Revisiting SB41

By far the most controversial blog on The Sausage Factory was this one about holes in Governor Brian Sandoval's position on collective bargaining and lack of reporting on SB41. It's always funny to hear that people are calling around just to tattle on you over a blog. Man up!



This is a brief update/basic timeline:

Feb 4: Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval's adviser Dale Erquiaga says the Gov wants nothing to do with former Governor Jim Gibbons bill that would eliminate collective bargaining.

Feb 7: SB41, a bill that would eliminate collective bargaining in Nevada, finds its way to the state senate. Other bills left over from the Gibbons administration have yet to see the light of day. Somehow, despite the Governor's supposed lack of interest, SB41 is drafted and makes it to committee.

Feb 11: Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin introduces his budget that includes eliminating collective bargaining for public employees.

Feb 14: In Wisconsin, Labor Unions and members of the public begin to protest Governor Walker's union-busting budget.

Feb 19: In Wisconsin almost 70,000 people protest Governor Walker's union-busting budget.

Feb 21: Governor Sandoval attends the Churchill County Central Republican Committee's Lincoln Day Dinner and tells attendees he has Governor Walker's back
“We are all working together,” Sandoval told Walker. “No one is going to buckle, no one is going to blink.”

Feb 22: Governor Walker falls for a prank phone call and tells "David Koch" that Governor Sandoval says there is support for what Walker is doing in WI (busting unions) in the state of NV.

Feb 23: Republican governors in Ohio and Florida back off of collective bargaining.

Feb 24: Governor Sandoval tells the Las Vegas Sun “In regard to collective bargaining, there may be a bill,” Sandoval said. “I’ve not seen that bill. I’m watching the progress of such bills and waiting to see if they arrive here at the Capitol.”

Feb 27: The Las Vegas Review Journal reports there is no push by Governor Sandoval or Nevada Republicans to bother collective bargaining.

Mar 2: Assembly Republicans issue a list of demands, including "Strengthen management’s position in public employee collective bargaining rules."


updated to add gif, fix sentence
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Laura
laurakmmartin@gmail.com

Governor Sandoval supports his Koch-head friend in Wisconsin

Oliver Willis has the audio and transcript up on his blog as the original source, Buffalo Beast, appears to be down. Hopefully due to traffic.

Here is what Buffalo Beast had on their website to describe the call, before the site went down:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master’s call

“David Koch”: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that—because we thought about that…

***

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO WITNESS IS REAL. NO NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. THERE ARE NO INNOCENT.
-MURPHY

***

“He’s just hard-lined—will not talk, will not communicate, will not return phone calls.”
-Wisconsin state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D) on Gov. Walker (source)

Carpenter’s quote made me wonder: who could get through to Gov. Walker? Well, what do we know about Walker and his proposed union-busting, no-bid budget? The obvious candidate was David Koch.

I first called at 11:30 am CST, and eventually got through to a young, male receptionist who, upon hearing the magic name Koch, immediately transferred me to Executive Assistant Governor Dorothy Moore.

“We’ve met before, Dorothy,” I nudged. “I really need to talk to Scott—Governor Walker.” She said that, yes, she thought she had met Koch, and that the name was “familiar.” But she insisted that Walker was detained in a meeting and couldn’t get away. She asked about the nature of my call. I balked, “I just needed to speak with the Governor. He knows what this is about,” I said. She told me to call back at noon, and she’d have a better idea of when he would be free.

I called at noon and was quickly transferred to Moore, who then transferred me to Walker’s Chief of Staff Keith Gilkes. He was “expecting my call.”

“David!” he said with an audible smile.

I politely said hello, not knowing how friendly Gilkes and Koch may be. He was eager to help. “I was really hoping to talk directly to Scott,” I said. He said that could be arranged and that I should just leave my number. I explained to Gilkes, “My goddamn maid, Maria, put my phone in the washer. I’d have her deported, but she works for next to nothing.” Gilkes found this amusing. “I’m calling from the VOID—with the VOID, or whatever it’s called. You know, the Snype!”

“Gotcha,” Gilkes said. “Let me check the schedule here…OK, there’s an opening at 2 o’clock Central Standard Time. Just call this same number and we’ll put you through.”

Could it really be that easy? Yes. What follows is a rushed, abridged transcript of my—I mean, David Koch’s conversation with Gov. Walker.

Here is the portion about Nevada's governor Brian Sandoval:

Walker: [blah about his press conferences, attacking Obama, and all the great press he's getting.] Brian [Sadoval], the new Governor of Nevada, called me the last night he said—he was out in the Lincoln Day Circuit in the last two weekends and he was kidding me, he said, “Scott, don’t come to Nevada because I’d be afraid you beat me running for governor.” That’s all they want to talk about is what are you doing to help the governor of Wisconsin. I talk to Kasich every day—John’s gotta stand firm in Ohio. I think we could do the same thing with Vic Scott in Florida. I think, uh, Snyder—if he got a little more support—probably could do that in Michigan. You start going down the list there’s a lot of us new governors that got elected to do something big.

Koch: You’re the first domino.

Walker: Yep. This is our moment.

Koch: Now what else could we do for you down there?

Walker: Well the biggest thing would be—and your guy on the ground [Americans For Prosperity president Tim Phillips] is probably seeing this [stuff about all the people protesting, and some of them flip him off].

Audio starts at 1:15


UPDATE:
Governor Walker's office confirms, that's him on this call talking about union-busting to a fake David Koch