WEMTA Alert: Contact your State Senator Regarding SJR4!

The Senate Committee on Labor and Government Reform will vote by paper ballot on SJR 4 this week, which deletes the state treasurer from the state constitution. In addition,  SJR 4 replaces the treasurer with  the lieutenant governor on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.  Since the Committee is voting on the measure using a paper ballot, they will not hold a formal Committee meeting to cast their votes publicly. The deadline for responding to the paper ballot is 12:30 P.M. on Thursday, September 24.

Please consider contacting your State Senator before Thursday, especially if they serve on the Senate Committee on Labor and Government Reform,  to let them know why WEMTA is concerned about SJR 4. 

WEMTA believes there are potential unintended consequences of SJR 4 that could put school library funding at risk.  We believe that replacing the State Treasurer with the Lieutenant Governor on the BCPL jeopardizes our founding fathers’ commitment to maintaining a constitutionally protected form of school library funding. As envisioned by our founding fathers, current BCPL Commissioners do not play a leading role in K-12 school funding or the state budget process—this makes them ideal custodians of the Common School Fund and helps protect the integrity of the fund. 

WEMTA is concerned that a complicated process to change the state constitution may not save as much money as projected, will require a lengthy legislative and election process, and may have unintended consequences affecting the future performance of the fund.  

If the Committee approves the measure, it will be sent to the full Senate for approval.

HOW DO I CONTACT MY LEGISLATOR?

The first step in contacting your legislator is knowing who your legislator is. The easiest way to do this is the tool found on the Legislature’s home page, athttp://legis.wisconsin.gov. In the right-hand side of that page is a link that says Find My Legislators!  Type your address in the box below that link to get the names of your state representative and senator.

·  Phone.  You may leave a message for your legislator’s Capitol office or indicate your position on legislation through the toll free Legislative Hotline, at 1-800-362-9472.

·  E-mail. The e-mail addresses of members of the Wisconsin Legislature all have the same format. For members of the Assembly, the form is Rep.Jones@legis.wisconsin.gov; for members of the Senate, the form is Sen.Adams@legis.wisconsin.gov.

Senate Committee on Labor and Government Reform Members:

Senator Steve Nass (Chair, R-Whitewater)

Senator Van Wanggaard (Vice-Chair, R-Racine)

Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) 

Senator Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha)

Senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee)