AFT-Wisconsin President Bryan Kennedy has sent an email to members asking them to contact Assembly members to urge them to pass the Joint Finance Committee-approved budget.

Though the economy forced the committee to make deep cuts, Kennedy writes "the proposed budget maintains our vital services while creating a fair and sustainable economy."

Kennedy cites provisions like the repeal of the QEO in 2010, collective bargaining rights for UW System faculty and staff, and greater scrutiny of state contracting practices as reasons to support the budget.

Doyle has asked AFT-Wisconsin and other unions to return a scheduled 2 percent pay increase or face layoffs, but the unions have been resistant to open up contracts. Kennedy does not refer to that battle in the email, but acknowledges that union employees will share the pain from program cuts.

"Make no mistake, the economic crisis -- including an unprecedented budget deficit -- demanded that tough choices be made in this budget," Kennedy writes. "As professional public employees, AFT-Wisconsin members will feel the pain from these cuts."

See the letter here.

Meanwhile new radio and TV ads from the Wisconsin Club for Growth question whether Gov. Jim Doyle is "making it easier for trial lawyers to sue you and more expensive to insure your car" as payback for $245,000 in campaign contributions.

CFG says in a release that the ads launched today and will run in several markets. The group cites a report last month that Doyle had received $245,000 in campaign contributions from trial lawyers.

The 30-second TV spot says Doyle's "plan for Wisconsin" could increase car insurance rates $300 a year and would require someone to pay 100 percent of a lawsuit even if they're "barely at fault."

The scripts for the ads that CFG included in its press release feature a line encouraging listeners to call Jim Sullivan and "tell him to put the brakes on Doyle's rate hikes."

See the CFG release here.

-- By WisPolitics staff