Robert Wirch

Robert Wirch
Wisconsin State Senate District 22
Incumbent
In office
1997 - Present
Term ends
January 2, 2017
Years in position	16
Party	Democratic
Compensation
Base salary	$49,943/year
Per diem	$88/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	1996
Next election	November 8, 2016
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Assembly Member, Wisconsin State Assembly
1993 - 1997
Education
Bachelor's	University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 1970
Personal
Birthday	11/16/1943
Place of birth	Kenosha, WI
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Robert W. Wirch (b. November 16, 1943) is a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate. He has represented District 22 since 1996. From 2003 to 2005, he was the Minority Caucus Chair. He was previously a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1992 to 1996. He also worked as a supervisor on the Kenosha County Board of Supervisors from 1986 to 1993.

Wirch's professional experiences include United States Army Reserve; factory worker; and liaison to Job Training Partnership Act Programs.

Wirch earned his BA from the University of Wisconsin, Parkside.

Wirch survived a recall attempt in 2011.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Wirch served on the following committees:

Wisconsin Committee Assignments, 2013
• Finance
• Government Operations, Public Works, and Telecommunications
• Natural Resources
• Joint Finance

2011-2012

At the beginning of the 2011 legislative session, Wirch served on the following committees:

Wisconsin Committee Assignments, 2011
• Energy, Biotechnology, and Consumer Protection
• Labor, Public Safety, and Urban Affairs
• Natural Resources and Environment

2009-2010

At the beginning of the 2009 legislative session, Wirch served on the following committees:

Legislative walkout

Wirch and the 13 other Democratic senators participated in a legislative walkout on February 17, 2011 in opposition to Assembly Bill 11 - a Republican-sponsored bill aimed at limiting collective bargaining rights, compensation and fringe benefits of public employees. The Democratic departure left the Senate one vote shy of a quorum. Reports confirmed the senators fled to a hotel in Rockford, Illinois. State police were dispatched by Governor Scott Walker (R) to retrieve the senators, but were unable to cross state lines. The 14 state senators who left the state are being described as the "Badger 14" or "Fab 14."

On February 22, speaking from the basement of an Illinois hotel, Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller provided the minority response to Gov. Scott Walker, saying, "The governor has the tools at his disposal to put this issue to an end. As soon as he is willing to take a compromise, we will go back to work in an instant." Miller stated that the legislators payed for the trip themselves, and that no taxpayer money was spent.

Walker called on the Democratic senators to return to the state by March 1 in order to vote to restructure the state's debt. If they did not, he stated he may have to start cutting state jobs, saying:

It’s not just a number, it’s not just a budget, it’s ultimately a real person with a real family, so I’m going to push that back as far as I can. We’ve got to have real numbers to balance the budget to avoid layoffs. My hope is those 14 state senators … realize that in the end, it’s much better off to avoid those cuts, it’s much better off to avoid the most dire consequences that will come if we don’t pass this bill.

The Democratic senators said they would not return until the governor was willing to compromise on the budget-repair bill.

Democrats threatened with arrest

Republicans passed a unanimous resolution on March 3 finding the missing legislators in contempt and threatening them with arrest. It gave them until 4 p.m. to return or the sergeant-at-arms was ordered to take "any and all necessary steps, with or without force, and with or without the assistance of law enforcement, by warrant or other legal process, as he may deem necessary in order to bring that senator to the Senate chambers."

The constitutionality of that resolution was unclear, however, as the Wisconsin Constitution only allows for the arrest of legislators while in session if they are suspected of committing a felony, treason, or breach of the peace. Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said the resolution was an "unreasonable abuse of police power."

Sen. Jon Erpenbach provided the Democratic response, stating, "All 14 of us remain in Illinois, very strong in our convictions. Issuing arrest warrants at 4 p.m. isn't going to solve the problem. This is a debate about protection of the middle class in Wisconsin; that is what the Republicans should be focusing on."

