Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Washington to Testify on State Debt, Workers' Rights

April 14, 2011 -- After months of battles in his statehouse in Madison, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker hit Capitol Hill today to testify on an issue that catapulted him to the national scene – ways to handle state debt.

Walker appeared before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a hearing titled "State and Municipal Debt: Tough Choices Ahead," arguing that Wisconsin's budget cuts and hits to collective bargaining strengthened the future of the state.

"In Wisconsin, we have a different option, a progressive in the best sense of the word, a progressive option," Walker said today. "For us, we're giving state and local governments the tools they need not just to balance the budget for the next two years but for generations to come."

Wisconsin faces a $3.6 billion structural deficit, and Walker aimed to address the deficit by reforming the collective bargaining system. Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., commended Walker's initiatives in Wisconsin for serving as an example for other state governments.

"Governor Walker's bold reforms seem reasonable to those of us in Washington who understand that our retirement and health care system at the federal level is not subject to collective bargaining," Issa said.

But Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, who attended the hearing at the request of Ranking Member Eljiah Cummings, D-Md., countered Walker's view arguing that collective bargaining rights are necessary to maintain the status of the middle class.

"You can get this job done…without taking out the basic right of collective bargaining," Shumlin said.

"What is puzzling to me about the current debate about state budgets is that the focus has been not on bringing people together to solve common problems, like we have done in Vermont, but on division and blame," Shumlin said in prepared testimony. "I do not believe that those to blame for our current financial troubles are our law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other state employees whose services we take for granted."