Walker

Walker’s Courthouse Furloughs: No Warrant

MADISON-The story of Scott Walker’s budget mismanagement took another dire turn this week with the approval of his plans to furlough the same courthouse staff who process protective orders and arrest warrants for dangerous criminals.

“It’s going to hurt,” Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm was quoted as saying of the Walker furloughs, a result of the GOP gubernatorial candidate’s inability to plug a reported $5 million public safety budget hole.[1]

“In another broken promise, Scott Walker gave himself a pay raise while he can’t find the money to pay the women and men who make Milwaukee County safe,”[2] Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Friday of the Walker furloughs. “He’s off giving campaign speeches to avoid the dangerous budget realities he has created.”

Under the Walker plan passed Thursday, the courthouse employees would be furloughed six additional days, amounting to some 14,000 hours of labor lost to prosecutors already under tremendous strain because of Walker mismanagement.

It was reported last month that Walker budget bungling had blown a nearly $5 million hole in the county’s public safety budget, leading to furloughs and fewer patrols.

“A criminal may go free or a mother may go unprotected from domestic violence because of the Scott Walker,” Tate said.”