NEW Democrats urge voters to say “No” to constitutional amendments

GREEN BAY, WI – (WGBW & WISS) – Several Northeast Wisconsin candidates for various state and congressional level offices hosted a town hall meeting last night to urge “No” votes to the two constitutional amendments on the August 13th ballot.

Kristin Lyerly

Eighth Congressional District candidate Dr. Kristin Lyerly (D, De Pere) said the amendments are written to be confusing.  But what they boil down to is the Wisconsin legislature and not the Governor will decide where all federal funds given to the state, such as disaster relief, will be distributed.  Lyerly said this would further complicate getting funds to the people who need them when they are needed.

This Republican-led legislature is the least effective – the least responsive – legislature in decades,” said Lyerly. “And they want the reigns in the case of an emergency? When decisions for the benefit of the people of Wisconsin need to be made quickly and efficiently? No.”

Jamie Wall

State Senate District 30 candidate Jamie Wall (D, Green Bay) said choosing the partisan primary ballot, which in the past has been notoriously low in turnout, is part of a plan to be confusing and trick people into passing the amendment.

“Now, there are a couple of things about these amendments that make you suspicious,” said Wall. “First is that they are written in language that only a lawyer can love. And the second is that they’re on the ballot in August. So, I call ‘shenanigans!’ The people behind these amendments in Madison thought they had a better chance of Passage if they’re written in confusing language and put in a low-turnout primary ballot.” 

Wall said if the amendments are approved, the state could be in trouble in case of an emergency situation.

“If, God forbid, we have another pandemic. Or if there’s a major wildfire or flood in some part of the state, we want the state government to be able to respond quickly,” Wall said. “The legislature is not a body that is designed to respond quickly in the best of circumstances. And under current leadership, it, sure as heck, hasn’t been able to do so.”

Christy Welch

State Assembly Candidate for District 88 Christy Welch (De Pere), who is also the Democratic Party Chair in Brown County, echoed her fellow Democrats. She said the amendments are a power grab by the legislature and will only harm critical programs.

“The federal funds are essential for state agencies and programs to operate and support Wisconsinites,” Welch said. “Creating gridlock and obstructions to getting this funding out the door will jeopardize programs like Child Care Counts.”

Ryan Spaude

State Assembly Candidate 89 Ryan Spaude said the legislature that is asking for the amendments to pass is the same legislature that is still sitting on federal funds designated for PFAS clean-up.

“You’ve seen our state legislature, especially the Joint Finance Committee, they voted to approve, I believe it’s 125 million dollars for PFAS relief and then they sit on it. Do we really want those same people to control whether or not our state gets Federal funding if there’s an emergency? I don’t think so,” said Spaude.

Spaude called the amendments confusing.

“I have a law degree and I practice law. I was confused,” Spaude said. “They are deliberately written to be tricky, to be confusing, to be deceptive.” 

Amaad Rivera-Wagner

State Assembly Candidate for District 90 Amaad Rivera-Wagner said the amendments will change the way that government and democracy have been run in Wisconsin for almost 100 years. 

“The governor has always had the ability to both apply and then make decisive action,” said Rivera-Wagner. “The status quo is that we don’t need to change our constitution to make it harder to govern – For anyone! And that’s including the governing that happens for all people, not just Democrats or Republicans. Keeping our constitution as is allows us to actually do the work of democracy.”

The two constitutional amendments will appear on the August 13th ballot

Constitutional Amendments on Ballot

1. Delegation of appropriation power: Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated
2. Allocation of Federal moneys: Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created 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.

Explanations

1. Delegation of appropriation power: This amendment would put into the constitution a requirement that the state legislature will have sole determination for how money should be appropriated in the state.
2. Allocation of Federal Dollars: This amendment would require the approval of the state legislature before any federal funds given to the state can be distributed.