Newsmakers: First-Term Republican Legislators
The 27 first-term Assembly Republicans were the foot soldiers in Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s revolution of changes to collective bargaining and budget cuts in state aid to public schools, local governments and the University of Wisconsin System and technical colleges. In a June 21 Newsmakers, three of the 27 — Reps. Dale Kooyenga, of Brookfield; Michelle Litjens, of Oshkosh, and Roger Rivard, of Rice Lake — said they ran for the Assembly to limit state government and talked about having to be escorted from the Capitol by state troopers because of angry protesters. But they said the protests made them more convinced than ever that limiting the ability of most public employees to bargain collectively had to become law and they do not consider themselves professional politicians. The protests were "manufactured rage," Kooyenga added.
