Jaeger Wants Republican-led Legislature Back to Work Print
Commentary
Written by Karl Jaeger, Jaeger For Wisconsin   
Thursday, 17 September 2020 09:52

capitol-night-wiscLegislature has refused to do their job for five months and are apparently refusing to meet for at least another four, says Assembly District 89 Candidate.


MARINETTE, WI - This is a reminder that John Nygren and the Republican-led Legislature have been adjourned since April, but continue to collect their $52,999 salary! It's been over 150 days since they’ve shown up to work, and in that time thousands of people in communities across Wisconsin have gotten sick, lost their jobs, lost their health care, and struggled to support their families.

Our “Representatives” continue to collect their salaries, but they are not showing up to represent us. This makes me angry! We deserve representatives who show up to work!

What have our elected leaders been doing since they were last in full session while 91,304 of us became ill and 1,220 of us have died of COVID-19? We elected them to represent us, and instead they spend their days criticizing the Governor on Facebook from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

karl-jaegerIf I didn’t show up to work, I’d get fired. What about you? Would you still get paid? Would you still have health insurance? Retirement contributions? Would you have corporate special-interests giving you thousands of dollars of donations?

This is why people get frustrated by politics: our elected representatives have done nothing since April to address COVID-19, statewide protests, the unemployment backlog, or the re-opening of schools. In the meantime, they continue to collect their $52,999 annual salary while they ignore the needs of our citizens and refuse to do the work we elected them to do.

The basic function of our state government is to protect our citizens’ health and safety. The GOP-led Legislature has not met since April, despite calls by Democratic members and the Governor to take up legislation related to COVID-19, police procedures, unemployment benefits, and many other issues. Instead, they’ve threatened once to meet simply to overturn a public health order that slowed the spread of COVID-19. Republicans have filed more lawsuits this year than they have passed bills to help Wisconsin workers, families, farmers, and small businesses during this pandemic. Their leadership has indicated they will refuse to vote on any and all legislation until next year.

Let that sink in for a minute: They’ve refused to do their job for five months and are apparently refusing to meet for at least another four. And they don’t care, because their districts are so gerrymandered, they’re all but ensured a victory in November.

When elected, I will show up to work. I will put people first and represent your needs. I will be accountable to the people who elected me.

Karl Jaeger
Candidate, WI Assembly District 89