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Key Evers veto increases per-pupil schools funding

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Wisconsin school districts could see more money, thanks to a veto by Governor Tony Evers. One of Evers’ 78 separate vetoes increases per-pupil aid by $87 million more dollars than the Republican-controlled Legislature approved. Evers on Wednesday called that “easily the most important veto that we had.”

It’s one that state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said was “a legitimate veto.”

“If there’s enough people upset by that, than obviously you could consider a veto override,” Fitzgerald said. “Hard for me to make that call today, whether or not a lot of legislators would fall into that category.”

Fitzgerald was unhappy, that the Wisconsin Association of School Boards publicly lobbied Evers on using his veto to increase that funding.
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Evers signs state budget, increases education funding through line item vetoes

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Governor Tony Evers has issued a partial veto of the state budget. At Wednesday’s signing, Evers said he’s excited to be able to return some of the things he promised to bring to Wisconsin residents when he was elected, including more school funding.

“And through the veto promise, I am adding nearly 100 million dollars more in per pupil aid for our schools compared to the budget that was passed by the legislature.”

Evers’ version of the budget restores funding for state youth prisons, allows the state prosecutor’s office to decide where new staff positions will be filled across the state, and cuts back on work requirements for food and health assistance programs.

Evers said his veto power couldn’t bring one of his biggest promises to fruition: the expansion of federal Medicaid funding for the state. “That’s why I’ll continue to fight for Medicaid expansion through separate legislation, future budget bills, and otherwise through every executive power I am afforded.

“Vetoing this budget in its entirety would have been more of the same divisiveness and petty political theatrics that the people of Wisconsin have had to put up with for far too long.”

Legislative Republicans say the relatively low number of vetoes shows that this was a good budget with lots of potential.

Sen. Majority Leader Fitzgerald opposes outside involvement in suggested line item veto

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State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is voicing his displeasure about comments from the state association of school boards in regards to the state budget.

The group laid out a method on Monday for Governor Evers to use the line item veto to increase school funding by 17 million dollars. Fitzgerald says the group is encouraging the governor to skirt legislative intent by offering up that suggestion.

Evers has until Friday to sign the budget, apply the line item veto, or veto it in its entirety. 

Madison mayor calls for gun control action in wake of Shake The Lake shooting

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Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway defends her statement in the immediate aftermath of Saturday night’s shooting at the city’s Shake The Lake fireworks show. “Because exactly then is when we need to be talking about the problem of guns,” the mayor said during a Monday press conference with Chief of Police Mike Koval.

One person was wounded Saturday in what police say was a shooting in which the suspect and the victim knew on another. That shooter remains at large. There were some 25,000 people at the show, one of the Midwest’s largest. “I understand that this was a very frightening event for a number of people, and I’m very sympathetic to that. That’s exactly why we have to talk now about what our country has to do to get a handle on gun violence. Because it is terrifying for people.”

Rhodes-Conway says her preference would be for federal legislation to decrease access to guns, but she also accused state legislators of not doing enough to let Wisconsin cities crack down. Our job is made more difficult by a state legislature that advances reckless gun laws and at the same time curtails the rights of cities to take further action,” the Mayor said in a Tweet.

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Steinke, in tweet of his own over the weekend, called the comment from Rhodes-Conway a “reckless and stupid accusation.”

Chief Mike Koval said the sort of shooting that occurred Saturday’s is becoming too common. “We have so many conflicts that are being resolved at the barrel of a gun these days, that in the past when I was a young copper in ’83 would’ve been a fistfight. Not any more.”

The mayor and chief commended the response to the shooting by Madison police and other personnel at the scene on Saturday, as well as the preparations that went into the event. Koval said lessons learned will help the city plan for similar large scale events in the future.

Lawmakers propose MVP Week to recognize Yelich, Antetokounmpo, Rogers

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Having three Most Valuable Players coming from a single state is unusual, but it’s done in Wisconsin with Christian Yellich of the Milwaukee Brewers, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers all named MVP in their respective leagues.

With that in mind, a group of state legislatures in Madison are proposing MVP week to be recognized in December. All three athletes celebrate birthday’s that month. The group introduced a resolution Thursday that would designate the first week of December 2019 as “MVP Week in Wisconsin.”

Rodgers’ birthday is Dec. 2, Yelich’s birthday is Dec. 5 and Antetokounmpo’s birthday is Dec. 6.

Vos open to discussions on allowing medical marijuana for Wisconsin

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Speaker Robin Vos

Republican budget writers removed a provision in Governor Tony Evers’ budget to legalize medical marijuana, but the idea is budding anew at the Capitol, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wants to look at legalizing medical marijuana in Wisconsin.

Evers’ budget also would have decriminalized recreational pot in some amounts. “I do not support recreational marijuana” Vos said Thursday at the Capitol. But the Speaker said this fall lawmakers could look at allowing medical marijuana in Wisconsin

“The goal would be to try to show people that there’s a path, to be able to talk about this, to discuss it,” Vos said. “To figure out maybe a Wisconsin way that isn’t like Illinois or Michigan or Minnesota.” Minnesota allows marijuana for medical use, Michigan allows it for recreational use, and Illinois Governor J.B. Priitzker this week signed a bill doing the same there.

