Hmong project victim of hypocrisy

One of the casualties of last-minute action by the Joint Finance Committee was a proposal for the state to pay half the cost of a Hmong cultural center in Madison.

The committee, dominated 12-4 by Republicans, voted 10-6 to delete the project from Gov. Jim Doyle's budget. Just can't do it, they said. Short of money. Too much borrowing already. Can't honor every ethnic group. Etc.

They could, of course, manage to vote for an amendment with a lot of pet projects (projects is spelled P-O-R-K) for specific communities and legislative districts. But this Hmong project was just too much to ask.

What makes that line of reasoning amazing is the fact that in the last budget the Republicans had voted for a middle-of-the-night amendment by then-State Sen. Gary George to put in $5-million for a Hmong center in Milwaukee. No discussion, no plan, no explanation, and no real proposal, even. But they needed George's vote.

Doyle vetoed that $5-million appropriation.

Then the Building Commission spent $100,000 to do a complete study. It held 10-plus public listening sessions, more than 50 meetings with Hmong leaders, including a Hmong leaders summit with 250 attendees in Milwaukee. That resulted at 50-page study, with a complete business and fundraising plan. The Hmong community asked for a 50% match, and pledged to create a facility that could support itself with no tax dollars.

That was the plan killed by Joint Finance.

Doyle called the decision "short-sighted" and an insult to the people who worked long and hard to present a responsible plan. Sometimes, it seems, 3 a.m. backroom deals are the way to go. That's a shame.