Walker signs a bill — no, not that one.

Published February 22, 2011 5:00am ET



Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, R, signed a bill today that requires a supermajority to raise taxes. This bill passed the legislature before the current union imbroglio, but it is not unrelated.

Walker is trying to create a climate, in which business is treated as more than a host organism for state government. Things have become unbalanced in many states. The private sector, which creates jobs and wealth, has to expand, and the burden of government has to shrink, so that the one can carry the other. This is especially true in hard economic times, which fall disproportionately on the private sector.

That’s why Walker, John Kasich in Ohio, and other governors who attempt to reform their civil service arrangements will probably succeed and enjoy public support for what they’re doing.