Some stalled promises ‘In the Works’
PolitiFact Wisconsin is monitoring 27 campaign promises made by Gov. Tony Evers using the Evers-O-Meter.
A few weeks past the halfway point in the governor’s term, we take a look at four high-profile issues, including rolling back Act 10 and banning businesses from asking job applicants about criminal histories.
Promise: Repeal or soften Act 10
Act 10 is the measure passed in 2011 by then-Gov. Scott Walker and fellow Republicans that curtailed collective bargaining for most public employees, among other matters.
When we last checked in on the Act 10 promise, we rated it Stalled, as Evers had not taken any concrete steps on the matter. However, his 2021-23 budget, announced Feb. 16, proposes several key changes.
Under Act 10, only public safety and certain municipal transit workers can collectively bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment.
In his budget, Evers is calling for establishing collective bargaining rights for workers who have been on the front lines of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 response. This would include workers at the state and local level whose regular job duties include interacting with members of the public, large populations or public works.
Evers is also proposing allowing front-line workers at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. — all of which were involved in the COVID-19 response — to collectively bargain as state employees
There were other Act 10 elements in the budget as well.
Republican legislative leaders immediately rejected the full proposal and are expected to spend the next months rewriting Evers’ spending plan.
That said, Evers did finally make a move on his Act 10 promise.
For now, we rate it In the Works.
Promise: Prohibit businesses from asking applicants about criminal histories
Evers included a so-called ban the box provision in his 2019-20 budget, but it was stripped out by Republicans in the Legislature, so we rated the measure Stalled.
Evers is proposing the change again in his 2021-23 budget.
“Currently, 13 states and the District of Columbia prohibit private employers from asking applicants to identify whether they have criminal records, including Illinois and Minnesota,” Britt Cudaback, Evers’ deputy communications director, told us. “The governor’s budget would prevent a prospective employer from requesting conviction information from a job applicant before the applicant receives a job interview. This would apply, too, for crimes that have been expunged.”
A review of the issue by PolitiFact Wisconsin found that Republicans, as part of a civil service reform measure, incorporated a “ban the box” provision in that law that was signed by Walker. It was the 2015 Wisconsin Act 150 enacted in 2016.
The measure revised the state civil service laws for classified employees involving the hiring process, performance
reviews, discipline and grievance procedures, and layoff and reinstatement procedures. According to the bill:
The Act specifies that DPM (Division of Personnel Management) may not ask a person who is applying for a position to supply information regarding a conviction record. However, information regarding a conviction record may be requested in applications for a position in which a particular conviction record would disqualify an applicant. DPM may consider the conviction record of an applicant after the person has been certified as an eligible applicant.
But that applied to state hires through the civil service process.
Evers’ proposal would apply to all employers.
Since the change is back in play, we are changing this rating back to In the Works.
Promise: Repeal changes made to prevailing wage laws
In 2015 and 2017, Walker and the Republican-run Legislature repealed prevailing wage laws, which had required the state to pay a minimum level of wages for each trade in different areas of Wisconsin.
As a candidate, Evers promised to undo those changes.
The governor’s 2019 budget called for going back to the old system, but the Legislature took it out. So we rated this promise Stalled.
Evers has returned the measure to his 2021-23 budget proposal.
His plan would require that laborers, workers, mechanics and truck drivers employed in public works be paid the prevailing wage and work no more than the prevailing hours of labor unless paid overtime. The law would cover state highway projects that meet a specific cost threshold, minor service or maintenance work and some residential projects.
If a contractor fails to pay the prevailing wage rate or overtime pay to an employee as required by prevailing wage law, the contractor would be liable to pay the amount of unpaid wages and overtime as well as liquidated damages equal to 100% of the unpaid wages and overtime pay.
With Republicans still controlling the Senate and Assembly, the fate of this effort may well match that of the last one.
But, for now we return the rating to In the Works.
Promise: Expand background checks and put in place gun restrictions
In his first budget, Evers tried to expand background checks and put in place gun restrictions but to no avail. The Republican-led Legislature blocked the change.
The governor’s 2021-23 budget proposal returns the matter to the table.
Evers’ plan calls for a universal background check requirement for all firearm sales.
The bill prohibits any person from transferring any firearm, including the frame or receiver of a firearm, unless the transfer occurs through a federally licensed firearms dealer and involves a Wisconsin Department of Justice background check.
It also proposes what is known as a “red flag” law, which would allow a judge to bar people deemed a threat to themselves or others from having a gun for a set period. A family member or law enforcement officer would be able to seek such an order.
Like many of the governor’s proposals, this one may well die in the Legislature.
But, it’s on the table again. So for now we rate this promise In the Works.