A Religious Witness to the breach in the Social Covenant for the Common Good between the People and the State of Wisconsin January through June 2011

A truly democratic government acts in accordance with the wishes of the governed.  It has, in the past, been the desire of the people of Wisconsin – through the social service, educational, and health care programs of its government – to assist its citizens to maintain lives of dignity and honor.  And many Wisconsinites pursue this goal because of the religious values to which they subscribe.

The biblical book of Genesis teaches us that humanity was created in the divine image.  We understand this to mean that each person on the planet possesses some aspect of the divine, and therefore we must treat each person with kindness, justice, and respect.  Many religious traditions share the concept of the Golden Rule, that is, that we must act toward others, as we would want them to act toward us.[1]  This ethical directive, existing between and among all inhabitants of our world, forms a ‘social covenant,’ that holds not only between individuals, but also between the citizenry and our government.

It is this social covenant that we seek to uphold each day in our work as religious leaders.  Yet we have seen many elements of this covenant shredded in the recently passed biennium budget.  As religious leaders of Wisconsin who are heirs to the prophetic tradition of social justice, we call upon our Legislature to search deep in their souls to find a more moral path to fiscal responsibility.

Our state government’s refusal to maintain this social covenant with its citizens has led to widespread anger and discontent.  The will of the people has been disregarded, citizens’ voices have been silenced, the rich have benefited at the expense of the poor, and budgets have been balanced on the backs of the impoverished, the sick, and our children.

In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus taught that how we care for the least well off in our society – children, the elderly, those who are sick and impoverished – directly reflects and affects our relationship with God.  In other words, if we leave our state with inadequate schools, without care for the aged, without medical care for those who are ill, we are literally abandoning our relationship with the Almighty.  As religious leaders, we are deeply troubled by the impact this budget’s policies will have on the least among us.  We therefore focus on the following areas of concern where we feel that our social contract has most egregiously been torn apart:[2]

Results of the Budget Process

General and Special School Aid

“Choose instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with it.”

(Proverbs 8:10-11)

School districts in Wisconsin will lose more than $800 million in general support from the state.  This will hurt districts where at least 50% of students receive free or reduced-price lunches, the ability to maintain programs for at-risk child programs, grants for nursing services, grants for preschool to grade 5, and alternative education grants, and will lead to cuts in the number of aides available to school libraries. Yet, at the same time, the budget calls for an increase to state aid to private and parochial schools.

Health Care, Women’s Health and Family Planning

“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Eternal God on its behalf, for in its prosperity will be your prosperity.”

(Jeremiah 29:7)

Over $600 million has been eliminated from the budgets of BadgerCare and Planned Parenthood.  The affected services include overall health care for low income individuals and families, in addition to reproductive health services, including breast, cervical and testicular cancer screenings, annual exams, HIV testing, birth control, and STD testing and treatment, the access of teens to accurate reproductive health care information.  Further, new restrictions have been added on the services provided by family planning providers, blocking women facing unwelcome or crisis pregnancies from accessing unbiased and non-directive information about all of their options.

Aid to Working Families

“If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”

(Deuteronomy 15:7)

Over $70 million has been eliminated from childcare support and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  With anticipated job creation and workers returning to the work force, the need for childcare is expected to rise, and the costs may further exceed the budgeted amount.  When funded fully, these programs help the working poor maintain whole families while struggling to survive.  The EITC provides needed aid for families to maintain integrity in the face of uncertain income situations.

Services to Seniors

“Rise in the presence of the aged, and show respect for the elderly and revere your God.”

(Leviticus 19:32)

The practical assistance that seniors need in accessing benefits under many different programs will be eliminated: Counties would only be able to offer information and referral services.  Further, the new biennium budget caps the Homestead Tax Credit, which has provided relief to homeowners and renters making less than $24,500 per year, and has been a critical program in making property taxes less burdensome for retired low-income households in Wisconsin.

Tax Fairness and Budget Balancing

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

(Luke 12:48)

The legislature lowered corporate income taxes, as well as taxes on higher income earners.  The subsequent biennial budget unfairly raised taxes on those in lower income brackets, in addition to reducing the amount of public service money to provide adequate services for them.  Further, in January, when the Legislature and Governor agreed to lower corporate income taxes and certain taxes on higher income Wisconsin citizens, they did so without appropriate offsets to expenses.  This represents poor planning, and effectively increased the deficit for future budget years to come.  In Luke 21, Jesus observes that the meager contribution of a few pennies from a poor woman’s purse is dearer to her than many pieces of gold from a rich person’s wealth.  This parable implies that a society must collect taxes in a fair and equitable fashion.

Non-Budget Issues

Jobs Creation – Last November, candidates for public office held out to the electorate the promise of new jobs in our state. Upon taking office, they claimed to fulfill this promise by lowering corporate income taxes to stimulate job growth. So far, our state’s job growth has only mirrored the nation’s slow, upward trend.

