MADISON – Today Rep. Don Vruwink (D-Milton) offered the Democratic Weekly Radio Address on redistricting:

"Since 2011, Republicans have spent $2.1 million in taxpayer money working to keep these unconstitutional maps," said Rep. Vruwink. "We cannot keep spending millions to defend maps designed in secret to entrench one party in power."

You can find the audio of this address here and the video here or below.

A written transcript of the address is below:

"Hi, I’m Representative Don Vruwink with this week’s Democratic Radio address.

"Last year, a federal court found that our legislative district map is unconstitutional because it effectively disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters.

"Since 2011, Republicans have spent $2.1 million in taxpayer money working to keep these unconstitutional maps. The majority party continues to fight these court decisions at a steep cost to taxpayers and voters.

"It doesn’t have to be this way.

"The Legislature can fulfill its constitutional duty of redistricting in a way that is not secretive, costly and partisan. My colleagues and I introduced a bill that would put redistricting in the hands of the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau. The result will be fair maps that truly reflect Wisconsin’s population.

"We cannot keep spending millions of taxpayer dollars to defend maps designed in secret to entrench one party in power."