Just when you think TPA couldn't get worse

Supporters of a TABOR-like amendment to the constitution (which is now called the Taxpayer Protection Amendment or TPA for short) simply don't seem to understand a very important fact - the constitution was not meant to modified by trial and error.

They have a new version out today from Rep. Jeff Wood. They now want to try to get rid of labor laws using this amendment. Good strategy. Take an already controversial item and add another completely unrelated controversial item to it. Seems Rep. Wood and his colleagues want to dump gasoline on the burning house instead of calling the fire department.

Of course if their amendment passes local governments may not have enough funds for the fire department anyway.

How is the reaction so far? The Wisconsin Counties Association says:

After reviewing the latest version of the Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment (SJR 63, AJR 77 and LRB Draft 0684/3), the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) agrees - it's worse.

The Wisconsin Alliance of Cities says:

It's still a disaster waiting to happen.

The Wisconsinin League of Municipalities says it is:

like saying the pig looks better because it changed its lipstick. We oppose any attempt to insert revenue or spending limits on local governments in the constitution no matter how many sweeteners are added to make it less onerous. We urge the Legislature to give up on this bad idea and spend the remaining timof thehe session focusing on helping municipalities grow our state's economy.

And Rich Abelson of AFSCME says:

"Adding language to their already unworkable scheme that explicitly targets public service employees really shows that, despite what backers might say, this is about exacting a pound of flesh from public employees," Abelson said.

How long do you think it will take the supporters of this proposal to come up with a new name?