The Last Hurrah For Rep. Goyke

Rep. Evan Goyke. File photo by Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Watch.

Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) started off his comments about state employee pay during Thursday night’s budget committee meeting with a bit of a tribute to his colleague Rep. Evan Goyke’s unique style of debate.

“My dad used to tell me that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” McGuire said. “And today I’d just like to start off by saying that I’m hopeful for my colleague’s sake that this will be the last budget that he has to go through, that he has to endure.”

Goyke, a Democrat from Milwaukee and former public defender, announced in December 2022 that he plans to run for Milwaukee city attorney in 2024, making this likely his last session on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) and in the Legislature.

McGuire slid glasses on his face — a close match to those worn by Goyke — and launched into his comments about compensation for state employees to the laughter of members of the committee.

“We have a workforce shortage ladies and gentlemen,” McGuire said in a slightly raised tone, the same as Goyke has often used, while throwing his hands in the air to emphasize the point. “Say it with me. We have a substantial need to invest in compensation because without that, without competitive wages, we will have gaps in staffing which leads to gaps and reduced services, which leads to unhappy people.”

McGuire made sure to slam his hand on the table several times, another signature Goyke mannerism, as he continued making his point, before slowing his pace and quieting his tone to wrap up his comments. Once McGuire finished, he slid the glasses off and placed them in his jacket pocket.

“Representative Goyke, encore,” said JFC co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green).

“Two can play that game,” Goyke responded, before launching into comments on the same topic, but in the style of McGuire.

“I want to echo the comments of my colleague,” Goyke said to another round of laughter, employing the words McGuire has frequently used to open his speeches to the committee.

The pair fist bumped before a vote was taken to reject Democrats’ motion on state pay increases. (The Republicans followed with a similar, although more modest, pay plan.)

Goyke has served on JFC since 2019, the same year that Gov. Tony Evers took office. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2012.

Sen. Mary Felzkowski, a Republican from Irma, tweeted her appreciation for Goyke’s work on the committee following the Thursday meeting.

“It has been an absolute honor to work alongside @RepGoyke over these past few years,” Felzkowski said. “His passion for his constituents is clear, and I will miss his quick wit and thoughtful commentary.”

Returning to a serious vein, Goyke made several comments about his concerns about the final budget that was approved Thursday with only the votes of the committee’s Republican majority. The final document included a $3.5 billion cut in state income taxes and a cut to the UW system budget. Goyke said the budget is short on improving “the quality of life and the communities and schools and healthy outcomes of our people that create the type of place that people want to move to and to stay.”

“It is my intention to not serve in this body again by the time we have another budget,” Goyke said at the end of the meeting. Then, reflecting on his work on the committee, Goyke expressed gratitude for the other lawmakers and their staffs.

“I want to say thank you to Rep. McGuire, to Sen. [Kelda] Roys and Sen. [LaTonya] Johnson, and to their staffs and the team of Democrats on Joint Finance,” Goyke said. “To the Republicans on the committee, I do enjoy our conversations and getting to know each other and to your staff, staffs of both houses, it’s always a pleasure. I like that we can communicate and sometimes that [we] can find bipartisan consensus.”

With his last budget behind him, Rep. Goyke gets a teasing with a side of gratitude was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.