Leaders in the Wisconsin State Legislature have been working feverously in recent days to strip power from the incoming governor’s office.
Power they were so eager to see wielded under Republican Gov. Scott Walker they now want to limit from governor-elect Tony Evers.
The effort is an example of the declined ethical behavior on the part of our leaders.
This isn’t the first time such a move has been made. Two years ago, according to ABC News, North Carolina held a special legislative session and passed a series of bills limiting the power of an incoming Democratic governor-elect. Both Wisconsin and Michigan are currently following the trend in a move that’s called “election nullification.”
Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said, “Once you start down the path of diluting, obviating, nullifying the results of an election, it’s very hard to pull back from that.”
An incoming governor should not be hamstrung by a previous administration. Our republic is built on the idea that new leadership brings with it change. This change is decided upon by representatives whom the people elect.
The fall general election saw a sweep by the Democrats in the executive branch of Wisconsin’s government. Change is inherent and natural.
Senate Majority leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos have been fighting to preserve policies made under the Walker administration. Last week, the state Assembly moved to prevent the incoming administration from making boilerplate decisions. This includes blocking the attorney general from working on a lawsuit involving the Affordable Care Act, limiting early voting, making changes to work requirements for Medicaid programs and altering existing state tax laws.
Walker, meanwhile, is shuffling appointees to state boards and committees, filling positions with people who will continue to carry forward the policies of his administration.
It had previously been practice in Wisconsin to leave these seats vacant until the new governor arrived.
“In the 1970s and ‘80s, for example, vacancies have explicitly been left open so the newly elected governor [of a different party] could fill them,” Dennis Dresang, professor emeritus of public affairs and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC. “When Scott Walker was elected governor in 2010, his predecessor, [Democrat] Jim Doyle, did not proceed with a grant of $810 million from the federal government for high speed rail because during the campaign Walker said he opposed the project.”
Instead, the lame-duck state legislature is on its way to send the lame-duck governor legislation that would cement former philosophies and practices, holding the new administration accountable for carrying them forward.
For a century, Wisconsin looked upon itself as the Progressive state, with a motto of “Forward,” where statesmanship trumped the intoxication of power. Since 2010, we’ve witnessed a go-for-the-throat policy of divide and conquer that worked marvelously well for those in power.
Yet, one party doesn’t stay in power forever. There are shifts. In the past, such shifts were handled with a level of grace, which can be likened to a safe transition of power. Those who have fed on the anger in the partisan fight are going to discover what goes around comes around. This doesn’t allow for stability in governing.
During the Walker administration, a herd of sacred cows was slayed over eight years. Democrats paid attention.
The most significant lasting outcome of Walker’s administration, and the conservative leadership of Wisconsin’s State Legislature during his tenure, is the negative atmosphere at the Capitol.
What’s been created is a new, mutated blueprint for how Wisconsin government functions. This effort to strip power from the governor’s office is another example of the void of statesmanship in government.
— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
