No good idea is safe from the Lobbyists’ Legislature that currently dominates the state, but its days may be numbered.
The anti-smart lobby
By
Ed Garvey
When writing about the current Lobbyists' Legislature, it is hard to know where to begin. Let me start with some words written by John Torinus in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Torinus is a name known in Wisconsin business and Republican circles for years. No one other than Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling would accuse him of a liberal bias.
Torinus wrote about the incredible decision of the Republicans to kill Smart Growth in the Joint Finance Committee. His column was headlined, "Republicans turn their backs on protecting state quality of life." Strong words.
He pointed out that Tommy Thompson, the Wisconsin Realtors Association and other conservatives got behind Smart Growth for some pretty obvious reasons. "Business executives trying to recruit talent put a high value on quality of life, which has been a long suit for Wisconsin. So, who are the Republicans in the Legislature listening to? It isn't business people who use strategic planning as a routine practice. To executives, Smart Growth is smart business."
I'm not making this up. The leadership in the Lobbyists' Legislature is marching to a tune unknown to the likes of Republicans such as Warren Knowles, Lee Dreyfus, Bill Kraus or Paul Hassett. These voices of moderation have been booted, without ceremony, out of the GOP and into the arms of the politically homeless.
Think about it. Smart growth. How can any thinking person oppose smart growth? This concept has been working throughout the state, bringing diverse groups together to plan for their community's future. Meetings, discussions, expert opinions on how to manage growth so as not to destroy our precious state. The state spent a measly $2 million a year subsidizing Smart Growth, but not now.
In traveling this state and working with local citizens, I have yet to encounter a person opposed to Smart Growth. While it is obviously inconvenient, more expensive and less profitable for developers, Wal-Mart and advocates of the huge factory farms, the people love the idea of having a plan generated locally and not in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Torinus ended his column with this sad question about the Lobbyists' Legislature: "So, what is it that they don't like about democracy and the voice of the people?"
The Smart Growth battle is not over. It is just possible that this loopy decision to kill Smart Growth will create a serious backlash. But this is not the only concern about the Lobbyists' Legislature.
The utilities, working with the protection of the Public Service Commission, have encountered a tough group in Douglas County, namely the Douglas County Board. That board told the utilities they could not ruin publicly held land with 14-story-high transmission towers.
The response once Douglas County turned down offers of money? A bill in the Legislature giving the power of eminent domain to utility companies to condemn publicly held land! I'm not kidding. A New York or Chicago utility could take land owned by Dane County. The triumph of corporate control of our state.
When local citizens are successful in stopping construction of a coal-fired plant in Oak Creek because the utilities and the PSC did not follow the rules, the response is a bill to change the law to make it easier for utilities to pollute our air and water.
If communities raise the minimum wage because the Lobbyists' Legislature will not, the response of the Legislature is to take away from local government the right to set wages.
It is increasingly obvious that big corporate contributors control Congress, the White House, the governor's mansion and the Legislature. What scares the "money boys" is local grassroots democracy. You know, the citizens who stopped Perrier, who have halted proposed factory farms throughout our state, and stopped the construction of an ethanol plant across the street from a school. How dare they speak truth to power?
Local grassroots organizations give us hope. The lobbyists are moving to still those voices as quickly as they can. The lobbyists love power concentrated in Madison. It is their turf. They hate Douglas County holding up their carefully planned environmental disaster.
It is this realization that took us to Luxemburg on May 21. The People's Legislature gathered in the northeast part of the state, and Guess what? They had the same commitment to grassroots democracy as those who have gathered previously in Madison, La Crosse, Cable and Milwaukee. The same disdain for the Lobbyists' Legislature.
They are ready for action and looking forward on September 10 to Fighting Bob Fest in Baraboo, where plans will be made. We will have inspiration from Amy Goodman, Jim Hightower and U.S. Reps. John Conyers, Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore and others, but we will also focus on the paramount question raised by Fighting Bob a century ago: "The supreme issue, involving all others, is the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many."
The powerful few do not want smart growth, higher wages, health care for all our people, and they do not want uppity local units of government getting in the way of the government they have purchased. But the people do.
(A version of this article originally appeared on the opinion page of the Capital Times.)
May 29, 2005
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Ed Garvey is editor and publisher of FightingBob.com.
