Board Smacks Down Walker, Overrides His Stimulus Veto

MADISON – The Milwaukee County Board today took the reins of leadership away from Scott Walker on stimulus efforts, overriding his veto that blocked efforts to seek aid and thousands of jobs through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  

“Scott Walker’s anti-stimulus agenda took a serious hit today when the county board took the reins of leadership away from him and assumed control of the county’s stimulus efforts,” said Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. 

The override vote came just one day after Walker vetoed the board’s resolution to aggressively pursue Recovery Act funds for MilwaukeeCounty’s struggling residents. Walker had called the resolution "reckless and not in the best interest of the taxpayers." (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3.30.09)

Walker has already threatened to sue the board if it uses federal money from the Recovery Act to create new jobs and projects for MilwaukeeCounty’s residents. Since the board has now taken control of these efforts, a taxpayer-funded Waker lawsuit may be on the horizon.

Walker has also banned county staff from working with the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment on any efforts to create jobs to MilwaukeeCounty through the Recovery Act. This ban may set the stage for an internal battle over who truly leads the MilwaukeeCounty workforce.

In addition to blocking stimulus aid, Walker has also promised to hand out hundreds of pink slips to his county employees this year, along with massive wage and benefit cuts, leaving his struggling constituents with little chance to make ends meet.