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MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – The Wisconsin legislature on Wednesday adopted a radical move that transfers power to the Republican-controlled body and weakens the Democrat replacing Republican Governor Scott Walker.
Republicans were stifled through internal protests and disagreements and the democratic opposition during a lame legislative session to reduce the powers of Governor-elect Tony Evers and elected Attorney General Josh Kaul, also democratic. Evers and Kaul both warned that the resulting lawsuits would create even more problems for Wisconsin when the new government – and the first government split in 10 years – would take power in January.
Republicans passed the bill during a busy night session of many stops. departures. The Senate approved package 17-16, with only one Republican voting against, at sunrise. The assembly approved it by a vote to 56 votes against 27 about two hours later, and then forwarded it to Walker
who showed his support. He has 10 days to sign it from the moment he is delivered to his office. A spokesperson did not immediately answer a question about how quickly Walker would act; he was in Washington on Wednesday for former President George H.W. Bush's funeral.
"This is a hell of a way to run a railroad," said Democratic Minority Senate Leader Jennifer Shilling, resuming debate at 5 am. "It's embarrassing, we're even here." 19659002] The Wisconsin Republicans' coup comes after lawmakers in North Carolina took similar action two years ago. Michigan Republicans are also discussing taking action before a Democratic governor takes power here.
In a grant, Republicans refused to give the legislature the power to bypass the Attorney General and appoint their own attorney when state laws are challenged in court. 19659002] On Tuesday, Walker was booed and heckled at a ceremony lighting a Christmas tree in the Capitol Rotunda. He is in his last five weeks as governor after losing a bid for a third term at Evers, superintendent of public schools.
Despite the victories won by Evers, Kaul and all other Democrats who ran for office in the state, Republicans retained majority control in the Legislature. for the next two years. Democrats accused Republicans of mishandling electoral law
In the face of a Democratic governor for the first time in eight years, Republican lawmakers introduced a set of flawed bills to protect their priorities and make them more difficult. for Evers to enact it.
"Why are we here today?" Democratic minority leader Gordon Hintz said the nine-hour debate began Tuesday night. "What we do Nothing we are doing here is intended to help the people of Wisconsin, it is to help politicians, it is a question of power and power." personal interest."
Speaker Robin Vos replied that the bills would ensure a balance of power between the legislature and the executive.
"We left too much authority to the executive," Vos said. "For you, everything is a matter of politics, for me, it is an institution."
The law would weaken the governor's ability to put in place rules that would legislate and protect the state's employment agency from its control until September. [19659002] This would also limit advance voting to no more than two weeks before an election, a restriction similar to that declared unconstitutional by a federal judge. The Democrats were optimistic that the courts would reject him again.
The proposal would also weaken the Attorney General's office by requiring a legislative committee, rather than the Attorney General, to agree to withdraw from federal prosecutions. This would prevent Evers and Kaul from keeping their election promise to remove Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They made opposition to this trial a central element of their two campaigns.
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The legislature adopted another measure to make the Compulsory Medicaid rules work requirement that Walker recently won a federal waiver to establish. The bill would also give the legislature the power to monitor the governor looking for future waivers for health care, a change that the Democrats believe would handcuff the new government.
Protesters moved to the Capitol over the past two days as legislators rushed to pass the bills. . The uproar evoked much larger protests during the first weeks of his governorship in 2011, when he ended collective bargaining for most public service employees.
"The first thing Scott Walker did when he broke through the Capitol Gate was to create chaos," Democratic Senator Jon Erpenbach told the Senate debate. "The last thing he does is create chaos."
Also Wednesday, the Senate rejected a bill that would have created a guarantee on the part of the state allowing people with pre-existing illnesses to have access to health insurance. Walker had made it a priority during the campaign, but he failed 16-17 after two Republicans joined all the Democrats. Democrats and other opponents argued that the measure provided insufficient coverage and would spike premiums, making coverage unaffordable for citizens. Democrats support the strengthening of coverage guarantees in the federal health care law.
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