It's been more than seven years since Gov. Scott Walker first introduced the bill now known as Act 10 that all but eliminated the union rights of most public employees.

Protesters flooded the capitol, unions vowed revenge, and more than six years ago, Walker won the recall election that cemented his place in Wisconsin history and assured Act 10 was here to stay.

And yet over the course of 2018, when Wisconsin Public Radio has spoken to voters around the state, Act 10 is still something they remember.

One of the questions WPR's Beyond the Ballot project asks everyone is whether there was a time when the government hurt them. That's when Fitchburg city worker Gus VanderWegen brings up Act 10.

"Well, Act 10 certainly hurt people in the public sector, and me included," VanderWegen said. "My pay didn't drop, but I had to pay for that extra chunk of retirement. So it was an effective pay drop that we haven't recovered from yet."