Walker Admits No Fiscal Benefit to Anti-Union Provision

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker visited Capitol Hill Thursday for an appearance before the House Oversight Committee. Under questioning from Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Walker admitted a key provision curbing union rights had no fiscal benefit.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Can you please explain to me and members of this committee how much money this provision saves for your state budget?"

Gov. Scott Walker: "That and a number of other provisions we put in because if you’re going to ask, if you’re going to put in place a change like that, we wanted to make sure that we protected the workers of our state, so that they had a right to know what kind of value they got out of it. It’s the same reason we gave workers the right to choose, which is a fundamental American right, a right to choose whether or not they want to be part of a union, and whether or not they want up to a thousand dollars taken out"—

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Would you answer the question? How much money does it save, Governor?"

Gov. Scott Walker: "That particular part doesn’t save any."

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin also appeared before the panel. In a rebuke of Walker’s approach, Shumlin criticized the targeting of workers’ rights and benefits in the name of balancing budgets.

Gov. Peter Shumlin: "I don’t start with collective bargaining, and I don’t start with my public pensions. I start with the true costs. In Vermont, and this is true of most of the states of the country, healthcare is my biggest rising cost."