Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs lame-duck legislation that curbs his Democratic successor's authority
MADISON – Outgoing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed lame-duck legislation Friday that will scale back the authority of his Democratic successor – approving the entire legislation after saying he was inclined to veto parts of it.
The move came a day after Walker announced a $28 million incentive package for Kimberly-Clark Corp. using powers the legislation strips from incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. If Walker had signed the legislation earlier, he wouldn't have been able to cut the deal with Kimberly-Clark without permission from lawmakers.
The legislation also puts limits on the incoming attorney general and curb early voting — provisions that will likely ignite legal fights.
At a signing ceremony in Green Bay, Walker contended the legislation did not shift power away from Evers, pointing to a poster with a Venn-like diagram of provisions of the legislation that he said showed he and Evers would have the same abilities.
“The overwhelming executive of authority I have as governor today will remain constant with the next governor,” he said.
Walker was joined by two Republican lawmakers — Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and Rep. John Macco of Ledgeview.
In recent days, the Republican governor has signaled support for the main parts of the legislation but indicated he would strike out one or more provisions of it with vetoes. But on Friday he said he had decided not to do that.
"I’ll be signing each of these three bills in their entirety," he said just before doing so.
The Wisconsin Constitution gives governors some of the most sweeping veto powers in the country, allowing them to strike out individual words in appropriations bills.
The signing of the legislation puts the final marks on Walker's eight-year tenure. Critics, including some of his fellow Republicans, have said signing the legislation would stain his reputation, while Walker has downplayed the scope of the bills and said they would not significantly weakening future governors.
What he hasn't noted is that the measures mean Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul would have fewer powers than all of their predecessors, Republican and Democrat alike.
Walker left in place the heart of the legislation passed by Republicans last week in an overnight session just four and a half days after it was made public. It trims early voting; gives Republican lawmakers control of the state's job-creation agency; and hems in Evers and Kaul.
The legislation also will give GOP lawmakers control of a litigation authorized by Walker to try to overturn the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Evers and Kaul campaigned on getting the state out of that lawsuit.
GOP gains control of job-creation board
The legislation will initially give lawmakers control of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board and allow the board to choose the leader of the agency, instead of the governor as is the case now. Under the legislation, in September the governor will regain the ability to appoint the agency's director and the board will be downsized so that it will be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
Evers campaigned on dissolving the economic development corporation and replacing it with a more traditional state agency to focus on job creation.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester has said lawmakers wanted to temporarily have control of the agency to try to show Evers it works well and persuade him to keep it as is.
WEDC CEO Mark Hogan said this week his agency did not seek the change.
The legislation also will allow the Legislature to intervene in lawsuits when state statutes are challenged and use private lawyers at taxpayer expense instead of the attorney general's office. Lawmakers want that power because they fear Kaul won't vociferously defend the state's voter ID law or other measures approved by Republicans in recent years.
Lawmakers will also gain the ability to sign off on court settlements and get to decide how to spend any settlements.
Lawmakers can block rules by Evers
Republican lawmakers will gain the ability to more permanently block state rules written by the Evers administration. Such rules are more detailed than state statutes and carry the force of law.
Under the new law, Evers will need to get permission from lawmakers to make substantial changes to health care and public benefits programs. Republicans sought those measures to prevent Evers from shelving work requirements and drug screening requirements.
RELATED: Lawsuit looms over proposed limit to early voting in Wisconsin
RELATED: Republicans advance plan to limit Democrats' power, drop proposal to move 2020 presidential primary
Vos and other Republicans put together the legislation after Democrats won every statewide office in the Nov. 6 election. By moving it through the Legislature during the lame-duck period, they were able to get it to Walker before he leaves office on Jan. 7.
Republicans will continue to hold strong majorities in the Legislature in January — 19-14 in the Senate and 63-36 in the Assembly.
The early voting limit would allow local governments to allow at most 13 days of early voting in the two weeks before election day. There are no limits now and Milwaukee and Madison — the state's largest cities and its Democratic bastions — conducted six weeks of early voting in the most recent election.
A similar limit on early voting was struck down by a federal judge in 2016. Lawyers for the liberal groups who brought that lawsuit have said they are strongly considering challenging the new restrictions.
Vos has said he was confident the early voting limit would stand because unlike the earlier one, it would allow weekend and evening voting.
Other legal challenges — from Evers, Kaul or their allies — are possible.
Walker minimized the significance of the lame-duck bills, referring to them on Thursday as "some minor tweaks to the state statutes." He rejected the notion that signing them would damage how he would be remembered.
"OUR LEGACY — Higher wages and more jobs," he wrote last week in a string of 21 tweets detailing what he sees as his biggest accomplishments.
The lame-duck fight in Wisconsin is similar to ones mounted by Republicans in Michigan and North Carolina.
In Michigan, lawmakers are now trying to gain the ability to intervene in court fights and shift campaign finance regulation from the incoming Democratic secretary of state to a bipartisan commission.
In North Carolina in 2016, GOP lawmakers stripped power from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper before he took office, sparking a string of legal fights that are ongoing.
RELATED: Influential Republican businessman Sheldon Lubar sharply criticizes Walker for lame-duck session
RELATED: Tony Evers says he will 'take any steps possible' to prevent GOP plan to take away his power
ELECTED OFFICIALS: Want to make your voice heard with your Wisconsin elected officials? Here's how
Vos has contended the legislation is needed to make sure lawmakers have an equal say in how government is run. He has argued lawmakers have ceded too much authority to the executive branch over the years.
RELATED: Scott Walker signals support for Republican plan to shrink power of Tony Evers, Josh Kaul
RELATED: GOP Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald: 'We don’t trust Tony Evers right now'
POLITIFACT WISCONSIN: Republicans gave GOP governor more power, but that's changing with new Dem governor
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs lame-duck legislation that curbs his Democratic successor's authority
