Lets get nasty Steve Nass out of the Assembly next term

[undeterred]

Why is they guy who hates the University in charge of the Colleges and Universities Committee? Nass is in the 31st district, which is partly in the 1st and partly in the 5th CD. I don't think the Democrats have run anyone against him recently. He's the Sensenbrenner of the Assembly.
http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/contact/legislatorpages.aspx?house=Assembly&district=31


AFT-Wisconsin: Collective Bargaining Rights Bill stonewalled in Assembly, advances in Senate
2/19/2008

A tale of two houses
Madison, Wis – As the Wisconsin State Senate looks forward to a vote on the Collective Bargaining Rights Bill tomorrow, the Assembly is silenced as their companion bill is held up by Rep. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), the chair of the Colleges and Universities Committee.

Although the vast majority of public- and private- sector employees in Wisconsin have the right to vote on whether they would like to be represented by collective bargaining, this basic right continues to be denied to UW faculty and academic staff. Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Representative Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) have introduced Senate Bill 353 and Assembly Bill 726 to extend to academic staff and faculty this fundamental right.

Rep. Nass’s office has indicated that AB-726 will not receive a hearing this session despite bipartisan requests for action, meaning AB-726 is the only bill assigned to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities that would not receive a committee vote this session.

“If Representative Nass were to support collective bargaining rights he could raise up 17,000 voices that could join in seeking justice within the UW system,” said Warren Johnson, a UW-Green Bay chemistry professor and chair of the UW-Green Bay chapter of The Association of UW Professionals (TAUWP). “There is no valid justification for denying any of Wisconsin’s citizens the right to decide for themselves if they wish to be represented by a union with collective bargaining.”

“Rep. Nass deliberately stonewalls a bill that would resolve a major injustice against Wisconsin workers while issuing a statement calling the Board of Regents’ decision to raise chancellors’ salaries ‘immoral,’” commented Bryan Kennedy, a former professor of Portuguese at UW-Milwaukee and president of AFT-Wisconsin.

“Rep. Nass should consider fine-tuning his own moral compass. The right to collectively bargain is widely recognized as a fundamental human right, and is outlined as such in Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rep. Nass is single-handedly preventing a group of 17,000 Wisconsin citizens from exercising that right. He should be ashamed of this slap in the face of democracy,” continued Kennedy.

Even as AB-726 is presently blocked in committee, its senate companion bill, SB-353, will likely receive a vote on the floor of the senate tomorrow. “We enthusiastically anticipate the senate floor vote of SB-353, and are confident that the senate will take the right action and pass this basic matter of fairness,” stated Kennedy.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=118582

[undeterred]

1. Assembly leadership continues to stonewall Collective Bargaining Rights Bill

AFT-Wisconsin: “A slap in the face to the democratic process”
3/7/2008

Jill Malak, Public Relations Representative
608-662-1444 ext 222
608-770-0498

Assembly leadership continues to stonewall Collective Bargaining Rights Bill

Madison, Wis – The Collective Bargaining Rights Bill came up against a hurdle in the Wisconsin State Assembly yesterday as an effort to bring the bill up for debate on the floor of the Assembly was defeated along party lines. The vote comes after months of stalling in committee by Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), who has refused to hold a hearing on the bill.

Although the vast majority of public- and private- sector employees in Wisconsin have the right to vote on whether they would like to be represented by collective bargaining, this basic right is presently denied to over 17,000 UW faculty and academic staff. Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Representative Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) have introduced Senate Bill 353 and Assembly Bill 726 to extend to academic staff and faculty this fundamental right.

Recognizing the right to decide on collective bargaining as a fundamental human right, the Wisconsin State Senate gave SB-353 wide bipartisan support, passing it recently in a bipartisan floor vote of 21-12.

Unfortunately, AB-726 has been bottlenecked in the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, where the committee chairman, Rep. Steve Nass, has refused to even hold a hearing on the bill, despite bipartisan requests for action. AB-726 is the only bill assigned to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities that Chairman Nass refuses to hear despite repeated requests from bill sponsors.

AB-726 received another blow in the Assembly yesterday when a motion to debate the bill was put forth by Rep. Richards, and was defeated along party lines. Had the motion passed, AB-726 would have been brought to the floor of the Assembly, where it would have received a full vote.

According to Bryan Kennedy, president of AFT-Wisconsin, AB-726 would have likely passed a floor vote in the Assembly. “The Collective Bargaining Rights bill is a very basic issue of fairness that is supported across the state and across party lines. We have the support we need in the Assembly for this bill to pass, and it’s a disgrace that the Assembly leadership refuses to let those voices be heard. It’s a slap in the face to the democratic process.”

Referring to the quashed motion to debate, Ray Spoto, former president of The Association of UW Professionals (TAUWP, AFT-Wisconsin Local 3535), commented, “The Assembly had the opportunity to right a wrong that has plagued the great State of Wisconsin for decades. Instead, the Republican caucus chose to play politics with a bill that would extend a basic human right to thousands by continuing to hold AB-726 hostage.”

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=120268

[midnight]

2. I'm not sure I understand the committe process of this bill.

How did it's companion bill make it to the Senate? Is the Senate a Rep. majority?

[Broca]

3. In the Senate the Democrats

have a majority and thus control the committees and thus what legislation goes forward and what gets stalled.

On the assembly ratio I personally think we should pick 3 or 4 races that can be tilted by support brought in from other districts. For example I would like to get rid of a few of throughbacks to the stone age in my area, however, there are other races that will be closer contests. One will be the 57th District (Appleton). If this tactic would work, then yes I will still be stuck with scumbags like Suder and Petrowski in my area but they will then be in the minority and the democrats would control the flow of legislation in the assembly.

[undeterred]

4. I think it would be good to target Nass just because he's

such a jerk- and since there is no Democratic congressional candidate in the 5th CD maybe people could put some effort and money into this assembly race. There was a Democrat (Scott Woods) who ran against Nass in 2004 and 2006 and I'm trying to find out if he will run again. The 31st assembly district is partly in the 1st and partly in the 5th CDs.