Gov.-Elect Evers Holding Forums Around State To Formulate First Budget

Gov.-elect Tony Evers is hitting the road to hear from Wisconsinites about the upcoming state budget. He began a four-city tour in Green Bay on Tuesday night.

About 230 people turned out for the forum on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus on Tuesday. The attendees split into groups talking about their concerns on priorities for state spending. Breakout discussions focused on issues like the workforce; health care; child care and public schools; criminal justice reform; and the environment. Evers and Lt. Gov.-elect Mandela Barnes sat in on some of the discussions.

A draft budget is due by the last Tuesday in January, which in 2019 will be Jan. 29. However, the Legislature can grant an extension and postpone the deadline.

Evers told reporters that the budget is an obvious priority and that his team “decided early on after the election to make sure we are reaching out to them. As I said, the difference between this type of input and what we had a week or so ago in the (state) Capitol is stark.”

The Democrat was referencing the so-called lame-duck legislation that passed by the Republican-held Legislature, which sought to limit his powers. Evers criticized GOP lawmakers for passing the bills “in the middle of the night” with what he called “very little public input.”

Among the things the legislation would prevent is the Evers administration from withdrawing from a multi-state lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act; limit early voting; and reduce Evers’ influence over the state’s job-creation agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., until 2019. The measures also put limits on the powers of incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Gov. Scott Walker hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign or veto all or part of the legislative package. Evers reiterated previous comments that he will consider legal options if and when Walker signs the bills into law.

“It was 141 pages of hot mess. And to say, ‘Oh gosh, this one is more important than that,’ I cannot say. I think the optics around it is bad and the content of it is bad,” Evers said.

The remaining dates for the budget listening sessions are:

• Wednesday, Dec. 12, noon to 1:30 p.m., Wausau, Wausau Labor Temple, 318 South 3rd Ave.
• Tuesday, Dec. 18, noon to 1:30 p.m., La Crosse, American Legion Post 52, 711 6^th St. South,
• Wednesday, Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Milwaukee, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County Volunteer Center, 200 W. Pleasant St.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the date for the listening session in Wausau. It is Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018.