MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – The first COVID-19 bill passed by the Wisconsin legislature died on arrival as soon as it reached the desk of Governor Tony Evers.
The governor’s office wasted no time stating that Evers had no intention of signing the legislation. Moments after the measure, dubbed Assembly Bill 1, authorized the state Senate around one o’clock, the Evers administration issued a statement promising that the governor would veto it.
“Wisconsinists know a compromise when they see one, and that’s not the case,” Evers said in his initial statement, noting that his administration and Republican senates had reached an agreement earlier to see it fail in the Assembly.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) fired on the governor.
“It seems Governor Evers cares more about his own power than the people of Wisconsin,” they wrote.
The two also said people experiencing food insecurity would be disadvantaged by the veto.
“It is sad that Governor Evers is playing games at the expense of disadvantaged people by endangering $ 50 million in food assistance benefits if the court removes the illegal public health emergency,” they said.
Within hours, Evers had fulfilled that promise. Two hours later, he issued a statement confirming the veto. In it, he focused specifically on how the bill would have restricted the health services department’s ability to limit the size of meetings.
To gain the support of the Assembly, lawmakers began adding articles that Evers previously said he would oppose, including a provision prohibiting employers from requiring vaccination of their workers, another point Evers cited in that statement. of veto.
“While [the compromise version] it did not contain all the provisions that each party would have wished for, yet it would have advanced Wisconsin in addressing many issues, including the flexibilities of unemployment benefits, ”Evers wrote in his veto statement.
The compromise legislation included an extension to the increase in unemployment benefits that should expire this weekend, as the governor’s office noted that the compromise bill would have waived the waiting period for one week for new applicants. Ahead of the announced veto, Senate leader Devin LeMahieu tweeted that if Evers did not sign AB1 unemployment benefits, $ 1.3 million a week would be lost in improved unemployment benefits.
The Senate had convened a specific special session on Friday morning to vote on the proposal after it was approved by the Assembly the day before. The bill did not get enough support to overturn a government veto.
“Unfortunately, Republicans once again chose to put politics before the people, they abandoned that commitment and passed a bill they knew they would not sign,” Evers said.
An Evers office spokesman told NBC15 that the governor does not have the power to use his veto on command lines over this legislation to attack only opposing elements. You must allow the entire invoice to be approved or rejected in its entirety.
In his statement, Evers encouraged lawmakers to send the bill to his desk so he could officially reject it.
He also criticized the legislature for taking so long to present any bill to him. Lawmakers had not passed a COVID-19 relief bill in ten months.
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