Give Back Local Control

Back during the brief tenure of acting governor, Scott McCallum, it was suggested at a closed-door, campaign retreat that among the means to address the structural deficit should be to eliminate shared revenue to local municipalities.

Little did I realize in December, 2001, that what eventually became public at McCallum’s February 20002 Budget Address, would later be adopted by the Republican majority of the state assembly; hostility towards local government and the state constitution (story)

As the only local elected official sitting among that gang of twelve or so, perhaps I should have weighed-in to defend local officials more than I did. But we were already on Day Two and the Packers were fighting for a play-off spot. I needed a warm bar stool and a cold beer more than another lesson on governing.

(Being called a Big Spender two months later would bite me during my own reelection. We’ll save that for a future blog).

In no way am I endorsing the Democrats’ vision of government. One simply needs to add the cumulative cost of their budget amendments to decipher how they tackle the big issues.

Yet, as my assembly friends wrestle with uniformity, I prefer to ponder the politics of cause and effect. Such as, if a local municipality passes an ordinance mandating a higher minimum wage than a neighboring community, what might be the result? Since most cities elect Democrats as mayors, might voters hold them accountable when employers either relocate or chose to expand in other areas?

Isn’t local government a valued laboratory for pilot programs? Tommy Thompson singled-out Rock County to be among his trials for welfare reform. And doesn’t the state constitution provide for direct legislation? Voters in 20 communities want a smoking ban. Stevens Point rejected theirs. What does that say about uniformity?

Why not examine the resulting economics of communities that ban smoking, or set higher minimum wage laws?

Opponents may prove to be right. On the other hand, the Law of Unintended Consequences may play-out; local elected officials may overreach. Mainstream Democrat voters could become disillusioned with their status-quo politicians, their smokeless restaurants or their lack of new businesses because of artificially high local wage requirements.

The effect may be a conservative like, oh, Scott Walker, may win election in places less Democrat than Milwaukee County.

Could we hope for a Republican mayor of Milwaukee?