The Wisconsin Medical Examining Board says there is “no way to determine what kind of evaluation was actually made.”  The MacIver Institute has compiled the video that shows exactly what type of evaluation was going on.

Four of the six Republican State Senators up for recall elections in Wisconsin won on Tuesday, thwarting Democratic efforts to gain control of the State Senate.

MacIver News’ Bill Osmulski reports from Milwaukee

Democrats’ efforts to win control of the Wisconsin state senate through a series of recalls here is drawing millions of dollars and dozens of key campaign operatives from out of state, an ongoing MacIver News Service investigation has learned.

The group named “We are Wisconsin” has a decidedly non-Wisconsin infrastructure, with more than $1 million in PAC donations transferred to it earlier this week from national union sources and many of its key operatives coming from out of state.

Patrick Devney and Viet Shelton are two of We Are Wisconsin’s communications directors working on the recall elections.  Neither man appears to be from Wisconsin.

Devney is working to recall Senator Olson.  According to the Baraboo News Republic, Devney is from Appleton.  However, he cannot be found to have a Wisconsin address in online phone directories, which tend to go back at least 10 years.  Devney has worked on campaigns in Nebraska, Washington, Virginia and Louisiana as recently as February of this year.

Shelton is working to recall Senator Hopper.  He comes to Wisconsin from the State of Washington where he was labeled a rising star in Democratic politics.  Shelton was the campaign director for Transportation for Washington, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire’s deputy communications director, and worked for the Democratic National Committee.  He describes himself as a “campaign addict”  and “for the summer, in Wisconsin” on his twitter profile.

Democrat efforts, in general, have turned to out-of-state help.  Click here to see an online form specifically looking for “Wisconsin Out-of-State Volunteers.”

Hopper and Olsen will face their Democratic challengers in a general election recall contest on August 9th.

Second in a series of reports by the MacIver News Service.

Will Be In Effect Wednesday, June 29th

On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, the Wisconsin Secretary of State’s office published Act 10, the law that included provisions to limit public sector unions’ ability to collectively bargain. The office says the law will be in effect starting Wednesday.

There weren’t any cameras or fanfare when Secretary Doug La Follette enrolled the law.

“It was business as usual,” Susan Churchill, Deputy Secretary of State, told the MacIver Institute.

Governor Walker signed Act 10 on March 11th. Secretary of State Doug La Follette decided to wait the full 10 working days allowed by law before enrolling it. That was originally scheduled to happen on March 25th, and the law would then be in effect on March 28th.

However, Dane County Judge Mary Ann Sumi placed a temporary restraining order on the Secretary of State from publishing the law. The controversy got even more convoluted when the legislative reference bureau, not named in the TRO, published the law on March 25th anyway, and the Department of Administration considered that sufficient to enforce it.

Sumi, again, took action to block the law, this time making the restraining order permanent. All this put Act 10 on a course to the Supreme Court.

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[Madison, Wisc...]  At a hearing Monday morning, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board certified the recall petitions for Senators Olsen, Kapanke, and Hopper.

Some insiders consider these three Senators to be the most vulnerable in a recall election.

At the hearing legal counsel for the three Republican Senators stated the petitions were not valid. The lawyers argued that the individual who signed the statement of intent to recall should also be the person who filed the official recall committee registration paperwork. GAB rejected that argument.

The counsel also attempted to challenge a number of signatures on the petitions.  They argued some of the signatures were duplicates, did not include an address, or were added after the deadline on May 2^nd. However, even had GAB tossed all those signatures, there would still have been enough to certify the petitions.

Now that the petitions have been certified, GAB will file the petitions between May31st and June 3^rd. GAB will also hold a hearing on six more recall petitions on May 31^st.  Those involve Republic Senators Cowles, Darling, and Harsdorf, and Democrat Senators Holperin, Hansen and Wirch.

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The Recall Dave Hansen Committee went to court Monday seeking an injunction against the state Democratic Party. People who had signed the petition said they were receiving harassing phone calls from the party. The judge sided with the Democratic Party because the committee did not properly serve the request.

As Madison Teachers union head John Matthews was asserting his members were legitimately sick at the start of the protests at the state capitol, new evidence suggests he was organizing a sick-out that shut down Madison Public Schools for four days in late February.

Madison school official and union leaders did not enjoy the cozy relationship protesters at the Capitol portrayed to the media, according to an open records request by the MacIver Institute.

The MacIver News Service examined emails between MMSD Superintendent Dan Nerad and his staff and MTI Executive Director John Matthews.  Many of the emails concerned the teacher sick out and how the district would make up the days.

The tone of their conversations often broke from civility.  At one point, Matthews chewed out Nerad for visiting his sick mother in a Kenosha hospital instead of negotiating with MTI over the make up days.

