Allison Geyer
In 2011, thousands flooded the state Capitol to protest the newly elected Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to crush labor unions by limiting collective bargaining.
On Monday, with Walker preparing to leave office, hundreds more showed up to voice opposition to a controversial plan from GOP legislators that would strip key powers from incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic state Attorney General Josh Kaul, restrict early voting in the 2020 presidential primary and move the date of the election.
“This is a power grab. People should speak up,” says Tom Cramer, who drove from Watertown to attend the Joint Finance Committee hearing on the far-reaching measures contained in the 141-page plan, which GOP lawmakers revealed Friday night. “These bills should have a week for comments,” he adds. “We’ve got to have more transparency. [Republicans] just don’t want it.”
This is Cramer’s first visit to the state Capitol since the Act 10 protests, when he took a week off work to protest with his son, a public school teacher. “It didn’t do no good,” he says with a laugh. “But here we are again.”
Hundreds of angry, frustrated citizens packed into hallways and overflow rooms on Monday afternoon, hoping to voice opposition to the set of measures ahead of Tuesday’s lame-duck session. Staffers couldn’t say the exact number of people who registered to speak, but estimated about 200 had filled slips out by around 2:30 p.m. “It’s the largest rally I’ve ever seen for a committee meeting,” one said.
The hearing is expected to last eight hours, with final approval in the Senate and Assembly coming Tuesday. “What they’re doing is wrong. They’re clipping the wings of the new governor,” says Lois Koel, a retiree and independent voter from Milwaukee. “I’m tired of dirty tricks.”
In an interview on WISN Milwaukee before the hearing, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos flatly denied that the bills were a “power grab.”
“It’s absolutely not true,” Vos told host Dan O’Donnell. “The whole goal here is to make sure each of the branches have the opportunity to negotiate at the table equally, and that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Those gathered at the state Capitol didn’t buy Vos’ explanation.
“If it was really about redistributing power, why didn’t they do this earlier?” says Ashlie Crooks, a freelance web designer from Madison. “They have such a firm consolidation of power, it doesn’t matter what the people want.”
Angry and frustrated, protesters walked out of overflow viewing rooms and demanded entry to the Joint Finance Committee meeting where Legislators were discussing a package of bills that would strip powers from incoming Gov. Tony Evers.
Originally scheduled for 12:30 p.m., the hearing was pushed back 30 minutes. As the start time approached, people got restless. In an overflow room, hundreds sat waiting for the hearing to start. “We want to be heard, not herded!” someone shouted. Alice Schneiderman decided she’d waited long enough. “No offense, but I didn’t come here to meet you people,” she told the crowd before storming the overflow room, leading a group of people down the hall to the room where the hearing was taking place.
As the crowd grew, committee members and reporters returned from the state Senate chambers. Once they were inside, security guards closed the hearing room doors. The scene became chaotic as protesters began pounding on the doors and walls with fists and feet. “This isn’t Russia,” shouted Jeff Woodman. “Not yet,” somebody shouted back.
Woodman drove from Janesville and registered to speak at the hearing in opposition to the lame-duck bills, but he wasn’t optimistic about getting his chance. “I’m frustrated and mad,” he said after a tense altercation with Capitol security. “We’re locked out of the system. Why can’t the door be open?”
He offered up the letter addressed to Vos that he hoped to read: “It is my opinion that the proposed changes are well beyond the scope of authority and power that any one branch should have. Any changes to our current system sets a dangerous precedent going forward regardless of party,” Woodman wrote. “I am asking you to stand with the majority of voters in Wisconsin and follow the will of the people.”
