It's incredible. As the returns came in on Election Night that showed political apocalypse for Democrats, one activist I was talking to expressed his fears. "They're going to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state," he said.
Others echoed that prediction in the following weeks. Rep. Kelda Helen Roys told me she was sure the Republicans would introduce right-to-work legislation, as did other Democrats. However, when I asked Rep. Robin Vos, the incoming chair of the Joint Finance Committee about it, he said he supported the idea but did not state that it was necessarily a priority.
And yet, it right-to-work was not an issue that ever surfaced during the campaign, at least to my knowledge. Neither side seriously engaged union rights and the media didn't seem interested in prompting either side on the issue.
For this reason, I resisted the temptation a few weeks ago of putting right-to-work on the list of the GOP's top priorities.
And now I realize I was mistaken. The insiders were right. The Republicans, sure enough, are looking to introduce right-to-work -- it seems they're making it a top priority, in conjunction with the attack on public sector unions.
Senate Majority Leader-elect Scott Fitzgerald (left) said lawmakers are actively discussing making Wisconsin a right-to-work state, the latest escalation in the looming battle between Republicans and unions in the next session.
The guy leading the effort is Vos, the de facto GOP leader in many ways, especially on economic matters.
