Rep. Robin Vos: "No longer should taxpayer dollars be wasted on unnecessary recall elections."

The Republicans did so well defending their seats in comfortably Republican districts that they’re now preparing to ban recall elections for anything but criminal activities.

GOP moto: While in power, change the rules. No better time to game the system.

Press release: Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) is currently drafting a constitutional amendment that would clarify the reasons for recall elections in our state. “No longer should taxpayer dollars be wasted on unnecessary recall elections that were triggered by a vote that some special interest group didn’t like.” said Rep. Vos.  “It undermines our democracy and wastes precious taxpayer dollars that are needed elsewhere.”

The Walker administration and Fitzgerald brothers have put in place a purely Republican government, wiping out years of Democratic Party changes.

Besides whining that the Walker protests cost the state too much money, now the process to elect or recall politicians is on the chopping block due to costs.

The Government Accountability Board spent $88,300 to facilitate the recent recall elections.  That doesn’t include the amount of taxpayer dollars spent at the local level. “I have asked the G.A.B. to give me an estimate of the price tag of these recalls on the local municipalities,” said Rep. Vos, the co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee.  “At a time when local governments need to make every dollar stretch, we can’t keep asking them to process recall elections.  It simply isn’t fair to them or to the taxpayer.”

The taxpayers by the way were the ones who signed the recall petitions. This isn’t about cost, it’s about unaccountability and going for broke. The unique nature of Wisconsin has now been reduced to a one size fits all, low tax, no services, southern model. The recall law is a threat to unlimited power.  

The State of Wisconsin is one of only 19 states in our country that allow legislative recalls.  For local governmental agencies, Wisconsin law requires that a recall petition must contain a statement of reason that is related to the official responsibilities of the person being recalled [s.9.10(2) (b),Stats.].

However, for state officials, no reason must be given.  The new legislation would make the law uniform at the state and local levels.