Vos: Campus carry bill unlikely, lawmakers to take second look at fetal tissue ban
MADISON --Wisconsin lawmakers, back in Madison for a brief session before focusing on their own re-election efforts for the rest of 2016, will consider one bill making it easier to hire and fire state workers and another banning the use of fetal tissue from abortions.
Elections will dominate 2016 in Wisconsin politics -- including a presidential primary and state Supreme Court election in April, a U.S. Senate rematch, and Democrats trying to win back seats in Madison.
Both sides have upside-down approval ratings. Only 31 percent of voters think legislative Republicans are doing a good job, while 39 percent approve of the work legislative Democrats are doing, according to a Marquette Law School poll conducted in mid-November.
"As a state legislator, it makes it hard for us to communicate our message – because by and large, Wisconsin’s going in the right direction. It’s the federal government that’s screwing things up," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, adding that the distinction will be key to the GOP message this fall.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca
Democrats pointed to their slim lead in the Marquette poll as proof they can make gains in 2016, six years after they lost control of the Legislature and governor's office to Republicans.
"Wisconsin, as a state, has always had a reputation of being in tune with our citizens’ needs, and that is not going on right now," said Peter Barca, the Democratic leader in the Assembly. "That's the frustrating part, more so than (not) winning elections. But the good news, I think, is that it’s going to lead us to winning more elections."
Republicans hold a strong 63-36 advantage in the state Assembly. The state Senate is more evenly split, 19-14, with an open seat in the Fox Valley after Sen. Rick Gudex decided not to seek re-election.
While Democrats are eager to take back seats in the Legislature, there's unfinished business in Madison.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos
Vos expects his Senate counterparts to take up changes to Wisconsin's century-old civil service system, making it easier to hire and fire state workers. Gov. Scott Walker pushed for the changes almost immediately after ending his presidential bid in September, and the Assembly passed the bill last fall.
Walker, in urging lawmakers to make the changes, claimed the state was unable to fire two Railroad Commission employees who were having a romantic relationship on the job.
Yet documents released in the weeks since the Assembly passed the bill show that supervisors never attempted to fire the employees -- only giving each a letter of reprimand.
"We never used that example - at least I didn`t - as I talked to folks," Vos said. "What I had always said was, I want to make sure that we have a civil service system that reflects the reality of where we are today. "It takes far too long to hire somebody at the state, and it’s not all that easy to fire somebody if they commit a grievous misdeed."
Barca blamed Republicans for focusing on issues other than job creation. He's calling for a complete overhaul of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the state's troubled jobs agency that has been beset by mistakes and ousted leaders.
"We`re hoping the Republicans will do something meaningful, but we`re not banking on it," Barca said.
WEDC
Vos says he supports a bill making it a crime to defraud WEDC for loan money meant for job creation. But he said many of the issues had been solved after a 2014 audit and criticized Democrats for making it a political issue.
"Democrats have continued to use WEDC as a political punching bag just to try to get at Gov. Walker, and in reality, I think it`s hurting the agency`s ability to go out and recruit and retain companies coming to Wisconsin," Vos said.
Vos says there's "no doubt" that a bill will pass the Assembly limiting the use of fetal tissue from abortions, although the speaker said he hopes it gets amended to allow certain research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The bill has also not passed the Senate, and its approval is also uncertain in that chamber.
Vos said there's not a "huge outcry" in support of a bill allowing the concealed carry of guns on Wisconsin college and university campuses, meaning the legislation likely won't advance in 2016.
Lawmakers in Madison