Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu says Senate Republicans will “pull out all the policy issues right away” when Gov. Tony Evers introduces his budget plan.

“It’s not a policy vision for the governor,” LeMahieu said on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “But a lot of the requests, in education, K-12 is way too much. He said $4 billion was almost too much for him in education, so we’ll see what he puts in there.”

LeMahieu said Senate Republicans will also “not fully fund” the Universities of Wisconsin request for $855 million in new funding.

“Outside of Madison and maybe one or two other campuses, enrollment is declining,” LeMahieu said. “So I’m not sure why it makes sense to continue to put more money into a system that’s in decline.”

LeMahieu indicated Republicans will first introduce a stand-alone tax cut bill ahead of budget negotiations with an estimated $4 billion surplus and likely see different bills coming from the Senate and Assembly.

“I think it’s important to get a commitment from the governor to cut taxes first before we pass the budget,” LeMahieu said. “We’ll work with the Assembly, but it might be a Senate bill, there might be an Assembly bill, and we’ll work together to maybe do both or combine.”

LeMahieu said he was unsure yet if there was Republican support to pass legislation that would allow cities like Milwaukee to begin processing absentee ballots the day before the election, legislation that passed the Assembly last session but failed to gain enough traction in the Senate.

“As long as there’s guidelines around it to make sure that the ballots are processed, not counted, that there can be witnesses involved, I see no problem with that bill,” LeMahieu said. “Just like every bill, we have to make sure there’s support for it, and I don’t know where that’s at currently.”

LeMahieu also expressed a potential pathway to legalize medical marijuana, but said the proposal could not include state-run dispensaries, which was part of an Assembly GOP plan last session.

“I think there are members of our caucus who are supportive of medical marijuana,” he said. “The challenge with the bill in the Assembly introduced last time was state-run dispensaries. I think from our caucus standpoint, my standpoint, is just having a certain number of dispensaries run, growing the size of government doesn’t seem to be the best way to do it.”

Lawmakers are also closely watching the Wisconsin Supreme Court and key decisions forthcoming, including on the state’s abortion law. LeMahieu said Republicans could introduce legislation if the court upholds the current law, which allows abortions up until roughly 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“It could be a 14 week if they make abortion legal full term or if they keep it at 20 weeks, we could try to do it to 14 weeks,” LeMahieu said. “We, at that point, we’ll try to build consensus and see where our caucus is at, see where the Assembly’s at.”

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson met with GOP leaders at the State Capitol last week, in part discussing Milwaukee Public Schools’ refusal to reinstate school resource officers across the district.

“I want them back,” Johnson told “UpFront.” “I’ve consistently said that I want them back. I’ve had a number of conversations with MPS, and I want to continue pushing Milwaukee Public Schools in order to get that program stood back up.”

The bipartisan shared revenue law that allowed Milwaukee to raise its sales tax included a provision that MPS reinstate 25 school resource officers across the district.

“You have to have the funding in order to get the officers,” Johnson said. “And this is what I’ve been saying the whole time: when you go to a restaurant and you order a meal, the chef doesn’t prepare your meal and then pick up the check. That’s what MPS is asking us to do, unfortunately. And I think that’s wrong for the taxpayers in the city of Milwaukee, especially given the fact that presently right now, after the referendum, Milwaukee Public Schools has a larger tax levy than the city of Milwaukee.”

The law took effect more than a year ago. GOP leaders, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, have threatened future funding for MPS.

“That’s a question I think MPS is going to have to answer this coming session in the Legislature,” Johnson said. “As the speaker mentioned when he was here, there may be consequences for Milwaukee Public Schools if they don’t. I don’t want to see that, though, because I don’t want additional resources taken away from Milwaukee Public Schools.”

James Skoufis, the New York state senator who’s launched a longshot bid to be the next DNC chairman, says while Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler “brings a certain skill set to this race,” he is offering a “major shakeup.”

“If you’ve been part of the apparatus for years, if not over a decade, you’re probably not as well suited as I am to be able to tell the status quo stakeholders, the D.C. consultant class and others, ‘No, we’re not doing it this way any longer,’” Skoufis told “UpFront.” “We’re up to over 20 DNC members who are ranking my candidacy first. And every day, it seems like we’re getting more and more traction. I’m someone who represents a Trump plus-12 district. We need someone who knows how to win in tough places.”

Eight candidates participated in a DNC-organized forum Saturday. An expected 448 DNC members will vote Feb. 1 on a new chair.

“Ben Wikler, I’ve gotten to know him and the other candidates over the past little while, and he’s done an excellent job as state party chair,” Skoufis said. “He brings a certain skill set to this race. I just happen to bring a different skill set to this race, and I know how to go into every type of community, every type of meeting room and town hall, every type of media outlet. I was on Fox News Radio a couple weeks ago, and a lot of these places, these settings are traditionally uncomfortable for national Democrats to show up in.”

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