Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Image courtesy: Wisconsin Radio Network
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Governor Tony Evers will take part in one of the most useless political exercises tonight: the annual state of the state address.
The state of the state is stalemate. Governor Evers does not negotiate with the republicans in the state legislature. None of his proposals will become law. He can do some things through executive order or with the blessing of the liberal state Supreme Court. The governor’s slush fund of COVID dollars, which he can spend without legislative input, will soon run dry. Donald Trump will try to claw it back. The governor’s tools are limited.
The governor will make his pitch for direct citizen legislation by petition. That’s a non-starter, as the legislature will not allow itself to be cut out of the process of legislating. The governor will pitch for more daycare funding – which will actually make daycare more expensive. Prices will be adjusted upward as daycares learn that their users, moms and dads, not actually pay the bill. The governor will call for more money for public schools, as if we’ve forgotten that he used his veto pen to extend increases in per-student aid for 435 years. Republicans, of course, will suggest that some of the state’s $4.5-billion surplus be given back to the taxpayers. That’s going nowhere.
Evers will hope that the Tony-mandered maps will allow Democrats to pick up more seats in the state senate. Republicans, who currently have a three-seat majority, will have to defend 12 seats. Democrats have only 4 seats to defend. Under redistricting, there will be three seats with no incumbent. We’d still have divided government; Republicans are almost certain to hold the assembly. There could even be a new governor that fall.
The state of government in Wisconsin is gridlock. We don’t need to hear a speech of the governor’s wish-list to know where things stand. And, of yes, we’ll hear from Tony Evers again next month with his budget proposal. It will be rejected in toto by the legislature, which will write its own spending plan that the governor will try to carve up with his veto pen. We’ve heard it all before.
Chris Conley
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