Scott Walker is engaged in even more nonsense:
Today, Governor Scott Walker signed Special Session Assembly Bill 5 which requires a 2/3s vote to pass tax rate increases on the income, sales or franchise taxes.
But this is not, as Digby thinks, Wisconsin’s version of the California restrictions. In fact, it means nothing. Anything done legislatively can be undone legislatively. That’s not the case in California, which put itself into a constitutional strait jacket. As Walker knows so well, a simple “notwithstanding” will do the trick, as in this little bit of legislative gobbledygook that he was hoping to slip by the people of Wisconsin:
16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state?owned heating, cooling,
and power plants. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the
department may sell any state?owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may
contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without
solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best
interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or
certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to
purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is
considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification
of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).
Translation: Scott Walker can sell the Koch Brothers any power plant now owned by the State of Wisconsin for any corrupt price he likes (and then buy the power back at exorbitant prices) notwithstanding a host of laws designed to prevent corrupt bargains. It’s a wonderful, word, notwithstanding, and can work wonders in a piece of legislation.
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