necessarily the easy way," he said, defining that "easy way" as "just allowing a politician to raise taxes."

Vos' RTA proposal "would allow communities to band together" in two ways. He outlined a two-tier system:

Tier 1 would allow two communities to put a sales tax in place to support a "mobile" transportation system -- i.e., buses running between two cities.

Tier 2 would allow "fixed mode" transportation systems -- i.e., rail on a fixed route -- to be supported. This larger, more capital-intensive plan would require a population threshhold of at least 375,000 with favorable votes in at least five communities, each with at least 10,000 citizens. (Because Milwaukee County already has a Regional Transit Authority, it would be counted as one entity of the necessary five, Vos said.)

Details still to be worked out include the wording of the referendum question, Vos said.

Vos took issue with those who say KRM would, single-handedly, lead to economic recovery. "To grow the economy, you need college-educated families with children." And when you ask those families what they want, he said, they respond: "a safe community and a good school system."

"KRM is a single part of an economic strategy," Vos said, disagreeing with "those who say it's all we need."

The letter the Journal Times won't print

Before Christmas, 32 local women submitted a letter to the editor of the Journal Times, in response to Rep. Robin Vos' actions on the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims act.

The bill would require emergency rooms to provide information about the morning-after pill, or Plan B, to rape victims and give victims the drug upon request. When the bill came up for a vote (after taking six years to get that far) Rep. Vos, R-Racine, tried -- but failed -- to amend it to allow hospitals and their employees to opt out of providing the so-called morning-after pill on moral or religious grounds and require hospitals to notify the parents of minors under age 16 before they got the pill. Supporters contend the bill will help prevent unwanted pregnancies; critics liken the drug to abortion.

Vos voted against the bill, which nonetheless passed the Assembly on Dec. 12 by a 56-41 vote. It goes to the Senate this month.

After almost two weeks' delay at the Journal Times (attributed to an editor's holiday vacation) the newspaper told the letter writers: "We do not publish letters that appear to be like petitions." The newspaper offered to run the letter with one signature, but this was unsatisfactory to the women who signed it. Here, after the jump, is their letter, and the names of the women who signed it.

To the editor:

Imagine you are a woman who has just been brutally raped. Terrorized and battered, you enter the emergency room for care. Fearing disease or pregnancy, you ask the doctor for emergency contraception in case the unthinkable has happened. The attending physician tells you that he or she will not provide you emergency contraception based on their own personal moral or religious beliefs. The person who has sworn an oath to medically treat you has just said no to you in your most vulnerable moment as a woman and as a patient.

State Representative Robin Vos thinks this is not just reasonable, but on December 12th, he aggressively attempted to amend AB377 Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill to do just that. Perhaps, Robin Vos would have rape victims go from hospital to hospital looking for help or be forced to have an abortion later if pregnancy occurs as a result of sexual assault. How very compassionate he is indeed.

Each year approximately 1.2 million women are raped. It has taken six years for the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act to pass both the Wisconsin Senate and House of Representatives and yet there are those like Robin Vos who not only voted against it, but sought to deny rape victims medical care.

We don’t know exactly who Robin Vos thinks he represents, but as women and Racine County constituents, he does not represent us. The women of Wisconsin deserve better.

Signed by: Kelly Gallaher; Gabriella Klein; Carol Olson; Mary Gallaher; Debra Hall; Janet M. LeSuer; Nancy Holmlund; Katie Simenson; Jennifer Levie; Miriam Bugnacki; B.J. Dent; Dorothy Feeney; Linda Flashinski; Jane Witt; Sharon Erwin; Tamerin Hayward; Nancy Hennessy; Jill Rakauski; Pat Kardas; Meg Andrietsch; Patricia Ehlert; Mary Kedzie; Marcia Vlach Colsmith; Barbara Hardy; Betty Larsen; Mary Catherine Cashion; Sandra Pendell; Cindy Timmel; Betty Brenneman; Mercedes Dzindzeleta; Michelle McCarthy; Colleen Patterson

Here is the correspondence one of the letter writers had with The Journal Times:

From: kelly gallaher
To: Chris Bennett
Sent: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 8:20 pm
Subject: RE: Letter to the Editor

Chris,

Thank you for you reply. I am confused by the word "petition". Since the letter does not make any request, which is the definition of a petition, I do not see how it can be interpreted in such a way. I could have easily produced 50 or 100 signers who feel the exact same way as the original 31, but since the Journal Times gave virually no coverage of this vote or Mr. Vos' actions to subvert it, I doubt you are aware of the strong outrage by local women at his actions. The Capital Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal have accepted it as is with all the signatures.

I read your letter requirements and believed that we had followed your own instructions. I respect your right to deny printing this letter as it was intended, but it is a disappointment. This letter passed from friend to friend over 48 hours and it demonstrates the groundswell of disapproval for the actions of a State Representative who won't stand to defend the rights of rape victims from his own district!

