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January 2-8, 2004 • Vol. 13 No. 1 • Free

Governor Doyle Meets Wisconsin’s Black Press

Looking back at historic 2003

by Jonathan Gramling

Part 1 of 3



	Governor James Doyle (r) and Ray Harmon who has temporarily been assigned to head Doyle’s Milwaukee office

It was a historical moment December 19. For the first time in memory, Wisconsin's governor sat down with Wisconsin's Black Press to talk about the issues his administration has faced in 2003 and will tackle in 2004. Representatives from The Milwaukee Times, The Milwaukee Courier, the Milwaukee Community Journal, The Madison Times, and UMOJA were there in the governor's Milwaukee office to discuss with Governor James Doyle a broad array of issues from economic development to prisons.

In this first installment of a three part series, excerpts of Doyle's views on curing the deficit, his appointments, and educational issues will be presented.

The budget deficit - When Doyle was inaugurated in January, his administration was faced with a $3.2 million deficit. Doyle had made an election promise to not raise taxes, and so the budget had to be balanced through spending cuts that included reductions in state aids and reductions in state staffing.

"We had some really enormous challenges. I think a lot of people thought a $3.2 billion meant huge cuts in services, schools laying off significant numbers of teachers, major police and fire personnel layoffs and disruptions. I'm very proud we did this. It was very difficult. We made a lot of cuts at the state level. We tried to make sure we did them fairly and we didn't pick winners and losers. We tried to really focus on what was most important. To me, that was education, health care, and jobs. That's some pretty basic stuff. That's what the people in the state want."

The appointment of people of color to his administration - Beginning with the appointment of Michael Morgan to head his transition team, Doyle signaled his intention to significantly involve people of color in decision-making posts within his administration.

"I'm very proud of the administration we have put together. There's never been a more diverse government in the history of Wisconsin. I've asked people to look around the country because I would guess if you look at cabinets of governors around the country, you wouldn't find as diverse a group of people. I did this without going out and saying 'We're going to have X number of African Americans and X number of this or that.' We did it by saying 'Let's look for the absolute best people we can find to run the government of the state of Wisconsin. I had a diverse pool. If the pool is good and diverse and you pick the best person from that pool, you'll end up with a good, diverse government. What is unique about my administration is if you look at the key economic development positions and state financial positions, it is Cory Nettles at the Dept. of Commerce, Michael Morgan at the Dept. of Revenue, Antonio Riley at WHEDA, and Donsia Strong-Hill at Regulation and Licensing. The people who are at the heart of the absolute most important agenda I have in this state, which is to get our economy growing in a way that it is producing good jobs, are an extremely diverse group of people."

The future of state revenue caps on education - Ever since the early 1990's, state government has imposed per student revenue caps on local school boards. Increasingly, school boards are resorting to the referendum in order to gain local authorization to exceed the caps. A statewide task force is currently looking at ways to amend or eliminate the revenue caps.

"I think you're going to see the task force recommend some very significant changes in the revenue caps. I do think you have to keep some kind of cap on. If the state says it is going to pick up a certain percentage of education costs, then you almost have to have a cap because you never know what the percentage is. I would guess they are going to recommend a lot more flexibility for the caps and a lot more local decision-making in what they want to do with schools. I think the state should make a real decision about how much money that we should put behind every student in the state. What does it take to give someone a good, solid, hopefully excellent education? The state should make sure the state money is going to ensure every kid is going to have good instruction, hopefully a small class size and a good, well-trained teacher. Let local districts, without caps, make decisions about what additional things they want. The state money should be focused on the basic education program. That's what we should be guaranteeing every student in Wisconsin."

The continuation of the School Choice program - Since 1991 when it involved 341 students from seven schools, Milwaukee's School Choice program has given parents vouchers funded with public dollars to attend private schools, both parochial and non-sectarian. In the current school year, 13,268 students and 107 schools are involved. Currently, the School Choice program is only authorized for children in the Milwaukee Public School system.

"I've said it and I've kept my word on this. I wasn't going to expand Choice and I wasn't going to turn my back on Choice. This is a very different issue than it might have been 10 years ago where people were deciding whether they were for or against it. Now, it's a fact of life. That's where a lot of kids are getting educated. As governor, I can't turn my back on that. However, I've said the voucher is one that is in Milwaukee and I'm not going to agree to its expansion beyond that. One of the things that hasn't been properly noted on this is you haven't seen Democrats, even in the middle of a $3.2 billion deficit, running around beating up on Choice this time. It happened in past budgets. Choice schools often were going into the budget worrying about whether they would survive. If you recall the previous budget, there was a huge issue about whether there would be a major cut. I've worked with Democrats to say 'We're not going there.' I thought we should let the whole Choice issue be. I am not going, during my governorship, to let the whole issue about educating kids in Milwaukee come down to vouchers and Choice. There are 95,000 kids in Milwaukee public schools and that's where my focus is. I have always said this as a Catholic. The Catholic Church should never go near vouchers and Choice. Over time, the government is going to start telling them what the curriculum should be and what the standards should be. That seems to come right along with receiving public money. Over time, there's little question this is going to happen."

On his relationship with the Republican legislature - While Doyle is a Democrat, he must work with a legislature that has Republican majorities in both houses. While their relationship has been relatively free from the ideological rancor that has bogged down other legislative processes, steep ideological divides still exist and still flair up.

“There were some incredible challenges the legislature threw down in this last year that would have hurt the city of Milwaukee a great deal. They had a shared revenue plan that would have cost Milwaukee about $15 million. I vetoed that. Their so-called property tax freeze would have cut the Milwaukee Public Schools by about $37 million. Their proposal for everyone to carry concealed weapons would have presented enormous risks to the people of Wisconsin. I vetoed that. Their attempt to define marriage for a second and third time was meaningless. The definition of marriage under Wisconsin law is very clear. Their only purpose in doing it was to be divisive and divide people up. I thought it was mean-spirited and I vetoed that. There have been a number of times I had to stand up to the legislature and just say 'We're not going there. It's not good for the people of Wisconsin.'”

“We've gotten a lot of good things done together. I signed my 112th bill this week compared with 48 bills that were signed all of last year. We've made some very good progress. On the other hand, if they are going to work to put bills on my desk that I will veto, I'll veto them. It seems to me to be a waste of legislative time. You'd think their goal would be to put a bill on my desk that I could sign. But just to go through the motions to put a bill on my desk that I will veto just to show where I stand and they stand, I'll keep doing that. I know where I stand. I think they are getting a fair amount of criticism right now for wasting time. They came through a fall session they said it was going to be all about jobs and what they argued about was guns and marriage. After three months, they still haven't given us jobs. I hope they are ready to come back and work together to get some meaningful things done.”

"Governor Doyle Meets The Black Press: Quality Jobs and Education" ( Part 2 of 3 )

"Governor Doyle meets Wisconsin’s Black Press: Jobs and Business" (Part 3 of 3)

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For particulars, contact:

Jonathan Gramling, Editor

The Madison Times Weekly Newspaper

608-256-2122

E-mail: news@madtimes.com