Americans for Prosperity, a political action group financed by the billionaire Koch brothers, has been active in supporting Gov. Scott Walker and his budget-repair bill.

AFP director Tim Phillips said Monday that his group already had spent $400,000 on TV and radio ads in the state in support of the governor.

"Yes, we will continue to be very active," Phillips said.

Phillips said his group's efforts began in Wisconsin in January 2005.

"The reason we are in Wisconsin is the same reason we are in 32 other states. And that is because we believe the greatest reforms occur at the state level," he said.

The Koch brothers also have donated to Walker's gubernatorial campaign and the Republican Governors Association, among others. Organized labor and Democrats have accused the brothers and groups they support of leading the organizational efforts in Wisconsin to get Walker's bill signed into law.

Phillips said he is aware of the attacks his organization has taken for supporting Walker. Organized labor groups have attacked Walker and groups including Americans for Prosperity as union busters.

Are they a union-busting organization, Phillips was asked.

"That's not accurate. We've said from the beginning, going back a number of years, that we shouldn't be raising taxes and we've got to rein in pensions and benefits for workers in employee unions. It can't be sustained. It's a long-term message for us. We've seen this problem for years," he said.

Phillips said he heard the argument that the budget-repair stalemate can be solved if Walker and fellow Republicans allow unions the right to collective bargaining in return for agreed-upon concessions.

But Phillips said he was unmoved. His group and Walker want the collective-bargaining language in the bill to stay.

"Collective bargaining is the primary reason why government employee benefits and pensions are so out of whack with what the private sector gets," Phillips said. "You may get a temporary concession. . . . But the history of collective bargaining has played a key role in driving up those benefits where taxpayers can't afford them and way more than folks in the private sector get."

By definition, collective bargaining represents a give and take between worker and management. Phillips agreed, but said that in the case of collective bargaining between state workers and the state, negotiators are bargaining with taxpayer money, not private money.

"And because of that, we have seen them repeatedly cave in to a very well-organized, very well-funded interest group," Phillips said.

Phillips said former Gov. Jim Doyle and previous legislatures have to bear responsibility for signing off on collective-bargaining agreements.

"In states around the country, very often Republican legislators have done this. It is definitely a problem where politicians have looked at this and said, 'It's easier to just do this.' Yeah, a lot of times, it has been shared responsibility."