Steven Gunderson: “I think if I have one reputation around here it is a reputation of being a fairly bipartisan sort of guy. But I wanted…”

“I think if I have one reputation around here it is a reputation of being a fairly bipartisan sort of guy. But I wanted to share with you an experience I had in my early legislative days in the 1970's, when I was speaking at a welfare reform meeting with all the local welfare reform directors. They said, I am convinced you State legislators do not ever want to get welfare reform enacted. You want the issue; you do not want a solution. And as I listen to this discussion today, I think that is exactly what is going on here. Nobody is disparaging the Wisconsin plan. It is a comprehensive, dynamic, real substantive reform plan. It was passed with a strong bipartisan majority in both houses of the Wisconsin State legislature. It was signed into law by the Republican Governor. It has been endorsed by the Democratic President. Now what we are saying is, all right, then let us get it done. What do we have here this afternoon? We have this intense partisan battle over whether or not we are going to let them get it done. We say the State legislature has not resolved the vetoes that the governor has had. Do my colleagues know what? A 30-day period, they are not even going to meet. So what is the plan here? Is the plan to simply say, we will deal with the question of Wisconsin waivers sometime later on? I do not think so.…”