Garthwaite Spent 104 Days in Madison in 2009 with Little to Show for it

During his last campaign, I seem to remember that Phil Garthwaite liked to criticize Republicans in the Assembly for being a "Do Nothing" legislature.

Well the numbers are in on Garthwaite's first year as member of the Democrat Majority and they would appear to show Mr. Garthwaite as the pot who called the kettle black.

Number of Days Garthwaite spent in Madison - 104
Amount of Per Diem Garthwaite collected from the taxpayers - $9,152.00
Number of Days Garthwaite spent in legislative session - 25
Number of times Garthwaite's Committee on Rural Economic Development met - 1
Number of bills considered by Garthwaite's committee - 0
Number of Garthwaite bills signed into law - 0



There is something to be said for the Libertarian minded legislator who does not seek to pass legislation or to meet frequently in legislative session. As Thoreau, Jefferson, and Paine are all attributed to have said, "The Government is best which governs least." Were Garthwaite of this mindset I could forgive his inaction as a legislator. Garthwaite, however, is a self described progressive. His voting record, campaign materials, and public pronouncements all indicate that he believes that government action is the solution to our society's problems. This leaves one question for Mr. Garthwaite. If government is the source of solutions to our economic woes and other challenges, than why aren't you doing anything to prove it?

Still Nothing on Jobs From Garthwaite

We here at PG Watch have gone without posting for quite sometime but we haven't gone as long as Rep. Garthwaite has without holding a public hearing in an important committee for job creation.

Rep. Garthwaite has been chairman of the Assembly Committee on Rural Economic Development for over a year now yet he hasn't had a single public hearing on even one piece of legislation to date. As chairman of the Rural Economic Development Committee, Garthwaite is in a unique position to draft and pass ideas to bring jobs to rural Wisconsin areas like Grant County. During the worst recession in a generation, his inaction does a great disservice to his constituents.

According to the Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin lost 26,100 jobs in December bringing total unemployment to 250,900 or 8.7% of Wisconsin’s workforce. Unemployment in Grant County is up almost a whole percentage point since last month. Still Rep. Garthwaite refuses to act.

To date Rep, Garthwaite's legislative agenda has consisted of bills to regulate honey, legalize industrial marijuana cultivation, and to rename 'swine flu' as 'H1N1'. These aren't necessarily bad ideas but they certainly won't be putting anybody back to work anytime soon. Rep. Garthwaite's silence on jobs speaks volumes.