Morning Bell: Victory in Wisconsin, but the Fight Goes On

Mike Brownfield / June 16, 2011

Consider it a victory for taxpayers and for the rule of law. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4–3 in favor of upholding the state’s new collective bargaining law, reversing a lower court decision that sought to stamp out the will of the people, the authority of the legislature, and a major movement toward fiscal reform. And at three this morning, following a nearly 13-hour floor debate, the Wisconsin Assembly approved a budget aimed at wiping out the state’s $3 billion structural deficit.

Like many states, Wisconsin this year found itself drowning in an ocean of overspending and suffering the fourth highest tax burden in the country. In this fiscal nightmare, public-sector unions fashioned for themselves a cushy, taxpayer-funded existence, disconnected from the realities of the state’s economic woes. Heritage’s James Sherk explains just how sweet that deal was:

Until now, government employees in Wisconsin paid just 6 percent of their health care premiums and next to nothing for generous pensions, and the average teacher in Milwaukee makes $101,000 a year. Government union contracts also require layoffs to occur on the basis of seniority. Long-time government employees can rest assured that they will never get laid off. (more…)