Legal pot in Wisconsin, budget items face GOP rejection
(Photo credit: Ricardo Castelan Cruz / Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin Republicans plan to vote next week to kill key parts of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' state budget proposal, including legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, expanding Medicaid to capture $1.6 billion in federal funding and granting collective bargaining rights to public workers.
The move, announced Friday, is no surprise and follows what the GOP-controlled Legislature did two years ago to Gov. Evers' first budget.
The governor and Democrats have lobbied for his proposal to be taken up as written, saying it reflects what the people of the state want. Republicans decried it as a liberal wish list.
The Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee will vote Thursday on removing a 15-page list of nearly 300 items from the budget before they then work on rebuilding a two-year spending plan from scratch.
Other items Republicans intend to remove include freezing enrollment in the private school voucher program and allowing the University of Wisconsin System to borrow for operational expenses. That was a top priority of university officials, who said it was needed to deal with short-term losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Wisconsin Republicans are sending a clear message that they haven’t listened to a single word of what the public has told them this year," said Democratic state Sen. Kelda Roys, of Madison.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
Joe Biden infrastructure plan road tour begins with a stop in Milwaukee
The president hits the road to sell the proposals laid out in Wednesday night's speech. It's his hundredth day in office, and on Tuesday Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Milwaukee and the debating picks up on whether Congress should spend trillions on the plans.
Featured
Judge rules against Wisconsin GOP in redistricting case
A judge ruled Thursday that Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature illegally hired private taxpayer-funded attorneys to represent them in anticipation of lawsuits over redistricting.
Featured
Gov. Evers: Listening to people, not GOP lawmakers
Gov. Evers said Thursday that he hasn't met with Republican legislative leaders to discuss his $91 billion state budget proposal because he's listening to what the people of Wisconsin want.