Wisconsin Democratic Governor-Elect May Sue If GOP Limits Power

(Bloomberg) -- Wisconsin Governor-elect Tony Evers said he may go to court if outgoing Republican Governor Scott Walker signs legislation that would weaken his powers and those of the incoming Democratic attorney general.

“I won the election any way you slice it,” the Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Asked if he would sue in an effort to block such legislation, he said, “All issues are on the table,” while adding he isn’t making a commitment one way or the other.

“I need to stand up for the people of Wisconsin,” Evers added. “We’re going to pursue this.”

Evers, currently Wisconsin’s education superintendent, defeated Walker in the Nov. 6 election and will take office on Jan. 7.

The Republican-held legislature, in its lame-duck session, passed bills last week that would weaken the governor’s powers prior to Evers taking office. Their efforts triggered days of protests at the Wisconsin statehouse in Madison.

The three bills also would limit early voting, undercut the authority of the attorney general to file lawsuits as a Democrat prepares to take that office, and cut state income tax rates.

Not Encouraged

Walker hasn’t yet acted on the bills. Evers said on NBC that he urged the governor to veto the legislation in a phone call a few days ago, but Walker was non-committal. “I’m not particularly encouraged,” Evers said.

A spokeswoman for the governor said Friday he’s reviewing the measures, according to the Capital Times in Madison, which also reported that some of the governor’s current and past allies have urged him to veto.

Read more: Bills Block Powers of New Wisconsin Governor

The bills are aimed at limiting Evers’ power to alter three policies: work requirements for adults receiving government-sponsored health care; permitting guns in the state’s Capitol; and controlling Wisconsin’s state’s economic development agency, the Associated Press reported. Republicans fear he plans to change state policy in those areas.

“We’re not stopping him from doing things,” Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the Republican who helped lead efforts to pass the bills, said in a radio interview Thursday.

Walker, with assistance from lawmakers like Vos, has made sweeping changes that rankled Democrats since taking office almost eight years ago. One of the most high profile and contentious measures in 2011 trimmed benefits and bargaining rights for most public-sector unions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at alevin24@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Ros Krasny

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