The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports today that Scott Walker and Republicans in the state legislature have hatched a scheme to weaken Wisconsin's civil service protections, which have prevented politicians from using government jobs as patronage for their supporters and from firing employees for political reasons for more than a century. Under the guise of "modernization," Walker and his supporters are proposing to weaken just cause protections, eliminate the state civil service test, shorten the appeals process for workers being disciplined or fired, and centralize all state hiring under the Department of Administration.
