MADISON – The following is a statement from Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca regarding the hiring of private attorneys by the Assembly GOP to fight the unconstitutional legislative maps:

“The Assembly Republicans have decided that instead of complying with the court’s decision and undergoing an honest, open process to redraw legislative maps, they are attempting to hire private attorneys to keep unconstitutional maps in place at the expense of taxpayers.

“This is a disservice to the people of Wisconsin. In addition, this costly and unnecessary move to hire these attorneys is being decided by ballot rather than meeting in person in order to avoid questions and scrutiny from the public. It’s ironic that the Republicans are seemingly using the same lack of transparency that led to our state having one of the worst cases of gerrymandering in history.

“We’ve asked Speaker Robin Vos to hold a public meeting to address these concerns to avoid a repeat on the past. In the end, we must ensure that Wisconsin voters are fairly represented and that our state government is accountable to Wisconsin taxpayers.”

Here is the letter to Speaker Vos.