Wisconsin lawmaker -- and Teamster -- fights on to help indebted students

Brother Dave Hansen on the right

Remember our Teamster brother Dave Hansen, one of the Fab 14 state senators who left the state to block job-killer Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting?

Here he is again, cosponsoring a bill to provide relief for people struggling with student loan debt.

The Cap Times reports,

“Student loans are untouchable, unflexible,” said Sara Graves, 30, who graduated from UW-Eau Claire with $25,000 in student loan debt. The married mother of three works full time and is still paying off her loans. “We are not asking for a bailout. We are asking for more control over our finances.”... 

On average, these residents graduate college with $22,400 in student loan debt if they leave school after earning a bachelor’s degree. With current interest rates on the federal loans, the graduates will pay $388 a month for the next 18.7 years, or until they are in their 40s... 

the student loan authority would be charged to create a system to buy loans — federal or private — and refinance them at a lower rate. 

The Hansen-Mason bill would also allow the yearly amount paid in student loan debt to be written off as a state tax deduction. Currently, only the interest on the loans can be used as a tax write-off.

We learned about the bill from our Teamster brother, Tom Bennett, president of Teamsters Local 200 in Milwaukee. Brother Bennett called Hansen "a good friend of the Teamsters who represents the families of Wisconsin with great pride."

Latest dirty trick in WI



Above is a photo taken in Madison on Saturday during the historic protest. Brother Rob Moss supplies the caption: Brother "Rocky 695," Rob Moss 695, Senator David Hansen (was and still is Teamster member on withdrawal), Brother "Dino" (drove all the way from New York Local 707 all by himself to be with us), Joe Moss my son IBEW electrician.


Wisconsin’s Fab 14 got a heroes' welcome from hundreds of thousands of people at the Statehouse this weekend. The huge crowd thanked the Fab 14 for standing up for their convictions to protect workers’ rights.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is calling it “contempt of the Senate” and saying their votes no longer count. Their constituents are no longer represented in the Senate -- but they still have to pay taxes.

We thought the Tea Party knew what the events in 1775 were all about. Guess not.

Here’s the email from Fitzgerald to Senate Republicans, reported on WisPolitics.com:

Dear Members,

With the return of the Senate Democrats this weekend, questions have arisen regarding Democrat members’ participation in Senate standing committee public hearings and executive sessions.

Please note that all 14 Democrat senators are still in contempt of the Senate. Therefore, when taking roll call votes on amendments and bills during executive sessions, Senate Democrats’ votes will not be reflected in the Records of Committee Proceedings or the Senate Journal. They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition, but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact my office.

Thank you,

Scott Fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader
13th Senate District

Lovely.

You can still show your appreciation for the Fab 14 by watching this video.

Fab 14 return amid thunderous cheers

This tweet from @mikethechang says it all:

just got to see the #wi14 pass by. So. Much. Spine. Y'all rock. Proud. Choking up

The Fab 14 came home on Saturday to a crowd that Fox News estimated at 100,000 (so double that number). They marched around the Capitol and then gave speeches to the cheering protesters who chanted, "Thank you, thank you," "Welcome home," and "We're with you."

Beforehand, the senators held a news conference. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel quoted Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay (who still considers himself a Teamster) saying

"it's great to be back in Wisconsin," as he appeared at a news conference with the 14 Democratic Senators who returned to the state Saturday.

Hansen choked up as he recalled missing birthdays of his daughter and a granddaughter.

"So people think this is a picnic for us, they're wrong," he said. "We did it for the right reasons, we stood up for our working men and women in the state. "

Later, the enormous crowd roared as Sen. Mark Miller vowed to fight on.

You have shown the world what democracy looks like.

Associated Press reports:

The Democrats say they'll now shift their energy toward recall efforts already under way against some GOP colleagues. Senator Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee says Walker has forced Republicans into "walking the plank" by passing the law...labor leaders have said they plan to use the setback to fire up their members nationwide and mount a major counterattack against Republicans at the ballot box in 2012.

Saturday's protest got a boost from a parade of more than 30 tractors driven by farmers supporting the union workers. Thousands of people lining the sidewalks cheered as tractors rolled by ...Tod Pulvermacher, 33, of Bear Valley, drove a tractor towing a manure spreader carrying a sign that read, "Walker's bill belongs here" -- a reference to Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Teamsters heading to Madison

@Brettross tells us

Teamsters local 120, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & the Minnesota Nurses Associaltion have filled two buses. Heading to Madison #wi

We expect Teamsters from all Wisconsin locals, as well as from Illinois and the Rail Conference, to be on their way to the state capital. The Teamsters semi is parked on the square, as it has been for the last few weeks, and Teamsters will hand out a new supply of "Stop the War on Workers" signs from the back of the truck. Local 344 will sell shirts and knit hats. Two weeks ago, the local had 100 T-shirts printed and sold them all in 12 minutes during the mammoth Feb. 26 rally.

Farmers will drive into the city at noon with a tractorcade to show their support for working families (we hope no one traveling to the rally gets stuck behind them). 

The homecoming parade of the Fab 14 senators who left Wisconsin to prevent the bill from being voted on should be the emotional high point of the day.

This could be the biggest rally in labor history.

Meanwhile, David Dayen at firedoglake gives us the 411 on the bill:

Wisconsin’s anti-public employee bill is signed, but the Secretary of State will take the maximum 10 days to publish the legislation, which means it won’t officially become law until March 25 at the earliest, and probably not until the following Monday, March 28. So there are a couple weeks of legal efforts to go here before we see if the bill will become law immediately...Just because this first round in court failed does not mean that the effort will ultimately be unsuccessful. In fact, experts have begun to give their opinion that the bill probably did violate those open meetings laws.

VIDEO: Thanks to WI Fab 14 Senators

Our videographer shot this video yesterday in front of the Teamsters truck. Hundreds of people thank the Fabulous 14 Democratic senators. Please watch it and share it on your social networks so the Fab 14 know how much support they have all across the country.

Fab 14 thank you video

We can't wait to see it. We understand from brother Steve Nelson that our camera guy has been working away recording thank you messages from Wisconsin citizens to the Fab 14 (the courageous Democratic senators who left the state rather than vote for Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's insane budget bill). The messages will be posted on youtube tonight.

From the photos it looks as if quite a lot of people are protesting in Madison for -- what is it, Day 22? And it looks as if quite a lot of people are saying thank you. Unfortunately, we can't share the photos just yet because of some sort of Internets security certificate error (we're blaming the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for now.)

Thank the Fab 14

Rumors are flying that the 14 Democratic senators who had the courage to leave Wisconsin may return. They're in hiding in Illinois because of Teabagger harassment. There are also rumors that three Republican senators may switch sides in the standoff over Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's insane budget bill.

Here's something you can do to bolster the Fab 14: go to the Stop the War on Workers Facebook page and write a message of thanks and encouragement. We're collecting them regularly and sending them to the Fab 14. Here's a recent post:

Gary Myers
BLET Division 301 is behind all of you. We discuss this at our union meeting Tuesday. So Good Luck! We are with you in heart and soul.

If you're in Madison today, go to the Teamster truck from about 10:30 a.m. to noon. Find our camera guy and say a short message of thanks to the Fab 14. If you have a sign, bring it; if you have a button, wear it. We'll make sure they see the video tonight.