MILWAUKEE — Is common ground dead in Madison?
Governor Evers says the Republican political moves to end his special session on gun control bills and fired one of his cabinet secretaries will backfire.
He talked exclusively with TODAY'S TMJ4's Charles Benson.
It was a rough week in Madison.
Benson: Has gridlock officially arrived in Madison?
Gov. Evers: I don't know if gridlock has but seeking common ground is difficult to find.
First, senate Republicans voted to deny Governor Evers pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Evers showed up for the debate and cursed after the vote.
A day later the GOP controlled Assembly and Senate gaveled in and out within a minute with no discussion and votes on a universal background bill and a proposed red flag law.
Evers: I find it extraordinary people don't want to take votes on things, that just seems odd to me.
Benson: Speaker Vos says you were the one playing politics?
Evers: Well 80% of the people indicated they wanted this, so tell me about that. I don't agree with that assertion.
The 80% comes from a Marquette Law School poll.
Evers tells TMJ4 he will decide by the end of the year on whether to call another special session. "I could call it a hundred times just to punish them but at the end of the day it's still a possibility."
The senate has confirmed a majority of Evers cabinet but several are still waiting and republican leadership has raised doubt about their confirmation including Tourism Secretary Sara Meaney.
Benson: Do you think you're fighting hard enough for these issues for these people?
Evers: Oh absolutely. I think I'm fighting really hard. Everyone once and awhile people say," oh my god you're too much like Mr. Rogers' but the fact of the matter is I think there are places where we can find common ground.
Speaker Vos responded by saying: "Common ground can be found when people of good faith come together and put politics aside. It wasn't easy to find consensus to raise revenues for roads, but we got there."
"Perhaps, a first step would be if the governor chose better words," said Vos, "instead his political rhetoric is driving people in this state apart.
Evers and Republicans did agree to an additional $500 million over two years in his first budget for K-12 education funding.
A new report shows most Wisconsin schools are meeting expectations. But two local districts were slapped with failing grades.
Milwaukee Public Schools and Racine Unified School District both got 2-star ratings out of 5 on this year's state report cards.
That means the districts "meet few expectations."
The governor sees it has a combination of issues contributing to the bad report card. "I'm focusing on early childhood education, making sure we have good healthcare, making sure we have good housing for our families in Milwaukee. All those things play a role in this."
His administration is also caught in an email controversy for refusing media request for his emails.
"Emails will be released, as boring as they are, once all the categories are met under state law," said Evers.
The governor says they are following the same guideline as his predecessor but suggested the media email requests were too vague.
"One of them is subject matter. We have to have some delineation of that," said Evers, "that's under state law, that's not something we just make up."
We caught up with the Governor at an environmental justice listening session in Milwaukee Tuesday on the impact climate change in Wisconsin.
A year after being elected, Evers says he's still getting used to being in the "bubble" but "the politics of it, the work I do, I love it and I continue to love it."
