May 09--Lawmakers were working Wednesday on a compromise deal to Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal aimed at eliminating any requirements that Wisconsin's municipal workers live in the cities where they work.
Local workers would likely be allowed to live outside city limits -- but within a set distance from the city where they work -- and would need to pay a fee for living outside city boundaries under the possible deal, said state Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette.
Nygren, co-chairman of the Legislature's powerful finance committee, said the compromise was still being discussed with senators on the committee, which is scheduled to meet Thursday to consider the governor's proposal.
"It's all a work in progress," Nygren told reporters at a news conference before Wednesday's Assembly floor session.
A spokesman for Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, co-chairwoman of the finance committee, had no immediate comment about a possible deal.
On Wednesday morning, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin joined Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and local officials from throughout Wisconsin at a Capitol news conference to call for the Legislature to reject Walker's proposal. At the event, organized by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, opponents of the measure said more than 100 Wisconsin municipalities, including Milwaukee and Madison, would be affected because they require at least some of their employees to live within city borders.
Barrett said the proposal targeted Milwaukee, calling the other affected communities "innocent bystanders." He said lifting residency requirements has been pushed by Milwaukee police and firefighters unions, two of the only unions in the state that have supported Walker. Both of those unions have been calling for an end to residency requirements.
Barrett said the issue was a local one, and a policy item that has no place in the budget.
But Walker's spokesman said it was an issue of fundamental freedom.
"The way to keep people in a city isn't by building a wall, and residency requirements violate an individual's freedom to live in the city of their choice," Tom Evenson said.
Nygren said compromise may involve changing residency requirements to be within a set distance -- such as 5, 10, or 20 miles -- from city or municipal boundaries.
"We're looking to give some type of flexibility," he said.
He added there may be some type of "financial giveback," from people taking advantage of the new residency requirements. It was unclear whether those givebacks would come in the form of lower salaries, incentives or pension losses.
Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he thinks it makes sense "to have some sort of system in place where this is not just being given without the employee having to make some sort of sacrifice in exchange for that."
The proposal would likely affect a limited number of Madison and Dane County employees.
The governor's proposal would have a modest impact on the city of Madison, where most of the 2,700 full-time employees have already won the right to live anywhere.
Currently, 30 department and division heads and four mayoral assistants must live in the city.
Another 373 supervisors and professionals must live in Dane County, and if they live outside the city, they lose 1 percent longevity pay. The mayor can waive the residency requirement for those employees.
A dozen Police Department captains and assistant chiefs must live within 15 miles of the State Capitol or lose 1 percent longevity pay. And 10 Fire Department supervisors must live within 15 miles of the Capitol, and if they don't live in the city, they lose 1 percent longevity pay.
On first blush, if the governor's proposal passes, the city still may be able to keep its provisions on longevity pay, City Attorney Michael May said.
At one time, all city employees had a residency requirement, human resources manager Mike Lipski said. That changed in 1980 when the city took over bus service from a private entity and the residency requirement was not imposed on the drivers union, the Teamsters. The police and fire unions had "me too" contract language that secured the same rights and other unions followed.
Professionals and supervisors have sought to end the residency requirement, but for them, it would take City Council approval. The council refused such a request in 2010.
Soglin said currently about 60 percent of Madison employees are city residents.
Dane County has no blanket residency requirement, said director of administration Travis Myren. However, four investigator positions in the medical examiner's office are required to live in the county, and some employees such as sheriff's deputies have job descriptions that require that they be available for on-call assignments, Myren said.
A Madison School District policy requires top administrators and others managers designated by the superintendent to live in the district if they were hired after November 6, 1995. Another policy encourages, but does not require, all employees to do so.
-- Reporter Steven Verburg contributed to this report.
Contact Mary Spicuzza at [email protected] or 608-252-6132. Contact Dean Mosiman at [email protected] or 608-252-6141.
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