MADISON -- Wisconsin's treasurer is proposing an amendment to the state constitution that would abolish his own office as well as the Office of the Secretary of State.
Kurt Schuller is the state treasurer, but that hasn't stopped him from trying to get rid of his own job. Schuller says that although the work done by the treasury office is important, the election of an officer to front it is a waste of taxpayer time and money.
"We don't elect a president of the DMV," says Schuller. "There are many, many offices that are just handled administerally.....this is one of those offices that can continue to do the good work that it does and does not need an elected constitutional officer to run it."
Schuller's amendment would abolish his own office as well as the office of the Secretary of State by the end of their current terms in January 2015. He couldn't say exactly how much money might be saved by eliminating the two offices.
But Secretary of State Doug LaFollette is against the proposal. He says it isn't about money, it's about democracy.
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"To eliminate the state treasurer and certainly the Secretary of State and give all that power to the governor is, I think a dangerous thing. We need to have a number of elected officials. The constitution started out that way."
State treasurer Schuller didn't say how his duties or those of the Secretary of State might be divvied up, but he did say the state Department of Revenue was one logical place to shift some responsibilities from the treasury.
Before the amendment could take effect, it must pass two consecutive sessions of the Legislature, plus pass as a ballot measure in a general election.