The following account offers some insight into what was going on behind the scenes as protests raged around the Capitol.

Tuesday, February 15^th

The first massive protests began at the Capitol on Tuesday, February 15^th, after Governor Walker announced his budget repair bill limiting collective bargaining the Friday before.  Madison school officials had received indications teachers intended on staging a sick out starting the next day.

Bob Nadler, the human resources director, sent an email to teachers warning them not to do it.  For employees who were genuinely sick, they would need documentation from a doctor.

“If you do not provide this documentation, you will not be allowed to use personal or family illness leave and your pay will be docked,” Nadler wrote.

John Matthews responded, “Yikes, people who are ill and you threaten them?”

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With all wards reporting, the unofficial results indicate that Deputy Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg leads Supreme Court Justice David Prosser by a margin of 204 votes, a margin so narrow the Associated Press declined to declare a winner in the contest.

The margin was .014 percent.

While the 72 counties reported their results throughout Tuesday night, the lead shifted wildly between the two candidates. Wednesday morning, Prosser was leading, but little by little Kloppenburg caught up and finally took the lead herself as wayward wards in Crawford, Dunn, Sauk and other counties were counted.

The narrow margin of victory guarantees a recount, a process that could leave uncertain the fate of the Wisconsin Supreme Court until June.

The election was billed by the Kloppenburg supporters as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker and his proposal to limit collective bargaining for public sector unions. Unions and their third-party groups invested heavily, looking for a powerful ally on the high court.

As soon as the occupation of the State Capitol began in late February, “Vote Kloppenburg” signs began appearing along side banners and placards protesting the changes in Wisconsin’s law governing collective bargaining.

Prosser lost Dane County, home to the State Capitol and tens of thousands of state workers, by nearly 85,000 votes.

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Three Dane County Democratic lawmakers want to charge a free market think tank more than $7,500  to comply with open record requests for correspondence regarding one legislative initiative.

In a letter to several state lawmakers, dated March 24th, The MacIver Institute requested:

“Copies of all correspondence you have received or sent, (including, but not limited to, letters, emails, voice mails, records of phone calls, and logs of in-person meetings) regarding the subject of changes to Wisconsin’s collective bargaining laws for public employees. This request covers such correspondence received or sent between January 1, 2011 and March 23, 2011.”

In an email response dated March 30, Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) personally alleged it would take two staffers, working full time, two weeks to comply with the request.

“A quick review of our office files pertaining to collective bargaining laws for public employees, 2011 SSSB 11, 2011 SSAB 11, and 2011 Wis. Act 10 indicates that there are over 8,000 documents that would meet this search criteria,” Pocan wrote. “Our office anticipates that copying costs for this request will be a minimum of $1,500 and that fulfilling this request will require approximately 80 hours of staff time, which if pro rated for staff salaries, would cost approximately $2,600.

Mike Murray, a member of Representative Joe Parisi (D-Madison) staff offered a similar response via email one day earlier.

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In the wake of changes to government employee unions’ power in Wisconsin and elsewhere, The Communist Party USA is working in conjunction with national labor unions and other left wing political groups to organize protests in Madison, Wisconsin and across the nation on April 4th.

Scott Marshall, Vice Chair of The Communist Party USA said his organization is working with the likes of MoveOn.org, the SEIU, the AFL-CIO and others to make April 4th, the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a national day of action.

“Support is beginning to grow,” said Marshall in an online meeting earlier this month. “A bunch of organizations already are hyping the idea of massive demonstrations on April 4th.”

The Community Party in particular has benefited from the recent debate over Wisconsin government employee unions’ power to collectively bargain, using the opportunity to build their ranks.

“In this struggle, the question of building the Left and building the Party has to come to the fore,” Marshall said. “Recruiting has picked up, more people are joining the Party and the broader left is getting bigger.”

The Communist Party USA leader said his members cannot just participate alongside other organizations, however. They must continue to join and help lead them.

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The Wisconsin Department of Justice has filed a motion with the 4th District Court of Appeals, seeking an order staying Judge Maryann Sumi’s temporary restraining order blocking the publication of 2011 Wis. Act 10.

Judge MaryAnn Sumi

“The publication of this Act will allow the State to save significant money–evidence of which the trial court did not allow presented and did not appear to consider are the cost savings identified by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau which require, of course, publication.” the motion reads. “Thus it is vitally important that this Court act before March 25, 2011–the last possible publication date provided by law–so as to not harm the State.”

Since the Budget Repair Bill passed the legislature, numerous municipalities and school districts have rushed, via emergency meetings, to approve mulit-year contracts with labor unions in an attempt to circumvent the restrictions contained within Act 10.

On Friday, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi granted a temporary restraining order blocking publication of the bill, which contains changes to the collective bargaining process for public employees in Wisconsin.

