Legislation which gives the governor sweeping oversight of the state’s rule making authority has passed the state Senate, meaning another Special Session bill will soon be ready for Governor Scott Walker’s signature. The state Senate passed the bill Thursday. It’s a ‘power grab’ that cuts the legislature out of the process according to Madison Democrat Fred Risser. “All we do is maybe spin our wheels a little bit, but we don’t have any input,” said Risser. “It’s really a dictatorial takeover of the rule making process by our governor.”
But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Risser’s characterization of the bill is incorrect. “That is not the way we wrote this bill,” said Fitzgerald. “It was not crafted in a partisan manner to give power to the governor, just because he’s a Republican.” Fitzgerald said Republicans were concerned that Walker was setting the legislature up for some kind of a power grab, but that’s not a legitimate concern. The Senate passed the bill on an 18-14 partisan vote and added a technical amendment to the measure passed by the Assembly last week. Once the Assembly concurs with that change, the measure will be ready for Walker’s signature.
