State Sen Schultz to vote against recall district change

[undeterred]

Republicans don't have the 17 votes necessary in the state Senate to pass a hurried bill that would make it more difficult to recall incumbent lawmakers from office, after a GOP senator said Monday he doesn't support the measure. Republican Sen. Dale Schultz told The Associated Press he will not vote for the bill. Republicans have 17 seats in the Senate and need all 17 of those votes to pass the measure, assuming all 16 Democrats vote against it.

The bill was hastily introduced by Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, on Friday and scheduled for a hearing Monday before the Senate elections committee, which Lazich chairs. The bill would bring new Republican-friendly legislative boundaries into effect immediately and for any recall elections that would take place next year. Under current law, the new boundaries wouldn't take effect for the purpose of elections until the fall of 2012. However, state election officials say lawmakers already are representing people in the districts according to the new boundaries.

Republican backers of Lazich's bill say that creates confusion. To eliminate that, they argue the new boundaries should take effect now for purposes of elections. Republicans redrew district boundaries this summer, as is required following the release of new census data every decade.
...


Schultz said he disliked Lazich's bill for numerous reasons. "I'm not going to vote for it because the people who sent me to Madison are the ones who should decide whether I ought to be recalled or not," said Schultz, a 20-year veteran of the Senate from Richland Center. Schultz said if the bill were to pass and the Republican friendly district boundaries were put in effect for any recalls, he could foresee negative campaign ads saying that Republican incumbents were more worried about protecting their own jobs than those of Wisconsin residents.

Tate, in a prepared statement, praised Schultz's decision to oppose the bill affecting legislative boundaries. "It's good to know that there still are Republicans in the Legislature who believe in democracy," Tate said.



Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_174e8360-03cb-11e1-97b1-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1cORxtHhE

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Good for him, he ought to come over to the Dem side anyway

he's too REASONABLE to be a repub, I'm afraid.

[AleksS]

2. Eh. He's just the best of a bad lot.

He's generally been a faithful devotee of Fitzwalker co. One or two deviations do not make him "reasonable."

[sybylla]

3. He just doesn't want to lose his phoney-baloney job.

All his vote means is that he's the only one down there who can read the writing on the wall. The rest are fucked.

[AllyCat]

4. This was some good news this morning. We need some good news.

[undeterred]

5. Its great news, and it makes a huge difference.

[undeterred]

6. Eggs Thrown At Outside Of Lawmaker's State Capitol Office

Schultz's Staff Reported Vandalism To Capitol Police Wednesday Morning
Updated: 10:05 pm CDT November 2, 2011

MADISON, Wis. -- A Wisconsin state lawmaker said he's sad that someone egged the outside of his state Capitol office.

The first floor office of state Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, had splatters of egg on the exterior marble and eggshells on the balcony on Wednesday morning. The staff reported the vandalism to Capitol police and said officers came to investigate. Schultz said he is both baffled and disappointed by the incident.

"I have no idea what happened or where it came from," he said. "The fact that somebody would egg the state Capitol makes me feel really bad because, as a member of the state Capitol Executive Residence Board, I feel like I'm privileged to take care of this wonderful building. It's the people's building, and anybody who would do that I think is committing an affront to the people of Wisconsin."

Schultz went against his party this week, saying he'd vote against a Republican-proposed bill that would have made new legislative districts effective for recall elections. A vote on the bill was delayed after the author said their caucus needed to consider Schultz's opinion and discuss the bill.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/29665855/detail.html