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Governor Jim Doyle released the following statement Tuesday (April 12, 2005) regarding the Joint Finance Committee’s decision to remove a provision in his budget that proposes repealing the Qualified Economic Offer.
“I am very disappointed that the Republican Legislature has decided to remove my proposal for repealing the QEO from the budget.
“Republicans are hiding behind procedure to avoid taking a vote on this vital issue. Meanwhile, teachers’ salaries in Wisconsin are falling further and further behind the national average. We are losing excellent teachers, educated here in Wisconsin, to higher salaries offered by other states. And our ability to recruit talented educators from outside of the state has been seriously compromised by the outdated QEO. Unfortunately, those who lose out the most in this equation are Wisconsin’s kids.
“As I have said many times, repealing the QEO is also the best way to reduce health care costs for schools since the rigid, inflexible current law discourages health care innovations that could save schools and taxpayers money.
“Avoiding a vote on the QEO is, unfortunately, just another sad example of how the Republicans have chosen to make budget decisions in secret. Last week they admitted that most major budget decisions were being made in weekend conference calls and closed-door meetings. Apparently, Republicans decided in a conference call to dump this issue instead of having the courage to take an open vote.
“The most important investment we can make as a state is in our kids. Keeping the QEO in place will invariably hinder our ability to provide our kids with the best education possible. Even with Republicans’ overly broad view of what constitutes ‘policy,’ I am pleased to note that only 22 items were deemed to be policy in my budget, compared to 152 in Governor McCallum’s last budget, and 117 in Governor Thompson’s last budget.”
Posted April 13, 2005