The move by Republicans came the day after they issued fines of $100 a day for not showing up at the Capitol, along with taking away parking spaces. The week before Republicans also passed a rule suspending direct-deposit of paychecks. Sen. Erpenbach found a way around this by granting power of attorney to two of his aides, giving them power to, among other things, pick up his paycheck. In the end Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald mailed the check to Erpenbaach.

Meeting/possible compromises

On March 7, Democratic leader Sen. Mark Miller sent a letter to the governor and senate majority leader asking for a meeting near the Wisconsin-Illinois border to restart talks on the collective bargaining issue. Gov. Walker responded at a press conference, calling the letter "ridiculous," and saying that several meetings between the two sides have taken place, but that Miller has stood in the way of a compromise.

Sen. Chris Larson said, "Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table. That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans."

On March 8, the Governor's office released an email exchange dated March 6 between Eric Schutt, Walker's deputy chief of staff, and Democratic Senators Cullen and Jauch. The exchange discusses possible compromises on the bill, including allowing unions to bargain for wages beyond inflation rates, permitting collective-bargaining on certain economic issues, allowing public workers to collectively bargain workplace safety issues, and limiting collective bargaining agreements to 2 years or less.

Republicans pass bill

In a surprise maneuver, Senate Republicans on March 9 passed controversial reforms to the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers. In a process that took just over two hours, Republicans passed the bill by a vote of 18-1, with Sen. Dale Schultz (R) casting the only no vote.

Republicans skirted the need for a quorum by removing the sections of the bill that had to do with appropriating funds. With these removed, the bill only needed to be passed by a simple majority -- rather than requiring a quorum of 20 senators. At 4 p.m. on March 9 a conference committee on the budget-repair bill was convened. Two hours later the committee met and advanced the new measure without debate. Immediately following that, the Senate met and passed the new version, also without debate. It was then sent to the Assembly.

The only Democrat present at the meeting, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D), attempted to stop the proceedings, stating that the committee was in violation of the state's open meeting law. According to the law, most public bodies are required to give 24 hours notice before a meeting. The two hours notice that the committee provided led Barca to declare, "Mr. Chairman, this is a violation of law! This is not just a rule — this is the law." Ignoring Barca, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) ordered the vote taken as shouts of protest rang from the galleries.

The bill was given a stay by Dane County Court Judge Maryann Sumi. On May 26, 2011, Sumi struck down the legislative actions leading to the bill eliminating public employee collective bargaining on the grounds that it violated the state's Open Meetings Law. The state Departments of Justice and Department of Administration appealed the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. On June 14 the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled the district court decision, stating it "exceeded its jurisdiction, invaded the legislature’s constitutional powers...and erred in enjoining the publication and further implementation of the act."

Recall campaigns

In the wake of events surrounding the bill, both Democratic and Republican senators were targeted by active recall campaigns. Recall sponsors filed signatures on petitions targeting 6 Republican state senators and 3 Democratic state senators. Challenges were filed in all 9 of those campaigns, and the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board approved the six campaigns against Republicans at meetings on May 23 and May 31, and approved the three campaigns against Democrats on June 8. Democrats held onto the 30th district seat on July 19. Republicans lost two seats in the August 9 recalls, but held onto four. Two incumbent Democrats successfully retained their seats on August 16.

Elections

2012

On August 30, 2011, Wirch announced he would be running for re-election to the newly redrawn 22nd district. Due to redistricting Wirch had to move in order to be within the 22nd. He ran unopposed in the primary election on August 14th and defeated Pam Stevens (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Wisconsin State Senate, District 22, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Wirch Incumbent	69.6%	51,177
	Republican	Pam Stevens	30.3%	22,278
	-	Scattering	0.1%	104
Total Votes				73,559

2011 recall

2011 Wisconsin Senate Recalls
Senators Facing Recall
Robert Cowles • Alberta Darling • Sheila Harsdorf • Dave Hansen • Jim Holperin • Randy Hopper • Dan Kapanke • Luther Olsen • Robert Wirch
Other Recall Information
Recalls by Year • Recall Law in Wisconsin • Recall laws in other states • Recalls in Wisconsin • 2011 Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill • Protests over Budget Repair Bill • Wisconsin Government Accountability Board • Recall timeline • Election Results

See also: Recall of Wisconsin State Senators (2011) and Robert Wirch recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2011)

Wirch defeated Republican Jonathan Steitz in the recall election on August 16.

