The distance from Wisconsin to Connecticut is not as great as their political divide.

 

While one state, with Republicans in control of the state capital, is piling up conservative legislative victories, the other, under Democratic control, is pushing a liberal agenda.

 

In Wisconsin, home of controversial Governor Scott Walker and his effort to rollback the collective bargaining rights of public employees, Republicans in the legislature have adopted laws requiring voters to show photo identification cards before voting, restricting lawsuits against businesses and deregulating elements of the telecommunications industry. Also in the works are bills promoting school vouchers, allowing people to carry concealed weapons, cutting funding for Planned Parenthood and barring illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition at Wisconsin’s universities.

 

The GOP is hurrying to achieve its key objectives, because pending recall elections for nine state Senate seats (6 Republicans and 3 Democrats) could put that half of the legislature back into the Democrats’ hands.

 

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, legislative Democrats have taken advantage of working with Dan Malloy, the first member of their party in the governor’s mansion in 20 years. They have enacted a tax increase meant to be offset by a rollback on union pay and benefits, and approved the nation’s first law to mandate paid sick leave for between 200,000 and 400,000 workers in service industries, such as waiters and nursing home aides. They also have voted to extend protections for transgender people, allow an early-release program for prisoners and decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

In Wisconsin, Legislative Urgency as Recall Threat Looms (by Monica Davey, New York Times)

Democratic Rule Remakes Connecticut’s Legislature (by Peter Applebome, New York Times)