Bice: Lawmaker claiming he voted for budget bill was actually grounded in Amsterdam

State Rep. Shannon Zimmerman wanted to make at least one thing clear when he announced last week that he was running for an open Senate seat in northwestern Wisconsin.

Zimmerman, a River Falls Republican, said in his campaign news release that he voted in favor of Gov. Scott Walker's recently approved $76 billion budget bill.

“I am proud to have voted for the recently approved Wisconsin state budget," Zimmerman said in the windy release. Walker's budget, he continued, "provides the largest increase in K-12 funding in state history and directs funds to training that will close our skills gap all while keeping property taxes in check."

Except Zimmerman was nowhere near the state Capitol when the Assembly took its vote on Walker's proposed two-year spending plan on Sept. 13.

The 45-year-old businessman was stuck at the airport in Amsterdam, where he had gone on a business trip for Sajan Inc., his language translation business. Many flights had been grounded in Holland's capital that day because of poor weather conditions.

On the roll call for final passage of the budget in the Assembly, Zimmerman was recorded as the only state rep to be absent for the vote. The bill passed on a 57-39 vote.

Zimmerman showed up a day later on Sept. 14 and read a statement into the legislative record about what he would have done had he been in Madison.

"Please record in the Assembly Journal that I would have voted 'aye' in support of Assembly Bill 64, the Wisconsin state budget, and a brighter future for all Wisconsinites," Zimmerman said, according to the Assembly Journal.

Zimmerman chalked up the situation to poor conditions in Holland and his inexperience.

The first-term lawmaker said he is probably the least political person at the statehouse and that he considers himself a "citizen legislator," meaning he has full-time work outside his statehouse duties.

Zimmerman said he knew he missed the important vote. But when he arrived in Madison a day later, he said he was told that he could fill out a form and publicly declare his position on the bill during an Assembly session.

Having done both of these, Zimmerman said he believes he should be counted as having voted for Walker's budget.

"I'm not trying to be deceptive at all, good grief," he concluded.

Whatever his motive, Zimmerman appears to be mistaken.

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Patrick Fuller, chief clerk in the Assembly, pointed to legislative rules that indicate on roll call votes on legislation, the "final and official" record is produced when the voting machine or the chief clerk tally the votes for and against a bill.

Lawmakers who miss an important vote can do what Zimmerman did and put in the Assembly Journal how they would have voted on the measure. But legislative rules say this "does not alter the outcome of the roll call vote."

"The rule is pretty explicit," Fuller said. "I don’t know how it could be clearer."

So, in short, Zimmerman did not vote on the budget bill.

But he did give it a thumbs up.

This measure may become important in the upcoming race to replace longtime Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, who stepped down earlier this month to become the secretary for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The only other declared candidate in the race, state Rep. Adam Jarchow, was one of five Republicans to vote against Walker's spending plan.

Last week, Jarchow said he promised to lower taxes and support smaller government when he ran for office. He said he did not like the spending increases in the budget or an increase in the number of auditors at the state Department of Revenue.

But the Balsam Lake Republican declined to mix it up with his political opponent, especially when asked if he thought Zimmerman was trying to dupe voters by saying he voted for the budget bill.

"I'll let that the voters decide that," Jarchow said.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.