It was reported in the news this week that our gross national debt (loans, social security, etc) surpassed $15.2 trillion. This is important because it is the same as another figure, the amount of total goods and services the US economy produces annually.

What really alarms me is that some federal politicians seemed to go on about business as usual, despite this extremely alarming news. This feeling of apathy is akin to sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem will just fix itself.

Thankfully, here in Wisconsin we have leaders who will not shy away from addressing these issues. I believe the key for Wisconsin to avoid the mess in DC is to act now by rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse. We can do this by wresting control back from state government bureaucrats who seem to have an ever-increasing appetite for spending.

That is why I supported the creation of the Governors Commission on Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. The goal of the commission is simple: “To identify waste, fraud and abuse in state government programs and state appropriations and recommend solutions.” The report, which was released this week, identified areas were local governments could save nearly $83 million and the state $373 million.

Aside from dollar savings, the report raises another issue. In the opening letter from Chairman Rakowski, he noted a disturbing trend. When the commission asked some bureaucrats what they spend, the answer they got was “actual spending equaled the budget” because “if you don’t spend it you lose it.”

When families throughout the state work to balance their budgets, I don’t believe they say to themselves “if I don’t spend it, I’ll lose it.”

This idea of building in an inherent cushion of waste into a department’s budget needs to stop, but it cannot be done overnight. This culture was allowed to grow through previous administrations and I’m relieved to see the commission brought this point to light.

It is encouraging to see signs that this report won’t just collect dust on the shelf. Governor Walker has already taken a number of steps to implement items such as cracking down on fraud in public assistance programs and modifying compensation plans to reduce unnecessary and costly overtime. In addition, the Governor has instructed all agencies to continue to find efficiencies through public and employee input.

Eliminating waste is a bi-partisan issue. I expect we in the Assembly will move these reforms forward in future budget negotiations. In doing so, Wisconsin will avoid the mess that faces ours nation’s capitol.

A copy of the report can be accessed at http://walker.wi.gov/section.asp?linkid=1727&locid=177

Over the last few weeks my office received numerous calls and emails regarding changes to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS).  Unfortunately, some people are using scare tactics to convince people that their pensions are at risk.  This is simply not true.  There's no legislation that's even being suggested that would make changes to the current state pension system.

A study was approved by the legislature last year to see what other investment options might be available to employees, with the goal of ensuring WRS remains healthy and continues to be solvent in the future.  The non-partisan Employee Trust Fund released a memo explaining the facts about the study, which you can view http://etf.wi.gov/news/ht-wrs-study12092011.pdf.

I would like to thank the students from the Leadership Waupaca County (LWC) group that came to Madison yesterday to meet with me.  LWC is run by Waupaca County UW Cooperative Extension and works with local leadership programs to expose students to various leadership styles in state government to help them understand state policy issues.  While they were here we talked about how we can continue to better educate students and how we can keep our graduates here in Wisconsin.