MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Four years after repealing most collective bargaining for Wisconsin’s public workers, top Republican lawmakers want to overhaul the state’s civil service system for 30,000 of them.
Backers say it safeguards against political patronage in hiring and firing state workers and helps the state keep up with the times, and with the coming crush of retiring baby boomers.
In one of Gov. Scott Walker’s first actions after suspending his presidential campaign, he talked today (Wed) with two key Republican lawmakers about the proposal.
The bill would: eliminate the state’s civil service exams, replacing it with a resume-based system for merit hiring; change rules for longtime employees to “bump” other workers out of jobs; and shorten by more than half the process for employees to appeal their dismissal or discipline.
The bill’s authors are Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna).
