State employee shortages stretch further than just finding teachers to fill voids in Wisconsin, but to prison workers and veteran home staffers too. Tonight NBC26 looks into whether or not the passing of Act 10, a bill designed to save state money by changing compensation and collective bargaining rights of state employees, contributed to more people shying away from state jobs.
In the five and a half years since Act 10 went into effect the state is said to have eliminated all of the budget deficit that stood at 3.6 billion dollars back when the bill went through.
"It accomplished literally 100's of millions of dollars and billions over the several years since it's been in effect," says State Senator Robert Cowles of the 2nd District.
But some state leaders on the other side of the aisle say that budget balancing aside, Act 10 also contributed to losses.
"The passage of Act 10 to me demonstrated a real lack of respect for public service and public servants," adds State Representative Eric Genrich of the 90th Assembly District.
Recently we've heard about teacher shortages, prison staff shortages and state run veteran home shortages that often lead to many of those state employees being forced to work overtime. And the quality of those services rendered, well some are concerned about that too.
"The severity of the crisis has caught a lot of us off guard. I was not at all a supporter of Act 10 for a variety of reasons but this kind of disaster scenario I don't think any of us could have predicted," adds Representative Genrich.
But others, while still concerned about the quality of care the state can provide don't see the shortages as an Act 10 related problem.
"It's not just the public sector that's having trouble with staffing it's everybody. You can talk to almost any manufacturer that has some growth that's having trouble filling positions," adds Senator Cowles.