Collective Bargaining

All our various religious traditions support both the right of workers to bargain collectively and also the mandate of employers to treat each worker with dignity and respect.

The elimination of collective bargaining rights is an affront to all workers, and to all those who benefit from the public sector work they perform.  The implied claim that public sector workers do not deserve the same working conditions – and labor rights and privileges – as their private sector peers devalues the work that public sector workers perform, and demoralizes the very people who make our cities, counties, and state services serve the people.

Judicial Independence

The book of Deuteronomy exhorts us not to show partiality in judging, that we should hear both small and great alike (1:17; 16:19, and others).  None of us should seem to predetermine judgment in any case or matter, or with any side or ideology.

Brian Nemoir, campaign director for David Prosser, said this in a December 2010 news release:  “Our campaign efforts will include building an organization that will return Justice Prosser to the bench, protecting the conservative judicial majority and acting as a common sense complement to both the new administration and Legislature.”  This partisan approach to electing a justice of our Supreme Court violates the concept of a justice system that is partial neither to the rich or poor.

Voter ID Fairness

In Exodus 18:21, the father-in-law of Moses strongly urges the implementation of a representative system of justice that implies appointing judges and leaders from among the people.  The text says: “Look for able individuals from among all the people, those who fear God, those who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such people over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.”  Such representatives are chosen in modern society through the act of voting.

Voting is one of the few rights and responsibilities implicitly stated by both federal and state constitutions.  Yet our state has now effectively eliminated from the voter rolls those who do not have government-issued photo identification cards, something that is not required by those governing documents.  According to a 2005 study by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee[3], those without state-issued photo ID, who would need to obtain one to vote, include 23% of senior adult citizens of Wisconsin, 17% of white men and women, 55% of African American men and 49% of African American women, 46% of Hispanic men and 59% of Hispanic women, 78% of African American males age 18-24 and 66% of African American women age 18-24.  This effort at voter suppression is undemocratic and addresses no existing or wide-spread problem.

Consensus Building

“Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor…Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

(Ephesians 4:29)

Over the last six months we have observed rarely – if at all – our legislators, governor, and Supreme Court judges approach these issues and other issues in the spirit of cooperation and consensus, or working toward the common good.  Political ideology has seemingly trumped the desire to do what is right for the people of the state, and autocratic decision-making has taken the place of negotiation and consensus building.  They have failed to cooperate with one another.  As leaders, they have set a poor example for citizens of Wisconsin, both young and old; moreover, they have been unable to find common ground through rational and respectful negotiation and consensus building.

A Vision for Wisconsin

Our various religious traditions insist in social justice for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger.  Our state’s vision for the future must include more than a modicum of dignity and respect for those people who are on the margins of our society.  There must be greater tax fairness, where every group of income earners and businesses pay a fair share of the common burden of social services; and a more civil way to debate the issues and arrive at a common good.

Accordingly, we Concerned Clergy and Religious Leaders of Wisconsin:

1.     Call upon the leaders of our state’s three branches of government to pledge to work with one another for the common good.

2.     Call upon them to repeal the budget items recently passed that have removed the social safety net from under the feet of the destitute and impoverished.

3.     Let it be known that our watch over these issues has just begun, and that we will continue to monitor and report to the public on the situation in the coming months and years.

4.     Call upon all citizens of our state to continue to work toward the common good, to seize ownership of our governmental processes, and to become involved, as citizens and legislators, to make our state strong and stable.

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[1] http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/sacred_texts.php

[2] Statistics courtesy of Wisconsin Council on Children and Families

[3] http://www.inclusionist.org/files/wistatusdrivers.pdf

Signatories: (to add your name, please email bmargulis@tds.net)
Reverend Curt Anderson
Pastor Judith Anderson-Bauer
Peter Bakken
Reverend Mary Kay Baum
Rabbi Marc Berkson
Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
Reverend Luke Bocher
Reverend Winton Boyd
Rev. Vicki Brantmeyer
Reverend Tisha Brown
Pastor Brent Christianson
Alan Cormack
Pastor Marianne Cotter
Dennis Deery
Reverend Wayne C. Drueck
Rabbi Irvin Ehrlich
Reverend Dr. Jerry Folk
Mary Fulton 
The Reverend Marilyn S. Gamm

Reverend Phil Haslanger
Peng Her
Reverend Chris Long
Reverend Leah Lonsbury
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
Reverend Scott Marrese-Wheeler
Reverend Stephen G. Marsh
Cantor Deborah Martin
Reverend David J. Michael
Bishop Donald A. Ott

Reverend Kenneth L. Pennings
Pastor Curt Rohland
Reverend Dr. Larry L. Sexe
Dr. Paul Sondel
Reverend Larry E. Treece
Reverend Nick Utphall
Monica Walker
Pastor Franklin Wilson
(Dakota) Debra Yates
Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman