Tim Cullen

Tim Cullen
Wisconsin State Senate District 15
Incumbent
In office
2011 - Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position	2
Party	Democratic
Leadership
Senate Majority Leader, Wisconsin State Senate
1981, 1983, 1985
Compensation
Base salary	$49,943/year
Per diem	$88/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	2010
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Senator, Wisconsin State Senate
1975 - 1987
Education
Bachelor's	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 1966
Personal
Birthday	02/25/1944
Place of birth	Janesville, WI
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Timothy Cullen is a Democratic member of District 15 of the Wisconsin State Senate. He served in the senate from 1974-1986, and was re-elected in 2010. During his earlier tenure in the senate, Cullen was the Senate Majority Leader in 1981, 1983, and 1985.

Cullen left the Democratic caucus on July 24, 2012, after not receiving the committee assignments he desired. While he threatened to become an Independent, he remained a member of the Democratic Party. Three days later he rejoined the caucus, receiving the chairmanship of two new committees.

In between his terms in the senate, Cullen served as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services from 1987-1988, and Vice President/Senior Vice President with Blue Cross/Blue Shield from 1988-2007. He also served on the Janesville City Council from 1970-1971.

Cullen graduated with a BS from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

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

Wisconsin Committee Assignments, 2013
• Education
• Insurance and Housing

2011-2012

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

Wisconsin Committee Assignments, 2011
• Economic Development and Veterans and Military Affairs
• State and Federal Relations and Information Technology
• Workforce Development, Small Business, and Tourism
• Joint Legislative Council

Elections

2012

See also: Scott Walker recall, Wisconsin (2012)

Cullen was running for Wisconsin Governor in the recall election against incumbent Gov. Scott Walker.

Cullen said of his candidacy, "I think I would be a very serious opponent for Gov. Walker to have to face, because of my record, my career, my view of how government how to operate around here."

However, on February 1, 2012, Cullen said he was withdrawing from the race, citing fundraising issues and the negative nature of the recall.

2010

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2010

Cullen was unopposed in the primary election on September 14, 2010. He defeated his opponent in the November 2 general election, Republican Rick Richard.

Wisconsin State Senate, District 15 (2010) General Election During the campaign, he limited contributions to $250 per person.
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Tim Cullen (D)		31,918	58.98%
Rick Richard (R)		22,181	40.99%

Wisconsin Senate, District 15 Democratic Primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Tim Cullen (D)		6,034	99.95%

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

In 2010, the year Cullen was first elected to the Senate, he collected $72,956 in donations.

His largest contributors were:

Donor	Amount
James Johnson	$500
Marcia Rimai	$500
18 individual contributors	$250 each

Legislative walkout

Cullen 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

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

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.

Leaves Democratic caucus

On July 24, 2012, one week after Democrats gained the majority in the state Senate, Cullen quit the Democratic caucus after newly named Majority Leader Mark Miller did not give him chairmanship on a committee with clout. Cullen, who had been offered chair of the Committee on Small Business Development and Tourism called it "an insult to my district" and said he might leave the party altogether to become an independent.

Cullen said the move was "intended to send me a message that I am not welcome and that he can treat me however he wants to and that somehow I am supposed to take it."

Three days later Cullen rejoined the caucus, receiving the chairmanship of two new committees and a leadership position on two others. At a news conference he stated, "I thank Sen. Miller for sticking with this and resolving it. I'm very pleased with these committee assignments. They fit with all the big issues I'm up here to work on."

Personal

Cullen is married. He has 2 children and 4 step-children.

External links

Suggest a link

• Timothy Cullen on the Wisconsin State Legislature website
• Tim Cullen's biography on Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions: 2010
• Campaign website
• Cullen on Facebook

References

Political offices
Preceded by Judy Robson (D)	Wisconsin State Senate District 15 2011–present	Succeeded by NA