MONROE - From the Chicago hotel where he fled last month in the face of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill, State Sen. Jon Erpenbach Tuesday blasted Walker's proposed state budget, saying it will cost Green and other counties millions and pit "neighbor against neighbor" as public employees fight to preserve their wages and benefits.
Walker's budget calls for $1 billion in cuts to state and local governments and relies on the budget repair bill to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees to help make up the difference.
Erpenbach, speaking by phone, said little can be done to pass any kind of state budget until Walker addresses the collective bargaining issue, over which he and 13 other Democratic senators fled to Illinois Feb. 17 to prevent a quorum and delay a critical vote on the budget repair bill.
"Whatever people think about unions and collective bargaining, this impacts people in the private sector because of the standards set by unions," said Erpenbach, who lives in Middleton. "If Gov. Walker says he is representing taxpayers, well, public employees are taxpayers, too."
Back home in Wisconsin, 51st District Rep. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, praised Walker for trying to trim spending and reduce the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit.
"We're cutting spending, which may be painful but is needed," said Marklein, a certified public accountant. "And we're not going to be doing it on the backs of the taxpayer."
Marklein said that in the current economic climate, steps must be taken to reign in spending, and that the 14 missing Democrats are simply delaying the inevitable. And, Marklein added, Walker's state budget is "predicated" on passage of the lightning-rod budget repair bill containing language to remove collective bargaining for not only unionized state workers, but those at the school, county and municipal levels.
"This is a math problem and by April, we're going to have to cut $10 million a month from the budget," he said, adding that a number of cost-saving initiatives in Walker's budget, such as restructuring debt, are time sensitive. "I'm afraid if we don't do something soon we're going to have to go to 'Plan B' and I have a feeling 'Plan B' isn't going to be pretty."
Walker has threatened layoffs of government workers and other measures if his budget and repair bill isn't passed.
For his part, Erpenbach painted an equally dire picture if Walker succeeds, saying his efforts to reign in spending on public worker benefits and salaries would cost Green County more than $5 million annually in lost income. That's according to a study by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, which bills itself as a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving government and schools.
The study assumes that 1,938 government employees impacted by the Walker bill live in Green County and that each would lose about $2,584 annually in benefits if it's approved, according to Erpenbach's office.
The debate in Madison has left school and city officials locally and across Wisconsin scrambling to budget for the coming year, and has thrown local union negotiations in many places in limbo. School district officials in Monticello, for example, have issued preliminary non-renewal notices to all of their certified teachers.
Erpenbach said he and the 13 other missing senators remain united in their opposition to Walker, and have no plans to return until the governor agrees to negotiate. They maintain they could be compelled to return to the Capitol if they return to Wisconsin.
"It's easier to hide in Chicago," Erpenbach said. "I wouldn't say I'm hiding but I have changed hotels a couple of times."
Walker's budget calls for $1 billion in cuts to state and local governments and relies on the budget repair bill to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees to help make up the difference.
Erpenbach, speaking by phone, said little can be done to pass any kind of state budget until Walker addresses the collective bargaining issue, over which he and 13 other Democratic senators fled to Illinois Feb. 17 to prevent a quorum and delay a critical vote on the budget repair bill.
"Whatever people think about unions and collective bargaining, this impacts people in the private sector because of the standards set by unions," said Erpenbach, who lives in Middleton. "If Gov. Walker says he is representing taxpayers, well, public employees are taxpayers, too."
Back home in Wisconsin, 51st District Rep. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, praised Walker for trying to trim spending and reduce the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit.
"We're cutting spending, which may be painful but is needed," said Marklein, a certified public accountant. "And we're not going to be doing it on the backs of the taxpayer."
Marklein said that in the current economic climate, steps must be taken to reign in spending, and that the 14 missing Democrats are simply delaying the inevitable. And, Marklein added, Walker's state budget is "predicated" on passage of the lightning-rod budget repair bill containing language to remove collective bargaining for not only unionized state workers, but those at the school, county and municipal levels.
"This is a math problem and by April, we're going to have to cut $10 million a month from the budget," he said, adding that a number of cost-saving initiatives in Walker's budget, such as restructuring debt, are time sensitive. "I'm afraid if we don't do something soon we're going to have to go to 'Plan B' and I have a feeling 'Plan B' isn't going to be pretty."
Walker has threatened layoffs of government workers and other measures if his budget and repair bill isn't passed.
For his part, Erpenbach painted an equally dire picture if Walker succeeds, saying his efforts to reign in spending on public worker benefits and salaries would cost Green County more than $5 million annually in lost income. That's according to a study by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, which bills itself as a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving government and schools.
The study assumes that 1,938 government employees impacted by the Walker bill live in Green County and that each would lose about $2,584 annually in benefits if it's approved, according to Erpenbach's office.
The debate in Madison has left school and city officials locally and across Wisconsin scrambling to budget for the coming year, and has thrown local union negotiations in many places in limbo. School district officials in Monticello, for example, have issued preliminary non-renewal notices to all of their certified teachers.
Erpenbach said he and the 13 other missing senators remain united in their opposition to Walker, and have no plans to return until the governor agrees to negotiate. They maintain they could be compelled to return to the Capitol if they return to Wisconsin.
"It's easier to hide in Chicago," Erpenbach said. "I wouldn't say I'm hiding but I have changed hotels a couple of times."