Lame-duck bills now in Walker’s hands as Democrats eye lawsuits
Governor has signaled intent to sign proposals
After days of protests, hours of messy closed-door meetings and a heated overnight floor session, Republican lawmakers Wednesday sent a controversial set of lame-duck proposals to the desk of Gov. Scott Walker.
The spotlight is now on the outgoing Republican governor, who will decide whether to sign the sweeping plans to limit early voting and diminish the powers of the Democrat who beat him last month.
Walker recently signaled he will sign the proposals before he leaves office in early January, but his spokeswoman on Wednesday did not respond to requests for an interview.
Walker also could issue partial vetoes to at least two of the measures.
Gov.-elect Tony Evers urged Walker to reject the bills during a Wednesday news conference in Madison, saying he would consider all options — including litigation — if the bills are signed.
Evers called the proposals embarrassing for the state and said the lastminute changes made by GOP lawmakers were “superficial.”
“I view this — what was passed — as frankly a hot mess,” Evers said. “Together, all of it, is I think a dangerous precedent.”
Others, including the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, have indicated they plan to file lawsuits over the proposals, possibly within days of Walker’s signature.
The measures approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature curtail the powers of Evers as well as incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. The legislation would, among other things, hamper them from withdrawing the state from a federal
lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act and the protections it provides for coverage of pre-existing conditions.
Kaul on Wednesday urged people to contact Walker and other elected officials to voice their opposition.
“This unabashed power grab disrespects Wisconsin voters and the rule of law,” Kaul said in a statement. “The Legislature has voted to take resources away from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.”
Republican lawmakers removed a measure that would have allowed the Legislature to replace Kaul with private attorneys picked by lawmakers at taxpayer expense. But other remaining provisions would allow legislators to intervene in lawsuits when state statutes are challenged, and hire private attorneys when they are sued.
Numerous changes aimed at weakening the power of Kaul could have implications for how the new attorney general will handle pollution cases, according to Sarah Geers, an attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates.
“Big picture: This injects the Legislature and a lot of politics into what should be the lawyers enforcing our state’s environmental laws,” Geers said.
Legislators, intent on ensuring that they keep a strong hold on the state’s rule-making process, also pushed through several measures to strengthen their hand over state agencies. Their goal was to continue a lighter regulatory touch, which Republicans and Walker have advocated since 2011 and they see as tools for improving the economy and curbing bureaucrats’ powers.
Republicans backed off on some of their changes limiting Evers’ control of state rules but kept in place a provision that would expand lawmakers’ power to block those rules.
In another early-morning vote, state senators failed to deliver on a campaign promise from Walker to approve legislation protecting health insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
All Democrats and two Republicans in the Senate voted against that legislation, killing a bill that passed the Assembly last year. Legislative leaders said they would try again to pass such protections early next year.
Both houses wrapped up soon after the sun came up. It was the latest session for the Senate since 1995, when it deliberated over the legislation to build Miller Park, according to Senate Chief Clerk Jeff Renk.
Casualties of the extraordinary session included a plan to move the 2020 presidential primary election to benefit the election bid of a conservative Supreme Court justice.
The reason Republican lawmakers gave for returning to Madison before January in the first place never made it to the floor: a tax incentive package for Fox Valley papermaker Kimberly-Clark.
Still, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, pushed back against allegations that the session was a power grab.
“I think that while some on the left and many in the media have tried to make this into some kind of a cause célèbre, it’s a simple reality that we are ensuring by passing these bills that when we negotiate over the course of next four years, we have equal seats at the table,” Vos said Wednesday morning after the all-night session. “The governor, with one of the most powerful veto pens in the entire country, still has the upper hand in all of the negotiations that we will have.”
Vos said he was “excited at the idea that we will be able to sit down in January when he becomes the governor” and talk with Evers about working together.
“We have tried very hard to make sure that we are trying to level the playing field,” Vos said. “We don’t want to usurp his power. That’s never been our goal.”
But former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Gov. Jim Doyle and others have called it a violation of the separation of powers.
Lester Pines, a prominent Madison lawyer, declined to comment when asked whether he planned to file a lawsuit over the lame-duck proposals.
But he made it clear he thought the sweeping changes were unconstitutional.
“All you gotta do is read the Constitution,” Pines said.
And on Wednesday, One Wisconsin Now, which won a federal lawsuit in 2016 to remove early voting restrictions, tweeted that conversations with attorneys were already underway.
The legislation affects:
Early voting
It limits early voting to two weeks. A similar limit was found unconstitutional in 2016 and Democrats have threatened to take legal action again.
Health care
Puts lawmakers in charge of litigation, allowing them to keep alive a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare.
Public benefits
Forces Evers to get permission from the Legislature before asking the federal government to make any changes to programs that are run jointly by the state and federal governments. That would limit the governor’s flexibility in how he runs public benefits programs.
Crime fighting
Gives lawmakers — instead of the attorney general — control over how court settlements are spent.
Taxpayer-funded lawsuits
Makes it easier for lawmakers to hire private attorneys at taxpayer expense when they are accused of violating the open records law or other statutes.
Pardons
Requires the Evers administration to report to the Legislature if the governor pardons anyone or his aides release anyone from prison early.
Job creation
Gives Republicans more say over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., including over its enterprise zone program that gives tax breaks to individual businesses. WEDC’s board, rather than the governor, would appoint WEDC’s leader until September.