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This was lost in the shuffle last week, as Wisconsin Republican lawmakers went off to DC to be rewarded with campaign contributions for their union-busting votes, only to be greeted by a huge crowd of protesters.

The $1000 a head fundraiser was hosted by Barbour Griffith and Rogers, doing business as BGR Public Affairs, a lobbying firm that just happens to represent the Wisconsin roadbuilders. On Dec. 20, the firm registered as DC lobbyists for Wisconsin Transportation Builders Assn. in Madison. Five lobbyists are listed, including former Tommy chief of staff Bob Wood while at Tommy was in the Bush cabinet at HHS, and Bill Viney, a former Scot Klug aide.

The roadbuilders have a lot at stake in Scott Walker’s budget. They stand to rake in more than $100-million at the expense of Wisconsin schools, as Rod Clark, a longtime Dept. of Transportation employee, now retired, explained in a recent column:

Anyone who followed Gov. Scott Walker’s election campaign last fall was aware that Wisconsin’s road builders were at the top of the list of his contributors. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that about 150 individual employees of road-building firms contributed $128,859 to Walker’s campaign, along with the $25,000 given by their state association to the Republican Governors’ Association, presumably to help cover the $5 million in anti-Barrett ads run by the RGA.

   But what no one knew, or could even guess, until the governor unveiled his biennial budget on March 1 was how quickly and dramatically the road construction interests would see a return on their investments. Or how clearly this would highlight the governor’s true priorities.

   In a budget that has drawn national attention for a proposed $834 million cut to K-12 education funding in Wisconsin, and that is being used to justify the need for significant teacher layoffs, salary reductions and an end to public sector collective bargaining, Walker has made his priorities clear for everyone to see. Walker has proposed making cuts to education at least $144 million greater than otherwise needed in order to increase funds for road construction.

So who attended the DC event? The Republicans who have the most control over the budget, including the Fitzgerald brothers, who are the leaders in the Senate and Assembly, along with State Rep. Robin Vos and State Sen. Alberta Darling, co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee.

What better way to make sure that money stays in the budget than to give generously to the people writing the legislative version of the budget? Can you say shakedown? Or is payoff a better word?

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