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Doctors accused of writing fake sick notes to protesters who staged sick outs to attend rallies, have until March 21^st to respond to complaints filed with the Department of Regulation and Licensing, MacIver News Service has learned.

On Saturday, February 19^th,  MacIver News Service broke the story in which doctors were caught on video offering and handing out sick notes to protesters who needed excuses for missing work the week before. These doctor’s notes were handed out without any attempt to perform even a cursory medical examine or to solicit even a rudimentary medical history from the ‘patients.’

After several complaints were lodged by witnesses and individuals who saw the MNS report, the Division of Enforcement in the Department of Regulation and Licensing  (DRL)  informed the doctors of the complaints filed against them.

The letters were mailed to eleven respondents on February 28^th and included copies of complaints filed with the Department.  According to the DRL, nine of the individuals against whom complaints have been lodged are licensed physicians and two are unlicensed individuals. The doctors were requested to provide a written explanation to each of the allegations contained in the complaints. The DRL has not yet released those complaints to the public, however the original MNS report did identify one of the doctors allegedly involved.

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A flash mob of protesters, assembled via social media and word of mouth, tried to block the exits from the Wisconsin Capitol as legislatures and staffers were evacuated after a Senate vote Wednesday night.

The Senate passed the Budget Repair bill at 6:22 pm.  As word spread among protesters, thousands immediately descended on the Capitol.  Staffers, speaking to the MacIver News Service on the condition of anonymity for their own safety, talked about the terrifying ordeal they faced trying to get home.

At the time of the vote, there were hundreds of protesters inside the State Capitol. Law enforcement cordoned off areas to separate the staff from the protestors. A group of approximately 30 staff and legislators gathered in the President’s Conference Room near the Senate Chamber to leave as one group.

“Once we open this door, we have to keep moving,” the evacuees were told by law enforcement.

“There were cameras in our faces,” said one staffer. “It was wild.”

Protesters anticipated this move, however. Dozens of them surrounded the Risser Building, where the tunnels end. As the staffers and legislators left the building to get to nearby parking garages, a group of protesters descended on them. Law enforcement quickly tried to get the evacuees back into the Risser Building.  One staffer said an officer literally picked her up and threw her back through the doors in a drastic, but necessary, move to ensure her safety.

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Three weeks after Senate Democrats fled the state, the Wisconsin State Senate passed the bulk of the Budget Repair Bill in a series of swift and deliberate moves Wednesday.

Late in the afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and the GOP lawmakers assembled for the Special Session voted to send the bill to a bipartisan Senate-Assembly Conference Committee.

“This afternoon, following a week and a half of line‐by‐line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take our counter‐offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).  “With that letter, I realized that we’re dealing with someone who is stalling indefinitely, and doesn’t have a plan or an intention to return. His idea of compromise is “give me everything I and the only negotiating he’s doing is through the media.”

Shortly after 6pm, the Conference Committee convened and quickly approved Fitzgerald’s changes to the budget bill over the forceful objections of Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha).

Democrats fled the state on February 17^th in an extreme parliamentary maneuver to prevent a 3/5^th quorum from being present.

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Despite claims to the contrary from state Democratic officials, the recall efforts against eight Republican Senators could be coordinated by workers from Washington, DC, the MacIver News Service has learned.

“These aren’t being run by national operatives,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Mike Tate on the statewide UpFront with Mike Gousha television program. “This is not some prefabbed, manufactured effort.”

However the MacIver News Service has obtained a recruitment advertisement which solicited applicants from the Washington, DC area for the positions of “Field Organizers” for the Wisconsin Recalls.

The ad, for the Madison-based “Wisconsin Progress ” organization, was listed on the website of The Brad Traverse Group.

The Traverse site, operated out of Falls Church, Va, bills itself as “the leading resource for anyone seeking a job on Capitol Hill and off the Hill in the fields of government affairs, public affairs and communications.”

Although Tate asserted the recalls were organic and outside interests from Madison and Washington, DC were merely assisting with the efforts, the Wisconsin Progress advertisement says the duties for the positions include, but are not limited to: “Execute a field operation in a targeted state senate district–Manage a volunteer effort to collect recall signatures–Operate and Manage phonebank–Implement mass canvassing operations–Outreach to other progressive organizations to recruit volunteers–Data Management.”

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While their leaders openly bemoan pending budget cuts due to an expected decline in state aid, Milwaukee Public Schools’ is spending $24,999 to private investigators to obtain evidence and provide surveillance of their teachers to determine residency.

That expenditure was one of the more interesting found during MacIver News Service’s routine examination of the MPS checkbook.

Others include:

$1,360 for coat rack rentals

$24,999 for MPS enrollment advertising

$16,000 for the Flood the Hood with Dreams mentoring program

$560 for after school yoga instruction

$4,600 for a Drumline coach

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