Wisconsin law making positive impact

Last March, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill that abolished the automatic deduction of union dues from public employee paychecks and required them to contribute 5.8 percent for their pensions and 12.6 percent for their health insurance premiums as a way to balance the state budget.

In a March 10, 2011, news release, Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal denounced Walker's plan. According to Gronstal, “…last night's legislative ploy is the culmination of months of effort by ... Walker and his GOP accomplices in the state legislature to achieve purely political goals that have nothing to do with good governing.”

So how has Wisconsin fared since this contentious law went into effect? According to the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, “The unions' battle against Walker's reforms has rested on the argument that the changes would damage public services beyond repair. The truth, however, is that the reforms not only are saving money already; they're doing so with little disruption to services.

“The collective-bargaining component of Walker's plan has yielded especially large financial dividends for school districts. Before the reform, many districts' annual union contracts required them to buy health insurance from WEA Trust, a non-profit affiliated with the state's largest teachers' union. Once the reform limited collective bargaining to wage negotiations, districts could eliminate that requirement from their contracts and start bidding for health care on the open market.”

As Iowa faces many of the same budget challenges as Wisconsin, shouldn't Iowa be allowed gain from Wisconsin's experience? The answer to that question lies with Sen. Gronstal or Pottawattamie County voters on Nov. 6.

Jeff Jorgensen

Chairman

Pottawattamie County GOP

Council Bluffs