“I’d much rather figure out a way to get to yes than just instantly say “well because it could lead to recreational marijuana I’m an automatic no,” Vos said.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has thus far been skeptical about medical marijuana.
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SCOTUS ruling leaves Wisconsin’s partisan-drawn districts in place

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Republican-drawn political maps in Wisconsin appear likely to stay in place, after a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday. The decision effectively ends proceedings in Wisconsin, where a retrial was scheduled this summer after the Supreme Court last year threw out a decision on procedural grounds.

The court rejected challenges to Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina and a Democratic district in Maryland. The decision could embolden political line-drawing for partisan gain after the 2020 census.

“We hope the high court’s ruling puts an end to the litigation in Wisconsin associated with redistricting,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, (R-Rochester), said in a joint statement. “The Supreme Court has now confirmed what we have said all along – that it was not a matter for the federal courts to second guess the Legislature on these issues.”

Wisconsin Democrats were reacting to the news Thursday morning.

U.S. Representative Ron Kind said the decision will allow politicians to choose their voters, instead of their voters choosing them to choose their voters, instead of their voters choosing them. “This decision completely fails to protect our constitution and disenfranchises voters already lacking rights under the Equal Protection Clause. I wholeheartedly disagree with this ruling because it will increase the partisan divide in our country as we move forward,” the La Crosse Democrat said.

“Democrats believe every voter deserves to have their voice heard,” said state Senate Minority Leader, Senator Jennifer Shilling. “Republican efforts to suppress voters, restrict voting rights and rig elections through gerrymandered maps have undermined the will of the people.”

“Wisconsin’s heavily gerrymandering maps have created a complete lack of accountability for Republican legislators. The numbers confirm that Republicans have built an impenetrable electoral wall around themselves with no consequences for their actions,” said Assembly Minority Leader, Representative Gordon Hintz. “Today’s SCOTUS decision benefits politicians, not the people of Wisconsin.”

Governor Tony Evers said the Supreme Court’s decision about the politics of political maps is “devastating for our democracy.”

The governor said the decision to allow state legislature to draw their own political boundaries will allow politicians to pick their voters, rather than the other way around. The ruling all but ends a challenge to the Republican drawn map in Wisconsin.

State budget now headed to Governor Tony Evers

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Governor Tony Evers WRN image

The legislature has finished its budget work, now will the governor sign it? State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that members of his Republican caucus were “skittish” because of the potential for vetoes from Governor Tony Evers.

“I don’t ever remember a budget document getting this much scrutiny, prior to the legislature voting on it,” Fitzgerald said.

The state Senate passed the budget, 17-16, with Republicans David Craig & Steve Nass voting no along with all Democrats. Wednesday’s debate was not as long as that in the Assembly, which lasted 10 hours on Tuesday. The Republican Senate majority turned back a number of amendments offered by Democrats.

“The budget that is on its way to Governor Evers’ desk is incredibly disappointing compared to what he originally introduced,” said Senator Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat who serves on the Joint Finance Committee. As in the Assembly, Senate Democrats called out the majority for rejecting $1.2 billion of federal money to expand Medicaid, which had been the foundation of Evers’ “Peoples Budget.”

Still, Fitzgerald is optimistic that Evers will sign the package, which Republicans have characterized as a compromise.

“And I think he will. I’ve urged him every time that we’ve met in his office to give that a lot of thought,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it would be difficult to reassemble the legislature, bring them back, and then work on the policy decisions from a different perspective.”

Evers has a number of options now, from partial vetoes of the $81.7 billion spending plan, to vetoing the entire package.
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State Supreme Court rules governor has oversight of school policy

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Oversight of some school policies shifts from the state schools superintendent to the governor, following a ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Court’s conservative majority sided with the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in its 2017 lawsuit against then state schools superintendent Tony Evers.

Evers claimed he did not need to get executive approval from then Governor Scott Walker, for rules Evers wrote for the Department of Public Instruction. WILL’s suit cited a state law passed that same year, which requires state agencies to get approval from the governor’s office and state Department of Administration, which is controlled by the governor.

Assembly set to pass state budget on Tuesday

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The Wisconsin Assembly is scheduled to vote on the Republican-crafted state budget today. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says it meets the governor’s priorities of a middle class tax cut while funding schools, roads and health care.

“On the four things that Governor Evers said he wanted, we’ve accomplished all four of the goals but used our own conservative principles to get it done,” Vos said last week. “We feel this is a reasonable compromise, it achieves his goals but it also sticks to our principles, and I think that’s why in the end he should sign it.”

The state Senate is to take up the budget on Wednesday. Governor Tony Evers says he’ll wait until there’s a finished product before talking about his veto plans