Rep. Tammy Baldwin worked with students to address strategies that could be used to mobilize opposition to the governor’s budget and sustain a unified and active movement, which Baldwin called a moving coalition effort.
The panel discussion, titled “Activism 101: Taking Back Wisconsin,” drew nearly 80 members of the University of Wisconsin campus community Saturday and was hosted by the Young Progressives. Baldwin delivered the keynote address and urged students to continue their efforts to reach new supporters and have an impact on the legislative process.
In an interview with The Badger Herald, Baldwin said students often fail to realize the profound influence their actions can have. She said the workshop offered practical means to convert aspiration to activism.
Baldwin said students have played a key role in the protest against Gov. Scott Walker’s bill, beginning with delivering valentines to Walker Feb. 14.
She also said the protests have been an active collaboration between students, working-class families and union labor members of the community.
“The connections become so apparent,” Baldwin said. “People are realizing the attack on workers’ rights has a direct impact on educational and economic opportunities…I value the fact that citizens in such great numbers are demanding to be heard.”
Baldwin said she has also been working to raise awareness of the issue at a national level and briefed the Democratic caucus in Congress last week.
She said the movement in Wisconsin has already made a difference because other states have backed off on similar legislation to limit collective bargaining after witnessing the public’s indignation in response to Walker’s proposal.
Maggie Bahrmasel, a former member of the executive board of College Democrats and recent UW graduate, said the group’s main focus would be to sustain the energy from the protests in the coming weeks. She said social media has played an important role in publicizing the group’s message.
While opposition to the budget repair bill will remain a central objective, she said the group would also work to educate students on the potential effects of the Voter ID Bill, which would require a photo identification to be shown before casting a vote in an election and could make it difficult for UW students to vote.
Bahrmasel said she believes the Voter ID bill should ignite the same kind of passion among students as the repair bill has because it could greatly decrease the number of students able to vote in Wisconsin elections.
“We’ve made such a huge effort to mobilize the opposition for the budget repair bill, but we need to continue that momentum to oppose Voter ID,” she said.
While a number of groups on campus have organized to work against Walker’s bill, the College Republicans have spent the last three weeks educating students about misrepresentation of the issues and promoting support for Walker, President Stephen Duerst said.
He said the group sent out a series of press releases titled “Liberal Lies” to various news outlets and posted on the group’s Facebook page in an effort to reach students.
The releases deny Walker created the budget crisis and argue his current budget proposals are reasonable. They also assert collective bargaining is not a fiscal issue and should be on the table to bring public sector worker in line with the private sector, Duerst said.