In March 2011, an effort to recall Wirch from office got underway. Approximately 18,300 signatures were filed with state election officials on April 21. The GAB was initially scheduled to review challenges to the petition on May 31, but it was delayed until June 8. At that meeting the GAB verified 17,138 signatures, enough for the recall, setting the election date for July 19.However, since multiple candidates filed, a primary between the two will be held July 19, with the recall on August 16.

Kenosha County Board supervisor Fred Ekornaas said in early May he planned to run against Wirch if a recall election happened. Attorney Jonathan Steitz announced his bid on May 17, 2011.

Dan Hunt, the organizer of the recall campaign, was said to have considered running.

Steitz defeated Ekornaas in the July 19 primary, while Wirch defeated Steitz in the recall.

August 16 Recall - District 22
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Robert Wirch (D)		25,524	57.35%
Jonathan Steitz (R)		19,662	42.51%
Brian Harwood (Write-in)		23	.05%
Scattering		42	.09%

2008

On November 4, 2008, Robert Wirch won re-election to the Wisconsin State Senate, District 22 .

Robert Wirch raised $208,096 for his campaign, while Benjamin Bakke raised $10,055.

Wisconsin State Senate, District 22 (2008)
Candidates		Votes
Robert Wirch (D)		54,946
Benjamin Bakke (R)		27,383

Sponsored legislation

Recent legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by Sen. Wirch includes:

• A bill requiring schools to teach about the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process
• A bill for some property tax relief from school district taxes
• A bill to regulate renewals and expansions of business contracts

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

According to records available as of May 17, 2011, Wirch raised $11,797 during 2010, a year he was not up for election. Listed below are the top 5 contributors.

Donor	Amount
Wisconsin Dental Association	$1,000
Northwestern Mutual Life	$1,000
Kenosha Professional Firefighters Local 414	$500
Ralph J. Tenuta	$500
Eli Lilly & Co	$375

2008

In 2008, Wirch collected $208,096 in donations. General business interests were his largest donor group.

Listed below are the top four contributors to his campaign.

Donor	Amount
Strategy Group	$38,281
State Senate Democratic Committee	$6,750
Kenosha Professional Fire Fighters Local 414	$2,600
Thomas Boldt	$1,000

Recent news

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This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Robert + Wirch + Wisconsin + Senate"

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

Robert Wirch News Feed

• Wirch tries again to sell governor's mansion - Kenosha News (subscription)
• Wisconsin committee OKs stewardship reductions - Politics in Minnesota
• Budget panel votes to strip state treasurer of unclaimed property program - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• State stewardship funds trimmed by $18 million - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• Our View
• Lawmakers: Local governments will have to report spending - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (blog)
• Government and Political Roundup: Dems announce their package to reform ... - Pierce County Herald
• Following WEDC Officer's Resignation, Dems Call For Delay On Vote - Wisconsin Public Radio
• Wisconsin: Legislative committee approves 15-mile residency rule for public ... - Pioneer Press
• Streetcar utility plan clears Wisconsin budget committee - The Business Journal of Milwaukee

External links

Suggest a link

Wikipedia® has an article on:

Robert Wirch

• Wirch Campaign website
• Sen. Wirch's Wisconsin State Legislature website
• Project Vote Smart legislative profile
• Project Vote Smart biographical profile
• Campaign contributions: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011

Personal

Wirch and his wife, Mary, have two children.

References

Political offices
Preceded by '	Wisconsin State Senate District 22 1996–present	Succeeded by NA