DAILY WISCONSIN

Speaker Vos

Budget, Gov. Evers, Speaker Vos, State Government, WisDems, WISGOP

Word on the Street

The new Democratic governor, Tony Evers, has put together a two-year budget proposal that virtually every newspaper article declares DOA (dead on arrival) because of opposition in the Republican controlled legislature.  There is even talk that the GOP will try to supplant his budget by amending the old one.

That’s not the word you hear on the street. What may have been true for eight years under GOP’s departed governor Scott Walker is undergoing the crashing sounds of change.  Many in both parties now realize that Evers is not the extreme partisan the GOP tried to paint (in fact, several Democrats don’t find him extreme enough). Several of his proposals have considerable majority clout behind them, given past actions from all sides of the electorate.

Via DOM’S DOMAIN POLITICS: EVERS AND GOP FIGHTING FOR WISCONSIN’S POLITICAL SOUL.

Budget, Gov. Evers, Government Spending, Speaker Vos, State Government

Evers-Vos

The reality is that all legislators, of both parties, will be hearing from schools and local governments in their district, that need to plan their budgets and need finality on how much in state aid they will get. There will be enormous pressure to end a long standoff, including from voters in both parties who are likely to get impatient and demand action.

Via Murphy’s Law: Who Will Win State Budget Battle? » Urban Milwaukee.

Legislature, Pollution, Speaker Vos, Water, WISGOP

Stacked

Now, to the question of the day:

Do you expect genuine, comprehensive action from Vos’ hand-picked, Republican-heavy task force if there are five appointees who signed that letter for the federal waiver from phosphorous-pollution rules – –  including the Vis-Designated chairman, among its 13 GOP members?

Matching up the task force membership, here, with the signatories to the water waiver letter here – – and props to the Wisconsin State Journal for publishing the names in a sidebar – –  find these overlapping Vos appointees:

GOP State Reps Robert Brooks, Mary Fetzkowski, Andre Jacque, Travis Tranel and chairman Tod Novak.

Those five alone outnumber the task force’s three Democrats.

You could call that the implications of divided government.

Or you could call out special-interest water carrying when you see it, like this 2016 summary wherein Vos and his GOP allies make their appearances :

Via Vos water task force stars Republicans weak on pollution @ The Political Environment.

Gov. Evers, Legislation, Legislature, Speaker Vos, State Government, Wisconsin

Lazy dog’s not learning any new tricks

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos complains that Governor Tony Evers isn’t being bipartisan by vetoing their tax bill.

First rule of bipartisanship….having a bill named essentially the same thing…isn’t being bipartisan. Ya know? Plus you knew your bill would be vetoed when you passed it. It wasn’t going to accomplish the things the governor aims to do. It wasn’t sustainable. It was outside the budget process. It was rushed. It was another attempt to co-opt the governor’s platform. You do know that he is moving you left? I wrote about that!

Via Robin Vos Doesn’t Understand How Bipartisan Works! @ Blogging Blue.

Legislation, Speaker Vos

Boss Vos Readies Stealth Mode

There are a number of measures making their way through the Wisconsin GOP-controlled State Legislature intended to give advantages to big-money donors by increasing campaign contribution limits, legalizing dark money coordination, concealing information from the public. Among these items include a massive amendment that was tacked on to a campaign finance deformity yesterday by Assembly Speaker Robbin’ Vos that seeks to protect corporations and their CEOs from public accountability.…

Via Hiding the employment of donors = hiding corruption @ Jake’s Economic TA Funhouse.

Open Government, Public Records, Speaker Vos

Journal Sentinel Calls for Ouster of Boss Vos

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has shown that he will make every effort to gut the state’s open records law, no matter what the citizens of Wisconsin think, which raises the question of whether he is fit to represent the public’s interests in the state Legislature.

His utter disdain for transparency in conducting the public’s business should encourage civic-minded citizens in southern Racine County who believe in open, honest government to seriously consider replacing him. We hope Vos will face strong challengers in next year’s elections, starting with the Republican primary in August.

Via Editorial: Robin Vos keeps trying to gut open records law @ JSOnline.

Legislature, Open Government, Public Records, Speaker Vos, Wisconsin

No Legislative Records for You 

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MADISON — Newly released records show that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is exploring the idea of treating the Legislature differently than other government bodies in Wisconsin when it comes to handling open records.

Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer said Tuesday, September 8th that Vos wants to debate the changes before the end of the session next spring.

Via Assembly Speaker Robin Vos exploring changing open records law for Legislature only @ Fox 6.  

GOP, Gov. Walker, New Hampshire, Presidential race 2016, Speaker Vos

In desperation, Walker turns on WISGOP to survive in NH

Facing sagging poll numbers in the presidential race and declining approval in his home state, Walker in recent days has been stressing the resistance he met not just from unions and Democrats, but also Republicans.

“Sometimes people (think) I just took on the unions or the other party. We did. But before all that, we had to take on our own party’s establishment,” Walker said Friday morning at a “Politics and Eggs” event at St. Anslem College in New Hampshire.

“There were a lot of people in my party, particularly in the legislative branch, who said, ‘You know it’s nice to be in the majority, that means we’ve got a bigger office and more staff and nice titles but I don’t know that we really want to do all that much more.’

“They said, ‘It’s kind of safe here, if we have to push some of the big, bold reforms you’re talking about, there might be some push-back. And some of us in safe seats might actually have some challenges.’ You know what? We said, ‘Never mind. We got elected for a reason. We didn’t get elected for a title …. We got elected to do something.'”

But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Republicans in that house never balked over the controversial proposal to all but end collective bargaining for most of the state’s public workers, known as Act 10.

Via GOP leaders dispute Scott Walker’s account of union battle @ JS All Politics Blog.