There's a lot at stake in tomorrow's Wisconsin Supreme Court election, including the fiscal health of the Dairy State.
In 2011, then-governor Scott Walker and the Republican legislature passed Act 10, a law that broke the stranglehold Wisconsin's public-sector unions had on the state's taxpayers and saved the state billions of dollars.
How much?
Well:
Our Act 10 reforms, according to a report, saved more than $35 billion. They protested me & tried to recall me over our efforts to get out waste, fraud, & abuse in government. Elon Musk is trying to do the same on the federal level. We should thank him!
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) March 30, 2025
Here's more from the MacIver Institute:
No one could have predicted the immense impact that Act 10 would eventually have on the State of Wisconsin’s financial destiny when the MacIver Institute first proposed the policy back in November 2010.
We believed then, as we do now, that Wisconsin had to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees if it ever hoped to achieve fiscal stability in its state and local governments’ budgets. The idea caught on immediately, and Gov. Scott Walker introduced MacIver’s recommendation as the budget repair bill on Feb. 11, 2011. After a brutal month-long political and cultural battle, Walker signed that bill into law as Act 10. Since then, the MacIver Institute conservatively estimates it has directly saved Wisconsin taxpayers $35.6 billion through lower taxes and higher service levels.
Every year, the MacIver Institute calculates the estimated savings achieved through Act 10’s requirement that public employees pay 12.6% of their health insurance premiums and half of their pension contributions. This only captures a portion of Act 10’s impact. The law also provided local government with the flexibility to prioritize fiscal and operational efficiency, rather than union contracts. Those indirect savings are incalculable.
That's a lot of money that will be lost if Susan Crawford wins the election tomorrow.
Years later, and the exact same democrat song and dance as they did during the Wisconsin Capitol insurrection. Only missing the vuvuzelas.
— Bob’s your Uncle (@p8riot) March 30, 2025
Remember your billionaire oligarchy funded occupation #wiunion? https://t.co/u8oQ6KWqZw
We don't miss the vuvuzelas.
I'm enjoying the rational comments. Public sector unions were opposed by FDR. Even he recognized the inherent conflict of interest.
— Oregon Leader (@oregon_leader) March 30, 2025
It's insane that unions can take advantage of taxpayers the way they do.
I appreciate what you did then and what Elon Musk is doing now. The left is totally irrational.
— Cathy Morris (@cathymorriswi) March 30, 2025
Judging by some of the comments, yeah.
Totally irrational.
Thanks, Governor Walker, for your leadership on these crucial legislative reforms.
— MacIver Institute (@MacIverWisc) March 31, 2025
Watch the full story of the passage of Act 10 here: https://t.co/wHYg98JUuK https://t.co/Mp0PJiiscQ
That was a crazy time to live in Wisconsin.
And if Susan Crawford wins, we'll go back to the days when taxpayers are on the hook for Cadillac insurance plans and pensions for public-sector union employees.
The state will be in the red before you can blink, and that means tax increases.
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