Governor Walker is now deciding how, and not if, he’ll be signing lame duck legislation passed last week that curtails the powers of incoming Governor elect Tony Evers.

Walker indicated at a Pewaukee press conference that his staff is deciding how best to sign those bills, and if changes need to be made.

“Right now it’s most likely that we’ll probably do a series, at least one if not multiple, line item vetoes, is what we’re looking at most closely.”

He says that Democrats and the media have been inflating the impact the bills will have. 

“I could veto everything, I could sign it all, or I could do a line item veto. No matter which of those three options I do, Tony Evers come January 7th, will have some of the strongest powers of any governor in America.”

Walker has not yet officially received the bills from the Legislature. 

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, Speaker Robin Vos (Photo: Andrew Beckett)

A long 24 hours of debates, caucuses and voting ended early Wednesday morning as Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature pushed through legislation limiting the powers of incoming Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, and limiting the time frame for municipalities to offer early absentee voting.

Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz called out the process before the final vote was cast in the Assembly.

“It’s a massive deal. Not just for what it means, not just for what it means for the governance of our state. But for the signal that it sends, the lengths that people are willing to go to to retain power,” Hintz said “Rushing it through on three days notice, in a ridiculous last 24 hours of debate? Does anyone honestly think this is the right way to do business?”

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos chided Democrats for their lack of decorum during the lame duck session, and said the bills are all to even out the powers of government.

“You have to start at a place where you have equal footing to negotiate. That’s what these bills are all about. Equal footing to negotiate,” Vos said  “While I know that some have spent the day angry and exaggerating, I would ask that we all cast a green vote as we look to rebalance the powers.”

Democrats have been exaggerating and resorting to hyperbole throughout the debate. The vote is about ensuring equal branches of government exist in #Wisconsin especially during this time of divided government.

— Speaker Robin Vos (@SpeakerVos) December 5, 2018

Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh)

The entire package of bills now heads to Governor Scott Walker for his signature. He has signaled he’d sign them before he leaves office.

Legislation that would have that would protected health care coverage for pre-existing conditions failed to clear a Senate vote Wednesday morning, with all Democrats and two Republicans voting against it. During his reelection campaign, Governor Scott Walker had promised to get that bill enacted into law.

Republican Senators David Craig and Chris Kapenga defeated the bill by voting against it. They wanted the state to create a high risk insurance pool, but that was not part of the bill.

Also not headed to the governor is a proposal to move the date of Wisconsin’s presidential primary from April to March. That measure never made it out of the legislature’s finance committee earlier this week.

Among other measures approved by both chambers:

A work requirement for single, able-bodied adults who are on BadgerCare. The legislature would also get oversight over any request for federal waivers for welfare programs. In addition, the governor will be prohibited from withdrawing from a multi-state lawsuit that challenges Obamacare.

The Legislature would also have new powers to intervene in lawsuits involving the state, an area usually handled by the Attorney General. Financial settlements that the AG negotiates would be subject to legislative oversight.

The legislature would get to make additional appointments to the board that controls the Wisconsin Economic Development agency.

The legislature also voted to limit early voting to two weeks before an election. A similar bill had been struck down by a federal judge. The current version will also face an almost certain court challenge.

One half of the lame duck session is underway at the state Capitol, as the Senate takes to the floor.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Schilling excoriated the majority at the start of the hearing.

“What we are seeing is a blatant overreach of Republicans who are more interested in securing and increasing your legislative power.”

She calls the bills an attempt to strip power from the executive and judicial branches and hand it over to the legislature.

“Sweeping proposals to eliminate checks and balances, and consolidate power from the executive and judicial branches into the legislative branch.”

The Senate Gallery was cleared after multiple outbursts from protesters.

Legislation that would curtail the powers of the offices of governor and attorney general in Wisconsin are up for Senate and Assembly votes in a lame duck extraordinary session today, after an hours long and often raucous public hearing at the Capitol.

As Republicans move to push through a sweeping set of restrictions on the administration of incoming Governor Tony Evers, and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul, Democrats like Representative Chris Taylor of Madison are calling out what they see as hypocrisy.

“We would not be here if Scott Walker was reelected. We would not be here if Brad Schimel was reelected. This is about not just consolidating power for the Republicans, they want to expand their power, even when they lose elections,” Taylor said.

Governor Scott Walker insists changes to the attorney general’s duties, which would allow the legislature to hire outside attorneys to represent the state in lawsuits, are not out of line. “There are many other states that have a whole variety of things where the legislature either has to approve or disapprove lawsuits,” Walker said. “Some states don’t even have elected attorney generals.”

Governor Scott Walker insists legislation dealing with the office of governor is does not taking power away from incoming Democrat Tony Evers. “There was some discussion early on about things related to vetoes or even vetoes to the administrative process, and I said I would never sign that,” Walker said. “To me, that would be taking powers away.”

A bill that would move the date of the state’s 2020 presidential primary did not pass out of the Joint Finance Committee following Monday’s hearing. County and municipal clerks had condemned the proposal to create a March primary, which would result statewide elections in February, March and April.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 6-0 on Monday for a motion telling the Legislature that the proposed election law changes would be “extraordinarily difficult to accomplish.” It also said that “mandatory election tasks may not be feasible,” if the primary were moved.