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May 12 , 2006 |
TABOR's defeat is victory for Wisconsin's future WEAC President Stan Johnson commended the Wisconsin Senate for voting down two constitutional amendment proposals that would have harmed the state's great schools and limited the Legislature's ability to govern on matters of fiscal policy. By a vote of 20-12, the Senate voted against a proposal that would have put a formula for capping state revenue in the Constitution, and voted 21-11 against a proposal to cap state and local revenue. Republican senators Brown, Cowles, Fitzgerald, Harsdorf, Kapanke, Olsen and Roessler joined all the Senate Democrats in voting against the first proposal, and senators Brown, Cowles, Ellis, Harsdorf, Kapanke, Lasee, Olsen and Roessler voted with the Democrats against the second proposal. President Johnson issued the following statement: "With so many schools already struggling to make ends meet under the state's education caps, last night's votes against TABOR meant, frankly, survival for some school districts. It also means that providers of other vital public services for children, families, seniors and communities will have a chance to make their case to the Legislature instead of facing the inevitability of a slow strangulation through constitutional gerrymandering. "These votes are a victory for democracy in more ways than one. "It means legislators will be more likely to debate matters of fiscal policy in the light of day instead of being able to hide behind a tax gimmick. "It means our state's Constitution will retain its integrity as a document that expresses our values and establishes our principles. "And it shows that citizen input makes a difference. Thousands of citizens throughout the state and dozens of groups representing a broad coalition of public interests made their voices heard on this issue. And their representatives in the Senate heard them. "The many forums and exchanges about TABOR and TABOR-like proposals advanced the discussion of what we have government for, what we want government to do, and what we as citizens value in this state. "Now it is time to move forward with what we have learned."
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