Issue Position: Government Reform

Issue Position

I believe we need to streamline state government by eliminating agency rules and state laws which prevent, or even in some cases prohibit, elected officials from running government in the most cost effective manner possible. Act 10 has provided local officials with the necessary tools to better manage public sector employees while at the same time providing the organizational flexibility to make the decisions necessary to provide better services. As a taxpayer watchdog on the Ozaukee County Board, I was able to use my position as chairman to infuse private sector principles into many of our decision-making processes. We implemented numerous privatization initiatives, including contracting out the pharmaceutical and housekeeping functions at Ozaukee County's nursing home and the jail kitchen services, in the process saving Ozaukee taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Through tough negotiations we have more closely aligned the County's benefit package with the private sector. Ozaukee employees, including the jail staff, now pay for a portion of their retirement benefits and all new county employees pay 20% of their health care benefits. Because of these employee benefit reforms, over the past decade Ozaukee County employee costs have averaged approximately 12% below the annual consumer price index ("CPI") every year.

"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts." ― Ronald Reagan

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