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Law manages bureaucrats

Special session bills rebalance power

By State Sen. Luther Olsen


 

Olsen

You may have heard on the news or through social media that the Wisconsin State Legislature called an extraordinary session to strip Governor-elect Tony Evers of his power as governor. While that makes for a good headline, it is not an accurate depiction of the bills we passed.

Rather, we passed bills to make sure that there is a balance of power between the three co-equal branches of government. The legislature writes laws, the executive branch administers these laws and the courts interpret and enforce them. These bills ensure that unelected state agency bureaucrats are administering laws rather than creating them, that all citizens have equal access to voting, and that the legislature is able to safeguard its interests in court.

One provision holds state agencies accountable for what they tell citizens they are permitted, or not permitted, to do. State agencies create guidance documents to explain how to operationalize laws and administrative rules. For example, The Department of Natural Resources has guidance documents on how fish are reared to be stocked in rivers and lakes and how woodlands are to be managed. Guidance documents should be tied to specific laws that have been passed by the legislature. They should not be used as a way for unelected agency bureaucrats to expand their authority and create laws as they see fit.

While these documents are not supposed to have the same authority as laws, when they are used to tell the public how to follow the law, the effect is the same. If these documents are going to be used as law to govern what citizens may or may not do, it is imperative that the legislature has appropriate oversight, that the public has the right to comment before they go into effect, and that they be publicly available.

The second provision I would like to share with you has to do with protecting the legislature’s interests in court cases, like defending laws previously passed. The legislation we approved allows both the Assembly and the state Senate to hire outside counsel to protect their interests in court. This is particularly important when power is split between both parties. While Republicans control both houses of the legislature, Democrats will control the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office in January.

This provision affords the legislature the same protection that the governor-elect asked for in a case brought against the Department of Public Instruction over their rule-making process. As state superintendent, he argued he should be able to retain his own lawyers because he was concerned that the current attorney general agreed with the plaintiffs and would not vigorously defend the Department of Public Instruction’s interests.

The third provision creates a uniform standard for when in-person absentee voting may occur. Currently, some counties allow in-person absentee voting for six weeks before an election. This may be workable in large, urban areas, but it is not feasible in rural areas where the town clerk may only work part-time and have a full-time job in the private sector.

By creating a uniform timeframe for in-person absentee voting, citizens across our state will now have an equal opportunity to vote regardless of their zip code. The legislature did not move the date of the spring primary after hearing from local clerks about the difficulties this would create. I talked to my local clerks and they said it would be very confusing for the electorate to have three elections in three months.

Another important piece of legislation that was taken up during the extraordinary session was related to protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Currently, federal law protects people with pre-existing conditions, which were previously covered in Wisconsin prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Unfortunately, the Senate was unable to pass the legislation because there was not a single vote in favor of the bill from members of the minority party. It is still important that we pass legislation at the state level to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions are able to have access to affordable healthcare coverage, as an extra precaution to any changes occurring at the federal level. I remain committed to putting politics aside in order to improve access to healthcare through innovation, reforms, and protecting pre-existing conditions.

The changes from the extraordinary session restore legislative authority and oversight, which is a vital component in a three branch government. We have certain checks and balances in place to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. These provisions were not meant to strip power away from the executive branch, but to create balance. With these changes it ensures that even in a divided government the legislature still has a seat at the table to work alongside the other branches on behalf of our constituents.

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