Senate Fires 8 Evers Appointees, Approves 3 Constitutional Amendments

During the Wisconsin Senate’s last planned floor session of the legislative session, Republicans voted to fire eight of Gov. Tony Evers appointees, including several to the state Judicial Commission and the UW Board of Regents. The Senate also passed three constitutional amendments and a number of education-related and other bills that will now head to Evers’ desk.

Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement that the firings were a “damn shame” and that he was “apoplectic” that his appointees continue to be fired. He said that Senate Republicans were continuing their “unprecedented efforts to baselessly fire capable, qualified Wisconsinites who are volunteering their skills, time, and energy to serve our state, and for no reason other than petty, partisan politics.”

The Senate’s appointee rejections on Tuesday brings the total number of appointees rejected since Evers took office to 21.

“We work incredibly hard to appoint the best candidates to every role, so to have these folks’ service to our state politicized like this just because they don’t bend to the will of certain politics or politicians — it’s ridiculous,” Evers added. “Republicans have turned a basic duty of government into a political circus, and the ones who pay the price are the people of Wisconsin.”

Evers immediately announced new appointees to replace those who were rejected.

Four booted from Wisconsin Judicial Commission

Lawmakers rejected all but one of Evers’ nominations to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, which is responsible for investigating judges’ potential violations of the state’s judicial code of conduct.

Yulonda Anderson, Janet Jenkins and Judy Ziewacz were rejected in 22-10 party line votes, while Jane Foley was rejected in a 21-11 vote with Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) joining Democrats against the rejection.

Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who chairs the committee that considered their appointments, said during the floor session that they lacked certain knowledge about the commission, and that they had “apparently endorsed candidates for judicial office.”

“Despite serving on the judicial council for years, many of the commissioners had no knowledge of the commission process. The former chair didn’t know how meetings were noticed, refused to tell the Senate who the current chair of the commission was, didn’t know what a walking quorum was or if the commission was subject to open meeting laws,” Wanggaard said.

“The judicial commission must remain neutral, above partisanship and enforce the law by following the laws without bias, even if the Wisconsin Supreme Court has taken a hard turn into politics and partisanship instead of law, the Judicial Commission must not,” Wanggaard added.

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) called Wanggard’s comments a “gross mischaracterization.” She said that Republicans were mad about the results of the April 2023 Supreme Court election, which liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz won.

“The [Senate] committee was not setting out to find out about the extensive professional experience, the long records of public service, including many who had served on the judicial commission for a long time,” Roys said. She said the confirmation hearings for the appointees held in August and September 2023 were “structured as a witch hunt trying to force these appointees into basically making a prejudgment as to whether or not they would vote to censure Justice Protasiewicz for the way that she campaigned.”

Complaints had been made to the Commission alleging that comments made by Protasiwicz about the state’s legislative maps and abortion rights during the campaign violated the state’s judicial code of ethics. The Commission dismissed those complaints.

Following the Senate’s vote, Evers announced new appointees to the Commission including Barbara Notestein, a former state lawmaker, Roberta Gassman, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Analiese Eicher, a Dane County Board Supervisor, and John Hendricks, a retired educator.

UW Board Regents that voted against DEI deal rejected

The Senate also fired two appointees to the UW Board of Regents without explanation, though Democrats pointed to their opposition to a deal between lawmakers and the UW System on DEI and funding that was approved last year.

“Because of a political, radical base that has turned diversity, equity and inclusion into a dirty phrase, we’re putting our Universities of Wisconsin at risk because we’re going to ignore the most passionate, caring people in this state, who want to see our universities succeed,” Sen Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) said.

Following the Regents’ initial rejection of the deal with lawmakers, Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) threatened on social media that there would be consequences due to votes against the deal.

John Miller and Dana Wachs voted against a deal between Republican lawmakers and the UW System that traded concessions on DEI for funding for employee raises and capital projects.

“For the life of me, I can’t understand what is wrong with wanting to make everyone feel welcomed, included,” Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee said. “It says something when we are willing to take away an appointment because individuals were willing to stand up for diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Evers immediately announced that he would be appointing Haben Goitom, a business professional and attorney, and Amy Traynor, a teacher, to serve on the UW Board of Regents.

The Senate also voted to reject two other appointees without explanation, despite Democrats’ requests for one.

