LETTER: Will Walker resist GOP moves to thwart the new governor?

To Ozaukee Press:

Everyone agrees that elections have consequences. But that doesn’t mean the losing party get to rewrite the rules.

However, that’s precisely what Wisconsin Republicans are attempting, having ceded races for both governor and attorney general to their Democratic challengers.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have proposed sweeping changes to limit Governor-Elect Tony Evers’ authority to confirm heads of state agencies and reduce the number of appointments he can make. They also want to restrict incoming Attorney General Josh Kaul’s ability to represent the state when laws are challenged and afford the legislature greater control over legal actions, including his promise to withdraw Wisconsin from the federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

Vos and Fitzgerald maintain that the executive branch has too much power, but apparently that wasn’t an issue during the eight-year tenure of Scott Walker.

If they can implement these changes, they will certainly try to thwart Evers from making changes to Wisconsin’s Voter ID law. They also want to reduce early voting to just 14 days prior to an election and have called for a separate presidential primary in March 2020, which would cost an estimated cost of more than $7 million.

I’m hopeful Gov. Walker will resist his party’s attempt at legislative overreach and not sign the proposed legislation. It might even be the first step toward a renewed bi-partisanship in Wisconsin politics.

Greg Melcher
Port Washington