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=== 2011 Wisconsin protests ===
=== 2011 Wisconsin protests ===
{{See also|2011 Wisconsin protests}}
{{See also|2011 Wisconsin protests}}
In 2011 there were public employee protests conducted in opposition to Governor [[Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker]]'s budget repair bill. In January 2011, Fitzgerald said he wanted to meet with the unions before changing the laws, adding, "We're not going to walk through hell and go through that if the Governor doesn't offer that up."<ref>{{cite web|last=Bauer|first=Scott|title=Senate leader says Walker's refinancing debt could balance budget|url=http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_ef3d1c10-3472-11e0-bcf7-001cc4c002e0.html|publisher=Wisconsin State Journal|accessdate=March 30, 2012}}</ref>
In 2011 there were public employee protests conducted in opposition to Act 10, the budget repair bill introduced by Governor [[Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker]] and advanced by Fitzgerald and legislative leaders. The '''2011 Wisconsin protests''' were a series of demonstrations in the state of [[Wisconsin]] in the [[United States]] beginning in February involving as many as 100,000 [[Protester|protesters]] opposing the [[2011 Wisconsin Act 10]], also called the ''"Wisconsin Budget Repair bill."''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biggest protests yet as pro-Walker side, larger union crowd meet peacefully|url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116519738.html/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=archive.jsonline.com}}</ref>


After the walkout of 14 Democrat members of the Wisconsin State Senate,<ref>{{Cite web|title=In Illinois, Wisconsin Senate Democrats vow unity|url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116581183.html/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=archive.jsonline.com}}</ref> Fitzgerald joined with Walker in efforts to force a vote on the legislation. On March 9, the senate removed fiscal applications from the bill, allowing it to be passed without a quorum. Upon the return of the Democrat Senators, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement calling the senators "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin" and said it was "an absolute insult" to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites that the senators ran away to Illinois to block Walker's budget-repair bill. Fitzgerald wrote: "To the Senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you're heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted. And I hope you're embarrassed to call yourselves senators."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Democratic senators return to Madison to tell crowd fight isn't over|url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117862214.html/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=archive.jsonline.com}}</ref>
On February 8, 2011, Fitzgerald's father was appointed to head the state patrol by the Walker Administration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Steve Fitzgerald to Head Wisconsin State Patrol|url=http://www.wisn.com/r/26792106/detail.html|publisher=WISN-TV|accessdate=30 March 2012}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Three days later, Governor Walker introduced his budget repair bill that limited collective bargaining from most municipal workers, which Fitzgerald, and all but one Republican in the State Senate, supported.<ref>{{cite news|title=Highlights of Governor Walker's budget repair bill|url=http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3d93e6aa-363a-11e0-8493-001cc4c002e0.html|accessdate=30 March 2012|newspaper=Wisconsin State Journal|date=February 11, 2011}}</ref>

Following the passage of Act 10, [[Recall election|recall elections]] for four [[Wisconsin]] [[Wisconsin Senate|state senators]], including Fitzgerald were held during the spring of 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|last=dhall@madison.com {{!}} 608-252-6132 {{!}} @DeeJHall|first=DEE J. HALL {{!}} Wisconsin State Journal {{!}}|title=Judge OKs petition review extension, June 5 recall election|url=https://madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/judge-oks-petition-review-extension-june-5-recall-election/article_67963f84-6de3-11e1-9969-0019bb2963f4.html|access-date=2020-07-30|website=madison.com|language=en}}</ref> Fitzgerald survived the attempted recall, re-winning his seat with 54% of the vote, while his Democrat challenger only received 40% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|title=April 2012 election results|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/145794945.html?bppw=absolutely&suppressAds=youbet|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.jsonline.com|language=en}}</ref>


===Tax policies===
===Tax policies===

Revision as of 16:47, 30 July 2020

For other people with a similar name, see Scott Fitzgerald (disambiguation).
Scott Fitzgerald
Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 7, 2013
Preceded byMark F. Miller
In office
January 3, 2011 – March 17, 2012
Preceded byRuss Decker
Succeeded byMark F. Miller
Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
In office
July 17, 2012 – January 7, 2013
Preceded byMark F. Miller
Succeeded byChris Larson
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 1995
Preceded byBarbara Lorman
Personal details
Born (1963-11-16) November 16, 1963 (age 60)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLisa Fitzgerald
Children3
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Oshkosh (BS)
WebsiteSenate website

Scott L. Fitzgerald (born November 16, 1963) is an American politician and one-time newspaper publisher. He is a Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 13th District since 1994.[1] He In the wake of the 2018 elections when Democratic candidates were elected to the offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state in Wisconsin, Fitzgerald pushed for legislation to remove powers from the incoming Democratic administration.[2]

He is running for the Republican nomination for Wisconsin's 5th congressional district in the 2020 election.

Early life, education and career

Fitzgerald was born in Chicago, but moved with his family to Hustisford, Wisconsin, at age 11. He graduated from Hustisford High School in 1981, and earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in 1985. He worked for nearly a decade as a newspaper publisher. He purchased the Dodge County Independent News in Juneau, Wisconsin, in 1990, and sold it in 1996 to the Watertown Daily Times, where he remained as associate publisher for several years.[3]

Military Service

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1981 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Armor Branch in 1985. He completed the Army Command and General Staff College and served in a number of assignments during his 27 years of service, including battalion commander. In 2009, he retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel. [3]

Wisconsin Senate

In 1994, Fitzgerald was elected to the Wisconsin Senate, and he has been re-elected since 1998. He was elected by his Senate Republican colleagues as Senate Majority Leader for the 2011–2012 legislative session. In prior sessions, Fitzgerald has served as Minority Leader, Co-Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, and Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee.[citation needed]

2011 Wisconsin Act 10

See also: 2011 Wisconsin Act 10

During Fitzgerald's term as Senate Majority Leader, he helped advance the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10. The bill, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, was legislation proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker and passed by the Wisconsin Legislature to address a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit. The legislation primarily affected the following areas: collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public sector employees. In response, unions and other groups organized protests inside and around the state capitol. The bill was passed into law and became effective as of June 29, 2011.[citation needed] Public employees exempted from the changes to the collective bargaining law include firefighters and most law enforcement workers. The bill was ruled to be constitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2014, after three years of litigation.