One appointee, Mildred Gonzales, was rejected from the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse in a 22-10 vote. She will be replaced by Elizabeth Lucas, director of the Office of Victim Services and Programs at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

“Pretty soon we won’t have people like Mildred Gonzalez, who’s willing to sacrifice and spend time on domestic abuse issues,” Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) said, pointing out Gonzalez was recommended for approval by the Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families committee in a 5-0 vote.

“No one will give an answer,” Carpenter added. “All I can come up with is that there’s a political agenda of shooting things down, and it’s disgusting and I think future senators when they look back at this period, they’re going to wonder what the heck was going on.”

The Senate also fired Terrance Craney from the Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Board in a 22-10 vote. Evers announced the appointment of Timothy Graham, a retired financial consultant, to replace him.

Three constitutional amendments advance

Republican lawmakers approved three constitutional amendment proposals, including one that will go to voters for approval in August.

• AJR 6, a constitutional amendment that gives the lawmakers more say in the way that federal funds are allocated in Wisconsin, passed in a 22-10 party-line vote. The policy was first proposed in the last legislative session in reaction to Gov. Tony Evers’ allocation of federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Voters will be asked two questions on the August ballot, and if approved, the changes would become law: Should the Constitution be amended to “provide that the Legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?” and Should the Constitution be amended “to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the Legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”
• AJR 109 passed 22-10. The proposal would change the Constitution to prohibit governmental entities from discriminating against or granting “preferential treatment” to people and groups on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting or public administration. It was introduced as a way of eliminating DEI programs across the state. It is on its first consideration so it will need to pass the Legislature next legislative session before it could go to voters for consideration.
• AJR 112 passed 22-10. It would further restrict the governor’s veto power by prohibiting the creation or increase or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee. Republicans introduced the proposal after Evers used the power in the last budget cycle to extend school funding increases for 400 years. They have said the action was an overstep of his power. This was the proposal’s first consideration, meaning it will need to pass the Legislature next session before voters would weigh in.

Senate gives final approval for education bills

• Lawmakers concurred in a bipartisan bill that would require Wisconsin school boards to incorporate instruction about Hmong and Asian Americans into curriculum passed in a voice vote. The action sets the legislation up to go to Evers’ desk.
• AB 377, which would bar transgender girls in Wisconsin public schools and voucher schools from participating on girls’ sports teams, was concurred in in a 21-11 vote. Its passage came despite a Senate committee voting last week against its passage. Republican Sen. Joan Ballweg joined Democrats against the bill. The bill will go to Evers, who said on social media after the vote on the bill that he would be “damn proud” to veto it.
• A bill that will use fees from concealed carry licenses to extend funding for the Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety from January 2025 through September 2025 passed 30-2. Sens. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) and Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) voted against the bill, which now goes to Evers. Attorney General Josh Kaul celebrated the bill’s passage in a statement and said that he looked forward to working with legislators in the future to secure long-term funding for the office.
• AB 1065, which would ban “loyalty pledges” within higher education, passed 22-10 along party lines. The bill was proposed by Republican lawmakers as a way of targeting DEI, and includes a specific prohibition against requiring students or staff from making “a pledge or statement regarding diversity, equity, inclusion.”

Bullion tax exemption approved

The Senate concurred with the Assembly in a 23-9 vote to make precious metal coins and precious metal bullion exempt from the state sales tax. AB-29 now goes to Gov. Tony Evers, who appears likely to sign it.

Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay) split from the rest of the Republicans to vote against the measure, while Sens. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit), a bill cosponsor, were the only Democrats to vote in favor of it.

Proponents of the exemption have encouraged Wisconsin to join other states in taking coins and precious metal bullion off the sales tax rolls on the grounds that they are primarily investment products, which aren’t normally subject to sales taxes.

Electric vehicle bills approved

Legislation that will enable Wisconsin to qualify for $78 million in federal funds to build out a network of electrical vehicle charging stations crossed the final hurdle before going to the governor.

After SB-791 passed the Senate in January, the Assembly added an amendment stipulating that the building permit approval process could not be used to force developers to install EV charging systems when building new properties. That forced the measure back to the Senate, which approved the amended bill on a voice vote.

The legislation allows the operators of charging stations to bill users by the amount of electricity they tap when charging a vehicle without treating them like electric power companies regulated as public utilities.

Senate ends session by firing Evers appointees, approving constitutional amendments was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.