Walker denies political motives for exempting police and fire unions from budget

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MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker says it’s not true that he’s giving political favors to local police and fire unions by exempting them from massive cuts.

Walker told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that his budget measures might cause some public workers to walk off their jobs, and the governor says Wisconsinites cannot afford to be without local police and fire service for even a short time. So on Friday, Walker said he would exempt those officers from his plans to let public unions bargain only for their wages, limit their pay raises to inflation in most cases and make them pay more for their health insurance and pensions.

Patrick Curley, the chief of staff for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said it’s obvious that his city’s police and fire unions got “special consideration.”

But the Republican governor called that “utterly ridiculous.” While it’s true that the two Milwaukee unions supported him, Walker said the statewide police and firefighters’ associations backed his Democratic opponent Barrett last fall. Walker said if he wanted to do political favors, he would have exempted only the Milwaukee unions from his package.

Journal-Sentinel columnist Dan Bice said the city’s fire union gave no money to Walker’s campaign and the police union only gave $1,100 dollars. But both groups spoke out strongly for Walker, saying he’d be the better candidate to protect public safety.

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