2011 Wisconsin protests

See also: 2011 Wisconsin protests

In 2011 there were public employee protests conducted in opposition to Act 10, the budget repair bill introduced by Governor Scott Walker and advanced by Fitzgerald and legislative leaders. The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill."[4]

After the walkout of 14 Democrat members of the Wisconsin State Senate,[5] Fitzgerald joined with Walker in efforts to force a vote on the legislation. On March 9, the senate removed fiscal applications from the bill, allowing it to be passed without a quorum. Upon the return of the Democrat Senators, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement calling the senators "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin" and said it was "an absolute insult" to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites that the senators ran away to Illinois to block Walker's budget-repair bill. Fitzgerald wrote: "To the Senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you're heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted. And I hope you're embarrassed to call yourselves senators."[6]

Following the passage of Act 10, recall elections for four Wisconsin state senators, including Fitzgerald were held during the spring of 2012.[7] Fitzgerald survived the attempted recall, re-winning his seat with 54% of the vote, while his Democrat challenger only received 40% of the vote.[8]

Tax policies

Fitzgerald has been a proponent of policies to reduce the tax burden during his legislative tenure. In 2019, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau analyzed tax law changes implemented under Republican legislative leadership over a ten year period since 2011, concluding that Fitzgerald and legislative leaders had advanced policies cutting taxes by more than $13 billion.[9]

Pro-life policies

Fitzgerald has held pro-life positions and pushed to advance pro-life policies in the legislature, stating that, "We need more leaders willing to push pro-life legislation and support conservative justices willing to take pro-life stands."[10] He is the author of Wisconsin’s partial-birth abortion ban.[11]

Curbing the powers of an incoming Democratic administration

In the wake of the 2018 elections when Democratic candidates were elected to the offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state in Wisconsin, Fitzgerald pushed for legislation to take powers away from the incoming Democratic administration. The legislation would also reduce the time allowed for early voting in Wisconsin election.[2][12] The bill would also prevent the incoming Democratic administration from withdrawing from a lawsuit seeking to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) by taking the power to do so away from the governor and granting it to the legislature.[2] Fitzgerald described concern over the stripping of power as a "manufactured outrage by the Democrats".[13] Fitzgerald justified the attempt to curb the powers of the incoming administration, saying "state legislators are the closest to those we represent."[14]

U.S. House of Representatives

See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin § District 5

In September 2019, Fitzgerald announced he would run for Wisconsin's 5th congressional district. The announcement came two weeks after 21-term incumbent and fellow Republican Jim Sensenbrenner announced his retirement.[15] His state senate district covers much of the congressional district's eastern portion. He did not have to give up his state senate seat to make his congressional bid; Wisconsin state senators serve staggered four-year terms, and Fitzgerald was not up for reelection until 2022.

Sensenbrenner, first elected to Congress in 1978, later endorsed Fitzgerald, saying that he would "be proud to pass the baton" to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald as his successor in Congress.[16]

Family

Fitzgerald's father, Stephen "Steve" Fitzgerald, was Sheriff of Dodge County, Wisconsin, for 14 years and served as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Wisconsin. He was later appointed head of the Wisconsin State Patrol by Walker.[17]

Fitzgerald's younger brother, Jeff, was an Assembly Representative from the 39th Assembly District, and was Assembly Speaker during the 2011–2012 legislative session.[3]

Personal life

Fitzgerald and his wife, Lisa, have three sons.[3]

References

  1. ^ Scott Fitzgerald, Wisconsin Historical Society
  2. ^ a b c "GOP seeks to limit Wisconsin early voting, strip powers from Tony Evers and Josh Kaul in lame-duck session". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  3. ^ a b c d "Biography". Scott Fitzgerald Wisconsin State Senator. wisconsin.gov. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Biggest protests yet as pro-Walker side, larger union crowd meet peacefully". archive.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  5. ^ "In Illinois, Wisconsin Senate Democrats vow unity". archive.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  6. ^ "Democratic senators return to Madison to tell crowd fight isn't over". archive.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  7. ^ dhall@madison.com | 608-252-6132 | @DeeJHall, DEE J. HALL | Wisconsin State Journal |. "Judge OKs petition review extension, June 5 recall election". madison.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "April 2012 election results". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  9. ^ Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Memo (9/17/19). "Tax Law Changes Since 2011" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Intern. "Sen. Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald reacts to SCOTUS ruling against life | WisPolitics.com". Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  11. ^ Intern. "Sen. Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald reacts to SCOTUS ruling against life | WisPolitics.com". Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  12. ^ "Lawsuit looms over proposed limit to early voting in Wisconsin". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  13. ^ "Republicans in an about-face on governor's powers". @politifact. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  14. ^ Badger, Emily (2018-12-06). "Are Rural Voters the 'Real' Voters? Wisconsin Republicans Seem to Think So". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  15. ^ "Fitzgerald launches campaign for 5th CD". Wis Politics. September 17, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  16. ^ Glauber, Bill. "Jim Sensenbrenner endorses Scott Fitzgerald for Congress". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  17. ^ "Ingaleft". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 13th district
1995–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
2013–present 		Incumbent
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