After five requests of my Sen. Steve Nass for the count of contacts he had received opposing and supporting the "lame duck" legislation, I was shocked to be told they had no count to provide.
I was especially surprised as my Rep. Amy Loudenbeck reported 190 individuals voiced opposition to her actions with only 5 expressing support. Mike Mikalsen, spokesman for Sen. Nass, reported: "We did not keep a running count of contacts."
Mikalsen explained that Sen. Nass has never operated based on tally sheets. He offered that Nass reviews emails and letters to get a sense of the input. He said that the form emails and calls they received were heavily against the bills but they felt this was not representative of Sen. Nass's constituents.
Mikalsen said Sen.Nass considers input from "folks that he runs into on the street and at meetings." Spokesman Mikalsen stated that they follow the Wisconsin Open Records Law and will provide data that they have but are not required to create documents or count data for a response to a request.
The "lame duck" legislation that passed was created under the cover of darkness and behind closed doors with a rushed public hearing that recorded 1,406 oppositions and only 1 supporting comment. My legislators along with their fellow Republican legislators ignored Wisconsinites' overwhelming voice of opposition.
Sen. Nass not only ignored those contacting his office but refused to record and accept the volume of that opposition. What greater contempt for democracy and the will of the voters can there be!
Let's return Wisconsin to where we once were, a state in which people come first, not just serve as a footnote to the one-party rule and the special interest government we have experienced over the past eight years.
Jerry Hanson
Elkhorn