Thirty one women who sought to speak out on behalf of rape victims signed this letter, but you'll only print one name? Why is one angry woman acceptable, but 31 too much? Perhaps it is a logic only someone like Mr. Vos can understand.

I would like you to add one final sentance to the letter signed by me that reads:

"Thirty other local women also signed this letter, but the Editor declined to print their names."

Sincerely,
Kelly Gallaher


Subject: RE: Letter to the Editor
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 17:37:19 -0600
From: Chris.Bennett
To: kkgallaher

Kelly:

We’re not going to publish this letter with 31 signatures, according to Editor Steve Lovejoy. We do not publish letters that appear to be like petitions.

We will publish the letter with your signature.

I was out of the office over the holidays, which is why I did not respond sooner.

Thank you.

CMB

From: Kelly Gallaher
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 10:32 AM
To: Chris Bennett
Subject: Letter to the Editor

Chris,

I am resubmitting my letter to the editor originally sent on December 21st. I have made one small change that reflects a reference to the date of the vote.

On behalf of the women who have also signed this letter, we believe it to be newsworthy and accurate. If there is a problem in the format or if you have any questions I am more than eager to assist you so that we may see it published.

Thank you for your time.

Kelly Gallaher

Assembly rejects state budget

The Assembly rejected a compromise state budget Monday night, sending legislators back to the negotiating and further delaying the latest budget in the nation.

The nearly $60 billion budget was rejected 53-44 in the Assembly. Reps. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, and Steve Gunderson, R-Waterford, voted no. Reps. Bob Turner and Cory Mason, both D-Racine, voted for the plan.

Here's the full roll call vote.

The Senate passed the budget, with Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, voting yes.

Wisconsin is the last state in the nation with a budget for next year. Local governments and school districts across the state are in limbo waiting for legislators to finalize the amount of state aid that will be distributed next year.

If no budget is passed, the previous year's spending levels are put into place - an act that would amount to a more than $2 billion budget cut.

Commuter rail funding in state budget limbo

As the state budget negotiations drag on, I've spent the past two days trying to gauge where the funding proposal for KRM, the commuter rail expansion to Racine and Milwaukee counties, stands.

To recap, the Senate passed included in its version of the new state budget a hike in southeastern Wisconsin's rental car fee to pay for annual operation of the system, which could start as soon as 2011. The Assembly didn't include the fee increase in its budget. The result: a conference committee will decide the proposal's fate.

It's unclear how big of an issue the KRM funding is for either side. It's certainly not on the level of the cigarette tax, education funding or the tax on big oil. But it's not a small item, either. Local legislators on both sides of the issue confirmed that commuter rail is getting attention - it's just hard to say what, exactly, is being said.

Here's what we heard from local legislators on the issue:

State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine

Mason said he gets the senseKRM funding is a tier 2 issue that will come up once the big issues are resolved. He couldn't say what direction the committee was
leaning.

He did say he's pushing State Rep. Jim Kreuser, head of the Assembly Democrats, to fight for commuter rail. Kreuser, who represents Kenosha, is sympathetic to the issue.

Mason added that a recent letter from Racine CEOs backing KRM was a boost for the proposal. The business leaders continue to press the issue, and that's helping commuter rail's chances in the budget process.

State Rep. Robin Vos, D-Caledonia

Vos clearly says he's not opposed to KRM. He is, however, opposed to using the rental car fee increase to fund the annual operation. He's pushing for alternatives, and his opposition to the current plan could influence the conference committee. After all, his district would get a commuter rail station - if he's opposed,
why should legislators from around the state support the plan?

Vos said Wednesday he favors a two-tiered referendum on funding for commuter rail. First, local governments vote on whether they want to hold a referendum on joining a regional transit authority that would fundKRM with a sales tax. Then, residents in each community would vote on commuter rail. Vos said a similar system worked in Michigan, and he feels it's the fairest way to implement commuter rail.

He also suspects the proposal would go down, at least in his district. Vos said he's heard overwhelmingly negative comments from constituents, which makes it easy for him to stand against Racine business leaders.

He added that he believes mostKRM supporters are so desperate to get commuter rail they're backing a flawed funding plan that will lead to deficits in the future.

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine

A strong supporter of commuter rail, Lehman pushed theKRM funding through the Senate's budget. Now, he's working with the conference committee to get it included in the final draft.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Lehman said KRM is still on the table and the rental car fee remains the most viable funding option for commuter rail. He also noted that in the last week that leaders from Milwaukee, Racine andKenosha counties failed to reach consensus on a broader proposal to fund regional transit. That could clear the way for KRM funding - a possibility Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker discussed on
Wednesday.