Wisconsin Republicans passed legislation early Wednesday morning that will limit the powers of the incoming Democrat Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General. From The New York Times:
The package of bills, which now awaits Mr. Walker’s signature, would limit early voting and, for the coming months, give lawmakers, not the governor, the majority of appointments on an economic development board. They also prevent Mr. Evers from banning guns in the Wisconsin Capitol without permission from legislators.The bills would also require Mr. Evers to get permission from lawmakers to seek adjustments on programs run jointly by federal and state governments, such as public benefit programs.And they would bar Mr. Evers from installing any political appointee whose confirmation is rejected by the Senate. (Current law allows a governor to renominate such appointees or allow them to serve as a provisional appointment.) The measures also include a provision requiring the corrections department, at lawmakers’ request, to publish online the names of prisoners pardoned by the governor or released before finishing their sentences.“It provides more opportunity for oversight for a coequal branch of government,” Romaine Quinn, a Republican state representative, said of the measures.
The Democrats have called this a power grab and it goes against the will of the people. They seem to forget that the Republicans still hold the majorities in the state’s legislature, which is where more power will end up after Walker signs them into law:
On state legal matters, the package of bills shifts more authority to lawmakers that would ordinarily be held by the state attorney general. A Democrat, Josh Kaul, was elected attorney general in November to replace the outgoing Republican.Under the newly passed measures, the attorney general would need lawmakers’ approval to settle certain suits. Also, the measures would allow legislative leaders to intervene and hire their own lawyers — in addition to the attorney general — if the constitutionality of a law were being challenged. Under the new bills, the attorney general could no longer appoint a solicitor general to represent the state in major lawsuits, and would be restricted in how he spent settlement money, which lawmakers would now oversee.
My only question is why didn’t the Republicans have a problem with too much power going through the executive with Scott Walker at the helm? Oh that’s right. Scott Walker is a Republican.
The fact is you shouldn’t be okay with too much power in the executive branch no matter who occupies that office. This does make the GOP come off as sore losers and their actions as a power grab.
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