Dave Seager, president of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association, expressed support for Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch saying, “Today, we Milwaukee firefighters are proud to announce our endorsement of Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch for the June 5th recall elections. The Lieutenant Governor has consistently stood for the betterment of Wisconsin and has shown great support for us and our fellow first responders across the state. We look forward to seeing a continuation of good things in Wisconsin under the Lt. Governor’s watch.”

Responding to the endorsement, Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch reinforced her commitment to Milwaukee’s firefighters:

“I cannot begin to express my appreciation for the endorsement of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association,” stated Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. “These brave and selfless individuals continually make Wisconsin a safer place for all our citizens. I am honored and humbled by their support, and I look forward to continuing my work to support their efforts and the efforts of all firefighters across Wisconsin.”

The commercial focuses on Rebecca Kleefisch’s leadership and energy in opening Wisconsin for business, a promise she made while on the campign trail, and features scenes from FatWallet’s documentary about its move to Wisconsin, which includes footage of Rebecca and FatWallet’s Tim Storm at the company’s new home.

Rebecca Kleefisch currently faces a recall election against an opponent handpicked by the union.

Voters were quick to respond to the Kleefisch commercial. On the official Rebecca Kleefisch Facebook page, Jeff Nebel commented, “Great commercial! Keep them coming!” On the official Rebecca Kleefisch Twitter page, Greg Van Beek responded, “Well done! Saw the commercial during Wheel of Fortune tonight. Nice you had your family involved too!”

Secretary of the Department of Administration Mike Huebsch indicated the increased revenues in a memo which detailed the new predicted change in state revenues for the biennium.

Governor Walker’s reforms have built a solid financial foundation for Wisconsin’s future. The surplus means that, for only the third time in the last decade, Wisconsin has put money into Wisconsin’s rainy day fund.

The National Rifle Association announced its endorsement of Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch today for the June 5 recall election, awarding her an “A” rating for her “consistent support of pro-gun legislation and strong support for the Second Amendment.”

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of the NRA, an organization that I have been a member of and supported for years,” stated Lt. Governor Kleefisch. “Governor Walker and I are proud of the work that we have done together to support the great sportsmen and gun owners across Wisconsin, and we look forward to continuing this work after the June 5th election.”

Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch is currently facing a recall election on June 5th where she will be on the ballot separately from her former running mate, Governor Scott Walker.

For further details, please see the attached endorsement letter from the National Rifle Association.

In a traditional election, all registered candidates for a primary appear on the primary ballot along with a space for a write-in candidate in each primary.  So, even a candidate who is unopposed in his or her party’s primary appears on the ballot. That is apparently not true in a recall election of an incumbent official.

If no one registers to run against that incumbent in their party’s primary, then the incumbent does not appear on the primary ballot and they automatically advance to the general recall election.  So, Rebecca and the Republican State Senators will not appear on the May 8th primary ballot but Governor Walker will because he has a primary opponent. 

You can see the sample ballot for your community using this GAB website: https://vpa.wi.gov/VoterSearchScreen.aspx

The report announces, “The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has estimated pension savings alone over the biennium saving school districts nearly $600 million without including savings on health insurance.

School districts that reported competitively bidding out their health insurance plan with modest design changes saved $220 saved per pupil per year on average.  These savings do not include uncollected data from health insurance savings at CESA’s,
special districts, 68% of school districts, and many local governments in Wisconsin.

Extending the documented savings experienced from school districts that are documented, would add an additional $100 million of taxpayer savings.”

Governor Walker’s report includes a case study centered around the New Berlin school district. School officials in the New Berlin School District report that they were able to attain the following accomplishments by making use of the Governor’s reforms:

• Increased efficiency as a whole by being able to focus work on student learning and make real-time changes without the burden of collective bargaining, which in turn, allows the district to make decisions which are truly based on what’s best for students.
• Implemented a first-year strategic compensation model to pay staff for supporting the work of the district’s Vision and the district goals, projects, and initiatives (GPIs)
• Increased teaching staff by 8.0 full-time equivalents (FTE), reduced class sizes, increased program options for students, and provided additional supports for students.
• Implemented a teacher supervision and evaluation model based on research that provides supports for teachers and focused on best practices.
• Increased teacher work time for collaboration, professional training, curriculum development, and additional time to support students, additional time to meet with families from 7 hours per day for elementary teachers & 7.5 hours per day for secondary teachers to 8 hours/day, increasing staff time by almost 46,000 hours for the current school year.
• Implemented a Student-Family Assistance Program (SFAP) that provides additional support for district families for counseling, financial support, legal services, childcare support, among others.
• Reduced health insurance costs by $2.3 million.
• Reduced Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Liability costs from $31 million to $16 million.
• Reduced contributions for employee retirement by almost $1.25 million
• In the next year, the school district will continue to refine its work in the areas stated above while continuing to achieve levels of excellence and will look to:
• Increase student contact time with teachers by 30 minutes per day. This adds up to approximately 12 days of instruction gained, with no added costs to the district.
• In the elementary schools, the increased teacher and student contact time will be utilized for
• increasing the reading and writing block, as well as offering science and social studies on a daily basis (which is currently not taking place). The added time will also provide enhanced interventions and enrichment opportunities for students at both the secondary and elementary levels.

Recently, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank offered its best prediction for Wisconsin since 2003 and Manpower, Inc. predicted a strong growth for the state.

Now, a Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce poll of Wisconsin employers shows that 87% will be creating new jobs in 2012. WMC surveyed member CEOs and top executives in March.  The online survey was conducted from March 5 through March 12.

As employers and statistics continue to reward the Walker Administration’s vision, Walker and Kleefisch face a recall in Wisconsin. Union-backed forces have acquired enough signatures to force a Wisconsin recall, scheduled for June 5th.

“Democrats are terrified of her because she’s effective. They’re terrified of her because she represents America: the working mom who’s tired of the Democrat men running her children’s future into the ground and the GOP establishment fighting while lying down; a woman so fed up she decides to put herself on the ballot, announcing via a webcam from the kitchen table, and winning against all the odds.”

The column stirred instant support across the web, especially on Twitter. Posting on her official Rebecca Kleefisch Facebook page, Rebecca wrote, “Make no mistake, the big union bosses want to put We, The Parents, in the backseat while they drive. “

While Walker and Kleefisch continue to announce more and more advances in Wisconsin, recall forces backed by Union leadership are still deeply invested in reversing course.

Since 1998, property taxes in Wisconsin had risen 43 percent. The decline in statewide property taxes is seen as still another sign of a rebound since Walker and Kleefisch were elected in 2010.