Remember Those Anti-Democracy Lame Duck Sessions Republicans Pulled? In Wisconsin, The Beat Goes On

Someone gave Wisconsin's new governor, Tony Evers, some great advice. Instead of suing the GOP legislature for the anti-democracy bills they rushed through in the lame duck session, he's decided on a strategy to letting them sue him. Wednesday he said he'll be ignoring their bad-faith bullshit."I’m anticipating most of the provisions will be challenged and I’m guessing I will be a defendant rather than a plaintiff."

Patrick Marley reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Evers' "stance changes the dynamic in the fight over the lame-duck legislation by prodding Republicans into initiating litigation instead of doing so himself."

In the interview, Evers also provided glimpses of the budget he will introduce in the coming months, saying he would look to expand health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act; allow illegal immigrants to qualify for driver’s cards; give immigrants who came to the state illegally as children the chance to pay in-state tuition; and allow property taxes to rise by more than they have in the past.

  In addition, Evers is considering letting local government increase sales taxes.

Evers, who will be sworn in Monday, said he remains bothered by lame-duck legislation lawmakers and departing Gov. Scott Walker approved in the weeks after Evers narrowly defeated Walker.

He suggested he wouldn’t go along with parts of those wide-ranging measures but wouldn’t specify which ones. The new laws limit his authority over state rules, require him to get permission from lawmakers to adjust public benefits programs and diminish his say over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Evers likened the situation to attempts by Walker and GOP lawmakers to chip into his authority over state rules as the state schools superintendent. Allies of Evers sued and won before the state Supreme Court the first time Republicans tried to diminish his powers. A second lawsuit over the issue-- this one brought by Evers’ opponents-- is now before the state’s high court.

“Having gone through this in my previous job as state superintendent, I think it’s more likely that I will be sued because I’m now the chief executive of the state,” Evers said of a potential legal fight over the lame-duck legislation “Same thing happened when I was state superintendent-- I was sued. So that’s where I anticipate most of the action to be.”

...“I thought the lame duck session was an effort to kind of disenfranchise the people that voted in the last election," he said. "So, is that wrong? Yes, absolutely it’s wrong. So I will continue to have that stand, but at the end of the day I also know I have to work with the legislators to get things accomplished.”

“I can walk and chew gum at the same time. I can be annoyed and against what they did, but by gosh, we have to solve some major problems. Education, transportation and health care was what I ran and won on. That’s what we’re going to be focused on.”

Litigation over the lame-duck legislation has already started. Two groups in December asked a federal judge to strike down limits on early voting included in the legislation. But so far no one has challenged other aspects of the new laws.

...Republicans who control the Legislature have said they plan to reject Evers’ budget and work off the existing one as they develop a two-year spending plan they hope to send Evers for final approval this summer.

Evers can rewrite whatever they send him using his broad veto powers, and Evers on Wednesday told The Associated Press he would not rule out vetoing a GOP budget in its entirety.

Some of Evers' budget plans are fiercely opposed by Republicans. He wants to provide schools an additional $1.4 billion over two years and greatly scale back a tax break for manufacturers and farmers so he can cut income taxes for the middle class by 10 percent.

Evers said he can’t stop Republicans from setting his budget aside but would hold events around the state to promote his plan as a way to try to get lawmakers to adopt key parts of it.

“Once our budget is baked, we will be taking it directly out to the people of Wisconsin and getting their input on it,” he said.

Evers told the Wisconsin State Journal his budget would raise the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour-- another idea likely to face GOP opposition. Evers didn't say how much of an increase he would seek.

Evers campaigned on expanding the state’s BadgerCare Plus health-care program to tens of thousands of more people using federal money available through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The plan would free up about $280 million the state could use for other purposes, according to initial estimates.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interview, Evers said he would include the plan in his budget and use some of the additional money to increase the rates paid to doctors and hospitals who provide care for people through BadgerCare and other Medicaid programs.

Republican lawmakers have resisted the effort to take the federal money, with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester saying in October there was “no way” the state would do so on his watch. But they also want to give providers better rates for caring for Medicaid patients.

By providing a rate increase, Evers hopes to entice lawmakers to go along with his plans.

Evers is pursuing other budget plans that will have little chance in a GOP-dominated Legislature. One provision would allow illegal immigrants to secure driving credentials if they passed a driving test and paid a fee. Backers say it would make Wisconsin’s roads safer and make it easier for immigrants to get to work. Opponents say it would reward illegal immigrants and encourage them to come to Wisconsin.

Evers also wants to charge in-state tuition to those living in Wisconsin known as Dreamers-- immigrants who came to the United States illegally when they were young. Walker and lawmakers ended a similar program in 2011 for immigrants who graduated from a Wisconsin high school.

...In addition, Evers said the state may need to spend more than the $80 million it has committed to establishing new juvenile lockups to replace the troubled Lincoln Hills School for Boys by 2021.

Evers told Wisconsin Public Radio on Wednesday that he was sticking by a campaign promise to visit Lincoln Hills next week. Walker never visited any correctional facilities during his eight years in office.

Evers said he hopes to find more money for roads in his budget but hasn’t made final decisions. He said during the campaign he was open to increasing the gas tax or imposing tolls.

Some GOP senators have resisted raising the gas tax and raised concerns about Evers’ decision to appoint Craig Thompson to run the Department of Transportation. Thompson is the executive director of the Transportation Development Association, a trade group that has called for increased road funding in recent years-- a stance some Republicans saw as an attack on Walker.

Evers said he believes senators will ultimately confirm Thompson, whom he said he hired because of his ability to bring people together on the issue.

“To reject a talented person because a handful of members may disapprove of his stance in the past, that seems-- that seems small in my opinion,” he said.

UPDATE

If I implied that Tony Evers is on the path of becoming an actual hero of the Revolution, let me dispel that as fast as in humanly possible. The dull, tepid, centrist governor quickly reverted to form. Yesterday he told reporters he has "no intention of breaking the law."

The incoming Democratic governor said he believed he would be sued not by detractors trying to force him to follow the laws passed in a lame-duck session, but by supporters who want to get him out from under the laws. Provisions of those laws will limit his ability to write state rules and oversee economic development.

"I personally have reviewed (the new laws) and reviewed them with attorneys and other legal staff," Evers said. "We haven’t decided what to do personally. It’s just that in my experience that when this happens, it likely will happen from the outside."

Fucking loser!

Hopefully Randy Bryce will jump into the special election for the Kenosha state Assembly seat being given up by Peter Barca as he shuffles off to Evers' office. Needed: Men and women with a bit of courageousness and heart.