MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is reviving his plan to let voters repeal and create state laws without legislative involvement, this time through the state budget.
The plan, made public on Monday, comes the same day the Legislature kicks off its two-year session. Republicans remain in control, but their majority is at its narrowest since they took over in 2011.
That means the dynamic between the Legislature and Evers, entering his seventh year as governor, will largely remain as it has been. Republicans must approve anything Evers wants to get done.
Still, Evers is reviving a plan to weaken the powers of the Legislature that Republicans have already previously rejected.
Evers said on Friday that the state budget he plans to unveil next month will include a mandate that legislators take up a constitutional amendment allowing voters to petition for ballot proposals to repeal state statutes and create new ones. The Democratic governor crafted a similar proposal in 2022 for voters to repeal the state's 1849 abortion ban, but Republicans killed the plan.
Wisconsin is one of 24 states that do not provide a way for people to reject or enact statutes outside of the legislative process, according to Ballotpedia.
Evers said Republicans have been ignoring the will of the people by refusing to legalize marijuana, repeal the abortion ban, implement gun control measures and increase funding for public schools. Instead, he said, the GOP has been enacting policy through constitutional amendments, denying voters a voice.
Constitutional amendments must pass two consecutive legislative sessions and a statewide referendum to take effect. The governor plays no role in the process.
Republicans have asked voters to approve seven amendments since 2010, according to data from the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative. Voters ratified three in 2024 alone, including two in April to restrict use of private money in election administration and one in November that prohibits foreign nationals from voting. Republicans could put another amendment to voters in April's elections that would cement voter identification requirements.
“Republican lawmakers are going to continue to try to legislate by constitutional amendment," Evers said. "Then they should give Wisconsinites the same opportunity that 26 other states have.”
Republican legislative leaders did not immediately respond on Monday to a request for comment on the proposal.
Republicans will hold a 54-45 advantage in the Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the Senate in the two-year session that begins Monday.
There are six new state senators, all Democrats. Nearly a third of the Assembly — 31 lawmakers — are newly elected. Of them, 23 are Democrats. Those new lawmakers make up the majority of the 45-member Democratic caucus.
Lawmakers have said they are hopeful the slimmer GOP majorities will lead to more compromise.
Gun control advocates planned to be in the Capitol on Monday shortly before the session kicks off to press lawmakers to take action following a shooting by a 15-year-old student on Dec. 16 at a Madison private school that left a teacher and student dead and two other students severely injured. The shooter killed herself.
Evers called a special session in 2019 in an attempt to pass gun control measures, including requiring universal background checks, but Republicans took no action.
Evers also called a special legislative session in September 2022 to approve a constitutional amendment similar to his latest proposal. He promoted it as a way to repeal the abortion ban and ensure abortion remained legal in Wisconsin after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
The governor was in the midst of a reelection campaign against Republican challenger Tim Michels at the time and was working to turn the race into a referendum on abortion, a winning issue for Democrats that year. Republican legislators countered by convening and ending the special session in less than 30 seconds.
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Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.
