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Business owners hadn’t stepped forward to support the pending right-to-work bill in this past week’s legislative hearings—until James C. Murray did on Monday, before the Assembly Committee on Labor.
Murray is a Madison-based bankruptcy attorney and, in his own cheeky way, was cheering on the right-to-work bill, saying it would be great for his business.
“With right to work, Wisconsin is entering a high-speed race to the bottom,” Murray said.
Murray noted that nine of the 12 states with the most bankruptcies per capita, including all of the top four, are right-to-work states. Wisconsin is #11 in personal bankruptcies per capita and Murray is hoping that we will overtake Mississippi and crack the top 10 with this bill.
“When Gov. Walker signs this legislation we’ll be on our way to becoming a top 10 state for bankruptcies,” Murray testified. “And I get excited just saying that.”
Murray cited statistics showing that all workers, not just union members, earn less in right-to-work states than those in what he called “normal” states.
“Lower income means more people falling behind on their bills and that means more bankruptcies,” Murray said. “It’s just common sense. You don’t need a fancy economist to come and explain that to you.”
Murray encouraged the legislators to pass the right-to-work bill to remove uncertainty, since it would help struggling Wisconsinites who are wavering on declaring bankruptcy to finally decide to do so. He said Wisconsin residents hear about booming economies in other states, such as Minnesota, and cling on to the hope that economic recovery will someday come to Wisconsin as well.
“This bill will take away that hope, take away that uncertainty and send a clear message that Wisconsin is open for bankruptcy,” Murray said. “For someone staring at a big pile of bills on the dining room table and wondering how he is going to pay for them, it sometimes takes just one more bill to push them over the edge and force his family into bankruptcy. Usually it’s something like an enormous medical bill showing up in the mail. But this time the bill that will break the back of Wisconsin families isn’t going to come in the mail. It’s going to come out of this committee tonight.”
