It Was Never Really About the Budget

I'm certain you've heard progressives say over and over again that Gov. Scott Walker's push to destroy collective bargaining rights (among other things) for public sector unions in Wisconsin wasn't really about the budget at all. The Senate Majority Leader admitted as much in a bit too candid of an interview, but PRWatch and the Wall Street Journal have underscored this point even more.

While the governor has crowed that his signing of the bill will save state taxpayers oodles of money, there is one glaring thing it seems he forgot to factor into the equation.

The Wall Street Journal has pointed out what an expensive bureaucratic nightmare it will be for the twenty-person Wisconsin Employee Relations Committee to certify annual elections for the 2,000 unions representing Wisconsin's 200,000 state employees around the state.

Currently, the Committee deals with 50 elections per year. Walker's bill will require the agency deals with 40 times that amount in a one-month period but does not allocate funds to increase its capacity. It should come as no real surprise that Walker did not consider the logistics of his union-busting tactics...

Needless to say, it would appear that this agency should be allotted a hefty raise in the impending budget. It will be interesting to see how much money he proposes. If the amount proves to be significant, I hope someone works out the math to show that the supposed savings for ending collective bargaining are washed out by the increase to this agency's allocation.