Republican leaders in the Wisconsin legislature are dismissing concerns that they’ll try to significantly restrict the authority of Governor-elect Tony Evers, during a lame duck legislative session. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that Democrat Evers “shouldn’t have a problem” with what Vos terms “reforms” the legislature enacts.
“This is just going to guarantee that he doesn’t the ability to incredibly liberal things around the legislature, without involving us or the public,” Vos said on WISN’s “Mark Belling Show.”
Evers said in a statement that “Republicans and Speaker Vos should stop any and all attempts to play politics and weaken the powers of the governor’s office.”
Let me be clear: the Republicans and Speaker Vos should stop any and all attempts to play politics and weaken the powers of the governor’s office in Wisconsin before I take the oath. pic.twitter.com/fHmdvn1LMA
— Tony Evers (@Tony4WI) November 8, 2018
“Look, this was a win for Governor Evers, but there’s no way it was a mandate,” Vos said. “The guy barely got more than fifty percent, we know that he literally was decided mostly by Madison and Milwaukee, the rest of the state voted overwhelmingly for Governor Walker.”
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald insisted on Thursday that GOP is not trying to undermine Evers. “I think any review of the rule making process is appropriate at the beginning of any session. I don’t think that’s got anything to do with Tony Evers, it’s go more to do with how the caucuses feel about rule making,” Fitzgerald said. “Tony Evers is going to have the most powerful veto pen in the nation. The idea that he’s not going to be able to keep the legislature in check, you’d be naive to believe that.”