Real Politics; 105

And I want to say that in the almost 15 years that I have spent representing workers I have never seen such a callous gross attempt on the part of those who have to take a severely restricted state resources in a time of double digit inflation and give those resources to the people who need it the least. While the workers of the state who are the subject of assaults in the correctional institutions every day, in the mental health institutions and the institutions for the developmentally disabled, the workers of this state who keep this state running and directly provide services to the citizens of the state are given the crumbs that are left over after that apparently high or upper class of employee has taken all of the gravy from the

additional state funds. Without objection the clerk call the roll. Senators Adelman, Bablitch, Behr, Berger, Bidwell, Brown. Hello I'm John Paul. Putting the pressure on in political parlance can mean many things but in this edition of real politics we're going to look at a form of applied political pressure called lobbying. The nature of representative government provides for the use of influence on legislators so that they'll understand and vote in the direction seen appropriate by constituents. Early on in our history it was understood that if individuals with similar views got together they could influence legislators more efficiently. This program will present the process of organized influence. We'll see lobbyists work, how people with single issues try to argue their case, and how individuals outside of any pressure groups can tell their story to the legislature. We'll hear from over the road truckers, anti-nuclear demonstrators, and gas station owners who want to charge people for air to inflate their tires.

And for state employees who don't think they're getting their fair share of the wage and benefits pie. First the truckers represented by a lobbying group called of all things STRAP. What is STRAP and why are they coming to the Capitol? That was the question I asked this morning when reporters got word from the group that it was meeting with the governor. STRAP spokesman said they were truckers but nobody knew any more including the governor's office which incidentally hadn't heard about the meeting. Typical of the splinter groups that band together in a crisis and enter the scene with a small flourish STRAP and notified the media, went right to the top and the folks at the Capitol took it all in stride. Eileen Berger reports. STRAP arrived at the Capitol today. That's short for society for truckers Rights Action Project. They claim 30,000 members in 13 states in their 10 day old organization. They also claim they have nothing to do with ITA, the Independent Truckers Association. ITA agrees. This morning reporters and the governor's Representative Bill Kraus heard STRAP spokesman Melvin Cohen say

independent truckers would be back on the nation's highways Monday morning. They always say we've got these demands and we're not radicals. We're not freaks. We don't take drugs and we don't drink. We're straight, we're tired right now but I know one thing based on our meeting the men are willing to run their trucks. And I feel that through this movement we will have urged or hope to urge others to return to the highways of this nation and move the goods that are rotting in the fields. Get the fuel to the people so they can join the Governor Door County on his vacation tomorrow. When factsheets were available reporters snap them up to get a better idea where this new organization came from. Later the governor's communication director Bill Kraus said he wasn't sure what STRAP was but the governor's office doesn't turn anyone away. So far I don't know anybody who hasn't gotten to see us. We get 500 phone calls a day 500 letters a day. Yesterday Lee met with the 10 people from who are camped

on the South Lawn of the Capitol. It's not possible for everybody to see him but somebody sees everybody. For those citizens who don't believe they can get their point across in a few short hours of conference with legislators or with the governor round the clock residents of the Capitol may be the answer. It seemed to be for denizens of Tent City who've been occupying the South Lawn in protest of nuclear energy. Maggie Morel has a report. [Brian Hughes] With that bill in particular, we want to take the moratorium out of the hands of the governor. Currently in Wisconsin we have a moratorium which was proclaimed by the PSC the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission is appointed by the governor and we find our governor meet pro-nuclear and he has an appointment power coming up now and we find that he's going to put a pro new person on there. So we want to take this out of his hands and legislate the moratorium. And the purpose of 180 is to keep the moratorium going and not let Governor Dreyfus

promote his pro-nuclear stance. Who are all the people out here in the tents. [Debby Bird] Oh there's people, there's students, there's community people. We've had visitors from Illinois from Sheboygan from Green Bay Milwaukee, Chicago all over the place. How long will you be here? Well we plan to be here for two weeks until July 1st. After a few weeks of watching the legislature in action you may be able to recognize some familiar faces during debate. Those of speaker Ed Jackamonis or minority leader John Shabaz may even be if we can still be analogy household faces by now. But there are some faces here at the capital familiar only or at least primarily to legislators. These are the lobbyist so named for their practice of waiting around Capitol lobbies for a chance to present their interest to legislators. The passage of the biennial budget bill attracts a wide variety of lobbyists big time and small registered and not. Their activity this week is centered on the assembly and its parlor. Two of the more familiar faces are those of James Hough and Michael Vaughan. Both are

