The Legacy of Wisconsin’s Act 10: Jonathan Williams on The Hugh Hewitt Show
"Gov. Scott Walker's efforts were a game changer that put Wisconsin back on solid footing."
Hugh Hewitt spoke with ALEC President and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams about the long-term impact of Wisconsin’s Act 10 and its relevance to policy reform in other states.
The conversation began with a general overview of Wisconsin’s Act 10 and the impact it had on the state due to the actions of Governor Scott Walker and state legislators. Williams set the scene and explained how Act 10 addressed Wisconsin’s labor and fiscal challenges, including a budget shortfall exceeding $3 billion.
“Act 10 was a major package of reforms on labor policy and fiscal issues,” Williams noted. “Wisconsin, at that point in time, had over a $3 billion budget shortfall, and Governor Walker came in with a great group of state legislators, men and women who are ALEC members, and said, ‘We got to do something differently as a state.'”
Williams continued the story, noting how, after 15 years, the actions taken by Governor Walker and the legislators, along with record savings, returned benefit decisions to local school districts, changed tenure and seniority rules, and supported a more sustainable budget.
“When you add up the savings now over 15 years, the people of Wisconsin had saved over 35 billion dollars because of these commonsense reforms that Scott Walker and the great legislators spearheaded there 15 years ago,” Williams emphasized.
Hewitt then expanded the conversation and asked whether Act 10’s results could translate to other purple states. Williams cited Arizona, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Utah as states pursuing related labor or policy reforms.
“Arizona’s done some phenomenal things,” he highlighted. “Tennessee, the Carolinas, Utah as well have worked on some big reforms, but Scott Walker’s efforts were really a game changer that put Wisconsin back on solid footing and really did enable a lot of other states to tackle these issues after Wisconsin did that successfully.”
The discussion later highlighted the recent academies and state visits ALEC undertook, including visits to Utah and Rhode Island, focusing on critical issues and building connections with legislators. Williams reiterated the message that ALEC is a 50-state organization focused on supporting effective policy regardless of party affiliation.
“ALEC is not giving up on any state or any region,” he emphasized. “We’re a 50-state organization. In fact, we don’t care if people are Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, Vegetarian, or whatever their political preference may be. We want to be there to be a help for them on good policy.”