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November is not the only upcoming battle for democracy in WI. There’s a sleeper menace in 60 days. [1]

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Date: 2024-06-14  

This November’s election is not the only upcoming battle for democracy in Wisconsin. There’s a sleeper menace coming up just 60 days from now—on August 13.

Wisconsin’s State Legislature—dominated by Republicans thanks to more than a decade of vicious gerrymandering (more on this) has put two Constitutional amendments on the Wisconsin ballot on August 13. They’re… bad.

This past Sunday, our state party’s highest governing body—the WisDems Administrative Committee—voted unanimously to endorse a NO vote on the constitutional amendments. This post explains what’s happening, and the plan to fight.

x ENDORSEMENT ALERT: Today the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed a “NO” vote on both constitutional amendment ballot questions appearing on the August primary ballot.



The two ballot questions would amend Wisconsin’s Constitution to eliminate checks and balances, grabbing… — Wisconsin Democrats (@WisDems) June 13, 2024

The GOP’s proposed constitutional amendments would give the legislature “sole power” over federal funds that come into the state. These amendments are a power grab. They would undermine checks and balances by ripping powers away from the governor and handing them to the legislature.

For example, in the case of a major emergency—a natural disaster, a pandemic—the legislature could block the governor’s power to move quickly to allocate federal funds.

As you’re probably guessing, there’s a history here. Republican legislators in Wisconsin have been laser-focused, going back to 2011, on undermining democracy and cementing their own power, at the expense of voters.

First, they gerrymandered legislative maps, slammed down on voting laws, rewrote campaign finance rules to benefit their donors, and smashed unions.

Then, when Governor Evers and Attorney General Kaul won, the GOP convened a special session to take power from these statewide elected officials and move it to the legislature.

Over and over, the GOP legislature took their fights to the far-right Wisconsin Supreme Court, which rubber-stamped their power grabs and moved things even further.

But despite all of this, they couldn’t break our democracy.

When the legislature refused to appropriate funds to respond to public needs, or even meet (for 300 days!) when the pandemic struck, President Biden and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate passed the American Rescue Plan. They sent emergency funds to every state, to be spent on the authority of the governor. Republican legislators howled in protest, filed lawsuits, and passed resolutions condemning Governor Evers for doing his job.

But, undeterred, he delivered for Wisconsinites. Thanks to Governor Evers, Wisconsin used ARPA funds to benefit every community in the state. It was what the ultraconservatives most feared: government working.

For generations, the Republican strategy has been to say the government is broken… and then attempt to prove it, by breaking the government. But Joe Biden, Tammy Baldwin, and Governor Evers did an end run around their obstruction, and it worked.

This was an affront Republicans could not abide.

The GOP was bent on revenge. But they were running out of ways to short-circuit democracy. Despite their attempt to re-gerrymander the state, they didn’t get the dual-chamber supermajorities they’d need to override the veto.

After years of turning to their far-right Justices, the GOP lost their state Supreme Court majority last year.

But, they realized, they had one tool left: Constitutional amendments.

In Wisconsin, the public isn’t allowed to put a measure on the ballot, as in other states. The only way to bring a proposal up for a vote by the full public is via an amendment to our constitution. To do this, both chambers of the State Legislature have to pass the amendment in back-to-back legislative sessions. The amendment is not subject to the Governor’s veto. And then it goes on the ballot, at the time of the legislature’s choosing.

In some other states, there’s a legal review process to (ideally) ensure the language of constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives is clear to voters. Not in Wisconsin. The legislature chooses the language. So, most constitutional amendments pass—11 of the last 12, in fact.

(The one exception was when Scott Walker tried to eliminate the constitutional office of State Treasurer. Sarah Godlewski ran a campaign to defeat the amendment, won, and then won election to that very office. Sorry about that, Scott Walker!)

You could see the menace of the GOP’s constitutional amendment strategy in action on April 2 of this year, when another pair of Republican-backed constitutional amendments—based on conspiracy theories about 2020—passed into law.

So, now, the GOP wants to amend the constitution again—to prevent future governors from responding to emergencies with the speed and success that Governor Evers just demonstrated.

If their amendments pass, it will jeopardize public health by potentially delaying critical funds for BadgerCare, and restrict emergency responses to support first responders, deal with diseases like avian flu, and critical payments for families in crisis. It will threaten federal food assistance programs that kids and their parents rely on, and delay infrastructure projects, road construction, and jobs.

They’re trying to break our government. Again. And we won’t let them.

The NO endorsement by the WisDems Administrative Committee means we can start organizing now.

We’ll print literature, include info about the amendments in our door-to-door and phone bank scripts, and work to hold the GOP accountable in the press. We’ll encourage friends and allies to speak up in every way they can. We want voters on August 13 to know exactly what’s at stake—and why Republicans are trying to do it.

It was painful to lose the constitutional amendment ballots this spring. We can’t guarantee victory now. But we’re learning all the lessons we can, and we intend to fight.

Our goal is to win. And then, this November, when we flip our state Assembly—and make a down payment on a Senate majority for 2026—we’ll end this Republican threat. They’ve got more constitutional amendments in store. But, if we make the most of fair maps, we can ensure that they lose control of our legislature. And then, at long last, we can start legislating in the public interest, and ensure that the will of the people is the law of the land.

P.S. The GOP will never stop grabbing power wherever they can. That’s why we can never stop fighting them. Your donations will help WisDems spread the message around the state to VOTE NO on these amendments. Chip in here.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/14/2246699/-November-is-not-the-only-upcoming-battle-for-democracy-in-WI-There-s-a-sleeper-menace-in-60-days?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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