Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker today again defended his budget repair bill and defended the comments he made during a prank phone call.
At a press conference held outside his office, Walker said his bill would reap $1.44 billion in savings for schools, local municipalities, counties and special districts. Those savings would more than offset the cuts in state shared revenues he plans for the local government entities, Walker said.
"This measure passing is critical to balancing the next state budget," Walker said. This is ultimately about the future of our state … The future is now."
Walker again called for the 14 Democratic State Senators who fled the state to return to Wisconsin and allow a vote on his plan.
Failure to adopt his plan will result in the layoffs of 5,000 to 6,000 state employees and 5,000 to 6,000 local government employees, including teachers, Walker said.
In his opening remarks, Walker did not mention the controversy of a prank phone call in which he acknowledged he had "thought" about planting "troublemakers" amid the peaceful protesters in Madison.
When asked about his remarks, Walker said "I dismissed that."
Walker also defended his remarks about "tricking" the Democratic Senators to return to the state and about comparing what he is doing to former President Ronald Reagan's firing of air traffic controllers who had gone on strike.
In addition, Walker defended a provision in the budget repair bill that will allow him to sell off state assets, such as power plants, to no-bid contractors. Critics have said that provision will provide Walker with a way of paying back campaign contributors.
"I take phone calls all the time … The bottom line is the things I said are things I said publicly all along," Walker said. "I'm not going to allow one prank phone call to distract us from the reality that we have a job to do."
To listen to the prank phone call to Walker, click here and here (two parts).
Walker defends bill and his remarks in prank phone call
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