December 5, 2018 at 4:43 p.m.
Tony Evers, the Gov.-elect of ... what?
Tony Evers, the Gov.-elect of ... what?
The Republicans have rejected the will of the people, they shout. Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) said, "Republicans are ramming through sweeping changes in an unprecedented power grab that totally and completely undercuts the will of the voters."
Gov.-elect Tony Evers chimed in, too, saying the special session was "politics as usual" and "flies in the face of democratic institutions and the checks and balances that are intended to prevent power-hungry politicians from clinging to control when they do not get their way."
Maybe our outgoing superintendent of education should have attended some civics classes in the schools under his authority at the DPI (Here's a scary thought - maybe he did!). Or maybe he should just read this editorial and learn some things.
First, he is right about one thing - this is politics as usual. Remember, the Democrats tried to do the same thing after Walker was first elected in 2010 but were unsuccessful because they couldn't keep their troops in line and failed.
So, yes, this is politics as usual, and we can't help it that the Democrats were bad at it. Anyway, just because something is "politics as usual" doesn't mean it's always bad.
In this case, politics as usual means the Legislature is carrying out its obligations to the voters who put them there and that they are not abdicating their constitutional responsibility to finish their terms of office.
Mr. Evers - and we emphasize 'Mr.' - should be reminded he is not yet the governor of this great state. Those who were newly elected to the Legislature in November are not yet members of the Legislature.
Thus, the lawmakers and the governor whom Democrats accuse of a "power grab" cannot "grab" power because they already possess it. They serve, as the voters elected them to do, until Jan. 7.
It is the Democrats who are trying to prematurely grab power by attempting to obstruct those elected officials from carrying out their duties and to serve their constituencies fully.
Really, is passing these reforms in December any different from passing them last July? They were serving the same terms then as they are now. They were serving their constituents the same as they are now. What's different is not an election but priorities.
So when Evers and Democrats say the special session flies in the face of democratic institutions, they fail to understand who is legitimately running those institutions today.
As for checks and balances, it seems to us the Republicans, in these last days before a new political regime takes office, are the ones trying to provide true checks and balances, and to preserve the will of the people.
For instance, unelected bureaucrats still wield enormous power despite significant reforms in rule-making authority through the Reins Act, which gives elected officials the final call on administrative regulations.
But since those reforms, bureaucrats have resorted to informal "guidance documents" that tell people how to interpret formal rules and laws, and often they simply substitute their political vision for any true interpretation, without any oversight - except by other bureaucrats - and without citing any statutory justifications for their opinions.
In the special session, the Republicans are preserving the will of people by subjecting these blatantly and aggressively political documents to oversight by elected officials.
What about limiting the powers of the governor? We say amen to that. It's about time, and we have called for that even during Walker's tenure.
Wisconsin has an absurdly powerful governor compared to other states, whereas, until the past few years, the elected Legislature served in the shadows not only of the governor but of the bureaucracy.
Yes, the move now is politically motivated, but that doesn't mean it isn't good public policy. It is, and, by putting the elected Legislature on a level playing field with the elected governor and the unelected bureaucracy, the special session is enhancing checks and balances, not undermining them.
All of which brings us to a central point: Just who do Gov.-elect Evers and legislative Democrats think they will be representing when they take office? Just what do they mean when they say the special session "totally and completely undercuts the will of the voters"?
The "will of the voters" was to have a divided government. Assembly Republicans held their wide margin, and the GOP added a seat in the Senate.
Overall, Democrats statewide won about 54 percent of the Assembly vote to about 46 percent for Republicans, but in 2012 the numbers were about the same: a 53-47 advantage for Democrats. Republicans have more seats because Democrats are clustered in Madison and Milwaukee, but the statewide preference this year showed no surge toward Democrats, no blue wave.
The governor's race was the same. Evers eked out a minuscule plurality, not even able to get a majority of the electorate and beating Walker by just 31,000 votes.
So just what, then, is the will of the people? To us, it all looks pretty evenly divided, and that means a system of strong checks and balances that the special session is putting in place.
So we ask, when they say the will of the people, do Democrats mean the will of the people in Madison and Milwaukee only? After all, Evers beat Walker by some 289,000 votes in the two counties of Dane and Milwaukee.
To say it another way, in the other 70 counties, Walker smashed Evers by about 258,000 votes.
What about their voices? Aren't the Democrats "totally and completely" undercutting the will of those voters, who have long supported Walker and the kind of reforms pursued in the special session?
Let us be clear: We wish the best for Tony Evers as governor. We hope his administration will be a success because, if it is, the state of Wisconsin and its citizens will be more successful.
But that success can come only if Evers governs as the governor of the entire state, not just as the governor of Madison and Milwaukee. He needs to stand up for the views of his base, to be sure, but he needs to also listen to the other side and compromise and seek to actually share power.
Right now, when Evers and Democrats say the Republicans are ignoring the will of the people, they themselves are ignoring the will of the people outside of Dane and Milwaukee counties.
This week's special session was a step forward in actual power-sharing, not power-grabbing, and Democrats should embrace it as the democratic action it was.
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