State Sen. LaTonya Johnson says Senate Dems are “not willing to be picked off one by one” to back the budget, but she still sees a bipartisan path to a two-year spending plan.
“We are determined to stick together as a body to make sure that this is a bipartisan process, that are not willing to be picked off one by one,” Johnson said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “Special education, education period, prison reform, all of those things are what this state budget wants to see, and we’re determined to see some of those things get in the budget, especially child care.”
Republican leaders and Dem Gov. Tony Evers continue negotiations on some of the most controversial pieces of the budget, including childcare funding and money for the UW system.
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Evers said last week he would not sign the state budget if some form of Child Care Counts, the pandemic-era program that provides direct payments to providers, was not included.
Johnson, a member of the budget writing committee, said whatever potential deal Evers and GOP leaders reached would still face scrutiny from Senate Dems.
“It depends on what the budget looks like as a whole,” Johnson said. “I think everybody is waiting to see what the final process is.
“I’m relatively optimistic on a potential bipartisan path from here forward,” Johnson added. “We’re hoping that it’s a bipartisan path, and I’m sure the Senate is hoping this is a bipartisan path, too, because they’re going to need some extra votes.”
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, says the new numbers showing 55% of voters don’t want Gov. Tony Evers to seek a third term are “one small part of the overall picture.”
“You still have to remember that Evers has the best favorability rating of any politician in the state that we asked about,” Franklin told “UpFront.” “So he’s not underwater on that. He’s not in trouble on that, and his long-term approval rating has been just over 50%, which in these days is pretty good for any politician. The last thing to remember is you don’t run by yourself. There’s a question of who the opponent might be, and that fact that 55% say they don’t want him to run doesn’t in any way translate directly into, ‘Would you choose Evers or one of the other potential Republican candidates?’”
Evers has said he will make a reelection decision after the state budget process is complete.
Voters in last week’s Marquette University Law School statewide poll also weighed in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court as justices release the final opinions of the term.
The poll found that 58% of voters favor Supreme Court candidates running with a partisan nomination, and 42% said to keep the elections nonpartisan as they are now.
“I think this is an interesting question about whether we’re changing our views on the court,” Franklin said. “On the other hand, in February, when we asked whether we should stick with elected judges or move to nonpartisan nominations, over 90% said they want to keep electing judges. So I don’t think we’re turning away from elections, and maybe there’ll be some discussion about whether the current nonpartisan elections are the way to continue.”
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