Walker curbs power of successor
In Wisconsin and Michigan, Republicans enact laws critics call last-gasp power grab
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a sweeping package of Republican legislation Friday that restricts early voting and weakens the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, brushing aside complaints that he is enabling a brazen power grab and ignoring the will of voters.
Signing the bills 24 days before he leaves office, the Republican governor and one-time presidential candidate downplayed bipartisan criticism that they amount to a power grab that will stain his legacy.
Two hours later, a group run by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced it planned legal action to block the limitation on early voting.
Walker’s action Friday came as Michigan’s Rick Snyder, another Midwestern GOP governor soon to be replaced by a Democrat, signed legislation in a lame- duck session that significantly scales back minimum wage and paid sick leave laws that began as citizen initiatives.
Michigan’s Republican legislat ors al s o are weighing legislation resembling Wisconsin’s that would strip or dilute the authority of incoming elected Democrats.
The push in both states mirrors tactics employed by North Carolina Republicans in 2016.
To prevent minimum wage and earned sick time initiatives from going to voters last month, GOP lawmakers in Michigan ap- proved them in September so they could be more easily altered after the election with simple majority votes rather than the threefourths support that would have been needed if voters had passed the proposals.
The tactic — never done until now — was pushed by the business community as necessary to avoid jeopardizing the economy.
But it was criticized as an unconstitutional attack on voters’ will.
Michigan’s Snyder signed the bills in private and issued a statement calling them a “good balance” between what the ballot drives proposed and what legislators drafted initially.
In Wisconsin, Walker spoke for 20 minutes while using charts to make his points as he detailed all of the governor’s powers, including a strong veto authority, that will not change while defending the measures he signed as improving transparency, stability and accountability. “There’s a lot of hype and hysteria, particularly in the national media, implying this is a power shift. It’s not,” Walker said before signing the measures during an event at a state office building in Green Bay, about 130 miles from his Capitol office that has frequently been a target for protesters.
Walker was urged by Democrats and Republicans, including Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, to reject the legislation. Walker, who was defeated by Evers for a third term, had earlier said he was considering partial vetoes, but he ulti- mately did not strike anything.
Evers accused Walker of ignoring and overriding the will of the people by signing the bills into law. He held a five-minute news conference in Madison shortly after the signing to accuse Walker of ignoring the will of the voters.
“People will remember he took a stand that was not reflective of this last election,” Evers said. “I will be reviewing our options and do everything we can to make sure the people of this state are not ignored or overlooked.”
Walker, speaking after he signed the bills, brushed aside what he called “highpitched hysteria” from critics of the legislation. He said his legacy will be the record he left behind that includes all-but eliminating collective bargaining for public workers, not the lame-duck measures.
“We’ve put in deep roots that have helped the state grow,” Walker said. “You want to talk about legacy, to me, that’s the legacy.”
Holder’s group, the National Redistricting Foundation, along with the liberal One Wisconsin Now, promised a swift legal challenge to one provision Walker signed limiting early voting.
One Wisconsin Now successfully sued in federal court in 2016 to overturn similar early voting and other restrictions enacted by Walker.
The Wisconsin bills focus on numerous Republican priorities, including restricting early in-person voting to two weeks before an election, down from as much as nearly seven weeks in the overwhelmingly Democratic cities of Milwaukee and Madison.
The legislation also shields the state’s job-creation agency from Evers’ control until September and limits his ability to enact administrative rules.
The measures also block Evers from withdrawing Wisconsin from a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, one of his central campaign promises.
The Republican- controlled legislature introduced and passed the bills less than five days after unveiling them late on a Friday two weeks ago.
Democrats accused the GOP of a power grab that undermined the results of the November election.
Republican legislative leaders countered that they were trying to balance the power of the executive and legislative branches.