registered professional lobbyists. Both of you gentlemen represent a variety of interests to most lobbyists represent one major interest or are all of you more or less varied in that way? Go ahead. Many organizations do hire as a full time salaried employee or chief executive an individual who works exclusively for that organization and who would represent only the interests of that organization. Then there are a number of us who would be called free-lance lobbyists who do represent a number of different groups. I don't know where the balance is I suppose so there would be close to 50/50. So there are a number of people who do zero in on one organization only. How does one go about persuading a legislator to vote one way or the other? There's a background I think that goes into it as well as a specific activity. Persuasion involves within

the legislative process essentially a background of trust having been built up and of ah presenting accurate information to the legislature that then when a given issue is before the legislature one can go to a legislator and because of that background know that the information you present will be taken at face value. That information may or may not persuade a legislator to follow the position of one's organization and agree with that position in his vote. But an awful lot of things more than the immediate consideration fit together I think for the matter at hand. Some faces here are not as familiar as those of Mr Hough and Mr Vaughan but they too are lobbyists. Usually on single issues and many times for public interest groups. One of these is Anne Heidkamp director of the

Benedict center for Criminal Justice in Milwaukee. She's here today to lobby against spending more money on prisons. I think the most important thing is to keep them, give them current information. I guess I've been surprised to find out how limited most legislatures are on their knowledge of any particular issues. They're forced to take broad views, overviews, skimming a lot of information, depending a lot on their friends and the people they trust to give the accurate information. And so our role is to make sure that we get accurate information on criminal justice issues. Lobbying is a well-known political practice. It happens in all corners of the Capitol in the Senate, the assembly, and the governor's office. Some might say the influence wielded by lobbyist is too strong. Others replied that lobbying is just another

part of the democratic process. What appeared on the surface to be a light piece of legislation was taken seriously today in the assembly Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. The issue is whether or not service station should provide air for their customers and whether or not they should charge for that air. John True a station owner from West Allis let the committee know that today's free air is really not free for the dealer. OK what is the problem? Why are service stations charging for air? A couple examples: last Friday. Busy weekend, had a large family pull in with their automobile and a large camper. They came from the station across the street self, non-service. They purchased their gasoline and could not fill up their their tires so they came to my station. Typical. OK because of the large rig tandem tires. This particular vehicle is going to be in my station for a long time.

It's a small station. There's two bays, four pumps. One vehicle with that tandem trailer tied up my business for 20 minutes. On a busy day I could have 20 or 30 air customers and these are non paying customers. They do not spend a dime. By the way as these people left for their trucking or tandem trainer asked me if I had any free maps. It's typical. Whether service stations continue to dispense free air or not like the best things in life there will always be free and plentiful as long as politicians and lobbyists continue talking to one another. Another lobbyist representing state employees made a serious and impassioned lobbying effort on behalf of the State Employees Union. There is absolutely no equity in raising by 7 percent the salary of a person who makes 30,000 dollars annually and giving the same 7 percent to one making 12,000 dollars annually. The

30,000 dollar employee will receive a 2100 dollar increase the 12,000 dollar employee receives a measly 840 dollars. If accepted this proposal will give 2/3 of the available state money to the 20,000 highest paid unrepresented employees. And leave 1/3 for the 30,000 represented employees. It is more than misleading to call this equity. It is a lie. And I want to say that in the almost 15 years that I have spent representing workers I have never seen such a callous, gross attempt on the part of those who have, to take severely restricted state resources in a time of double digit inflation and give those resources

to the people who need it the least while the workers of this state Who are the subject of assaults on the correctional institutions every day in the mental health institutions and the institutions for the developmentally disabled the workers of this state who keep this state running and directly provide services to the citizens of the state are given the crumbs that are left over. After that apparently high or upper class of employees has taken all of the gravy from the additional state funds. Lobbies, pressure groups, unions business associations, and demonstrators by whatever name you call them the result is still the same. All of these people are trying to influence the decision making process in our state government. And who's going to lobby for you? You might consider your elected representative as your personal lobbyist. If you want to get a point across, give them a call, write a letter or pay a visit to the state Capitol. Politicians will always respond to constituents.

You may not be totally pleased with the attention you receive or you may consider the results a compromise at best. But as a lobbyist those are the chances you take. And speaking of compromise and taking chances, our next edition of real politics will take a look at the compromise process in state government which is called in political circles: The Gentle Art of the possible. Join us. I guess I've been surprised to find out how limited most legislatures are on their knowledge of any particular issues. They're forced to take broad views, overviews, skimming a lot of information. Depending a lot on their friends and the people they trust to give them an accurate information. And so our role is to make sure they get accurate information on criminal justice issues.