Republican legislative leaders are urging the governor to sign the state budget bill passed this week. For the first time in 14 years, the two-year spending plan got bipartisan support.

Seven Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly joined Republicans in voting for it this week.

Governor Tony Evers said in Green Bay Thursday that he is “looking forward” to spending time going through it. When he officially gets the budget he will have six days to sign it, make changes, or veto it.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says members of the Joint Finance Committee worked hard to minimize opportunities for Evers to make changes. The budget spends $87.5 billion, which is far less than what Evers proposed in his original document.

The Wisconsin Senate takes up a Republican authored state budget bill on Wednesday. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said the $87.5 billion plan passed by that chamber Tuesday night is a big improvement, over what Governor Tony Evers proposed.

“His budget had dramatic tax increases, it had massive increases in spending, expansions of welfare, legalizing marijuana, all kids of social policy issues that the Joint Finance Committee took out of the budget and reconfigured, to make sure that this reflects the priorities of all of Wisconsin, not just liberal Democrats in certain parts of the state,” Vos said.

“Budgets are about priorities, and the Republicans’ biggest priority has been doing everything possible to undermine this governor, to obstruct oppose and minimize the success of Governor Evers,” said Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh).

Four Assembly Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the budget. Once the Senate passes it, Evers can veto portions, or all of it.

The Republican budget plan increases state spending by 5.4 percent over current levels. Democratic Governor Tony Evers wanted to spend some $91 billion over two years. Once the Senate passes it, Evers can veto portions, or all of it.

Several elections related bills are headed to Governor Tony Evers, after passing the state Assembly on party line votes.

Representative Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) is Minority Caucus Chair. “These bills are designed to add more hurdles for voters to get over, and more pitfalls that voters need to avoid,” Spreitzer said. “They are actively hostile to voting, to voters and to the right to vote itself.”

Speaker Robin Vos said the bills are needed. “The goal is to make sure . . that every single person has the chance to vote, but that we guarantee that the confidence in the election, which has been severely undermined by the actions of a few over the last election cycle, hopefully are a thing of the past,” Vos said.

The bills include SB 204, which would require indefinitely confined voters to apply for absentee ballots annually and end an exemption for providing proof of ID. It would also require all absentee voters to include their ID each time they apply for a ballot. Currently, voters are only required to provide ID verification the first time they vote absentee.

Governor Tony Evers made it official over the weekend: he’ll run for a second term.

“Wisconsin, I’m in. I’m running for reelection. We’ve accomplished a lot in the last three years but we’re just getting started. We have more work to do, together.”

Evers made that announcement Saturday, during the state Democratic party’s virtual convention. Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes has yet to announce if he’s running for a second term, or if he’ll join the growing field of Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson pledged in 2016 that he’d only serve two terms. In a Milwaukee Press Club interview on Thursday, Johnson explained why he may go back on his word.

“What I didn’t realize in 2016 is, that we’d lose the House, that we’re basically lost the Senate, we don’t have the White House. And I’m witnessing a radical agenda by President Biden, who’s not even close to governing as a moderate.”

The Oshkosh Republican accused Biden of being “incredibly divisive.” And Johnson said he was “panicked” for the country when he first ran in 2010, and that he’s “more panicked today.”

Assembly Democrats held a brief press conference, prior to the non-event that was Tuesday’s special session of the Legislature.

Governor Tony Evers’ wanted the Legislature to expand BadgerCare and get some $1.5 billion in federal aid for Wisconsin.

“It doesn’t make sense to have Wisconsinites suffer, and be unhealthy, when this money is available,” said Representative Beth Meyers (D-Bayfield.)

Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) noted the federal money would go towards projects around the state.

“I want this project funded in my region or my district. I want the people in my district to have low-income health insurance,” Hintz said.

As expected, Senate and Assembly Republicans quickly gaveled in and out without voting.

“To say that the decision by Republicans in the legislature is a missed opportunity, doesn’t even come close,” Evers said in Green Bay, where he held a press conference to promote the special session – and some of the projects he said could be covered with the money from the Federal government as a result of expanding BadgerCare – including moving coal piles and constructing a Green Bay visitor’s center.

“It was clear right from the get go, they said no way,” the governor said. “Robin Vos said no way right from the beginning around BadgerCare, when we put it together with a lot of good projects like this, they said no way.”

The Democratic governor lamented a lack of compromise but admitted he’s had no direct meetings with Republican leaders to negotiate.

Republican legislative leaders have spelled out their objections to expanding BadgerCare.

In a letter to Evers, they cited additional costs to the state in broadening eligibility for the program. The leaders also argue there is no coverage gap in Wisconsin because the federal exchanges allow people between 100 percent and 400 percent of the poverty level to get subsidized health coverage.

“By adding childless, working-aged adults earning up to 138 percent of the FPL to Medicaid, who are eligible for significant assistance on the federal exchange, state taxpayers would be responsible for covering some of the extra costs,” they wrote. “However, when someone in that group enrolls on the exchanges using subsidies which are 100 percent federally funded, there is no cost passed on to state taxpayers.”