NATION
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, December 6, 2018 5A
Wis. GOP makes power grab
MARK HOFFMAN I Associated Press
People protest the legislature’s extraordinary session during the official Christmas
tree lighting ceremony at the Capitol in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Dec. 4.
BY SCOTT BAUER AND
TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — The incoming
Democratic governor of Wisconsin said
Wednesday he plans to make a personal
appeal to his defeated rival, Gov. Scott
Walker, to veto far-reaching GOP legis
lation that would strip the new adminis
tration of some powers. If that doesn’t
work, he might sue.
Wisconsin Republicans pushed
through protests, internal disagree
ment and Democratic opposition to pass
the bills after an all-night session. The
measures would shift power to the GOP-
controlled Legislature and weaken the
authority of the office Republicans will
lose in January.
“The will of the people has officially
been ignored by the Legislature,” Gov.
Tony Evers said, adding that the law
makers’ actions “take us back to Nov.
6,” before the election was finalized.
“Wisconsin should be embarrassed
by this,” Evers said.
He said he will talk to Walker as soon
as the bills reach his desk and that if he
cannot persuade the governor to veto
the proposals, he will consider lawsuits
and any other option “to make sure
that this legislation does not get into
practice.”
The early morning votes were the
height of a rare lame-duck legislative
session. Walker has signaled his support
for the bills. He has 10 days to sign the
package after it’s delivered to his office.
The session unfolded a month after
Republicans were battered in the mid
term election. They lost all statewide
races amid strong Democratic turnout.
But they retained legislative majorities
thanks to what Democrats say are ger
rymandered districts that tilt the map.
The new legislation tries to protect
some of the GOP’s achievements in
recent years, including a work require
ment for some people receiving state
health care and the state’s role in a
lawsuit seeking to overturn the Afford
able Care Act. The bills could also make
it harder for Evers to renegotiate a $3
billion subsidy for a Foxconn electron
ics manufacturing facility, a deal spear
headed by Walker.
In neighboring Michigan, Republi
cans who control the Legislature voted
to advance a measure that strips cam
paign-finance oversight power from
the next secretary of state, a Democrat.
They also moved to give lawmakers
authority to stand up for GOP-backed
laws if they think the incoming Demo
cratic governor and attorney general
are not adequately defending the state’s
interests.
The Wisconsin legislation passed in
a session marked by stops and starts
as GOP leaders tried to muster enough
votes in the Senate. That chamber ulti
mately approved the package 17-16,
with just one Republican voting against
it, around sunrise. The
Assembly approved it on a
56-27 vote about two hours
later, with a single Repub
lican defecting.
In one concession,
Republicans backed away
from giving the Legisla
ture the power to sidestep
the attorney general and
appoint their own attorney
when state laws are chal
lenged in court.
“This is a heck of a way
to run a railroad,” Demo
cratic Senate Minority
Leader Jennifer Shilling
said as the Senate debate
resumed at 5 a.m. after a
seven-hour impasse. “This
is embarrassing we’re
even here.”
Walker is in his final five weeks as
governor. Faced with a Democratic gov
ernor for the first time in eight years,
Republicans came up with a package
of lame-duck bills to preserve their pri
orities and make it harder for Evers to
enact his.
“You’re here because you don’t want
to give up power,” Democratic Assem
bly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz said
as debate concluded in that chamber.
“You’re sore losers. Does anybody think
this is the right way to do business? If
you vote for this, shame on you. You will
go down in history as a disgrace.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos coun
tered that the bills would ensure a bal
ance of power between the Legislature
and the executive branch.
“We have allowed far too much
authority to flow to the executive,”
Vos said. “To you, this is all about poli
tics. To me, it’s about the
institution.”
Vos last month cited
the desire to protect key
Republican achieve
ments from being undone
by Evers. Among them:
a massive $3 billion sub
sidy to bring Foxconn, a
key Apple Inc. supplier,
to Wisconsin, along with
thousands of jobs. Evers
has said he would like to
renegotiate the deal.
The legislation passed
Wednesday would shield
the state jobs agency from
his control and allow the
board to choose its leader
until September, delaying
Evers’ ability to maneuver
on the Foxconn subsidy.
The changes would also weaken the
governor’s ability to put in place rules
that enact laws. And they would limit
early voting to two weeks before an
election, a restriction similar to what a
federal judge ruled was unconstitutional
The attorney general’s office could
also be weakened by a proposal to
require a legislative committee, rather
than the attorney general, to sign off
on withdrawing from federal lawsuits.
That would stop Evers and Democratic
Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul from
fulfilling promises to withdraw Wiscon
sin from a multi-state lawsuit seeking
repeal of the Affordable Care Act. They
made opposition to that lawsuit a central
part of both of their campaigns.
‘The will of
the people has
officially been
ignored by the
Legislature...
Wisconsin
should be
embarrassed
by this.’
Tony Evers
Incoming governor
Investigation: More
sexual misconduct by
CBS chief Moonves
BY MAE ANDERSON
Associated Press
NEW YORK-An inter
nal investigation of former
CBS chief Les Moonves has
turned up more evidence of
sexual misconduct, as well
as lying and destruction
of evidence, throwing into
jeopardy his $120M sever
ance package, The New
York Times reported.
The latest
Lawyers hired by the net
work allege in a report that
the TV executive commit
ted “multiple acts of serious
nonconsensual sex
ual misconduct”
before and after
he came to CBS in
1995, according to
the Times. He also
deleted numer
ous text messages
and was “evasive
and untruthful at
times” under ques
tioning, the report says.
Among other things,
investigators received
reports about a network
employee who was “on
call” to perform oral sex on
Moonves. Investigators also
found that he received oral
sex from at least four CBS
employees “under circum
stances that sound trans
actional and improper to
the extent that there was
no hint of any relationship,
romance, or reciprocity.”
The investigators say
they interviewed 11 of the
17 women they knew had
accused Moonves of mis
conduct and found their
accounts credible.
The 59-page report is
to be presented to CBS’s
board of directors before
the company’s annual
meeting next week, the
Times said.
The reaction
A lawyer for Moonves,
Andrew J. Levander,
said in a statement that
Moonves said
he cooperated
“extensively and
fully” with inves
tigators, and he
“vehemently
denies having any
non-consensual
sexual relations.
He never put or
kept someone on
the payroll for the purpose
of sex,” the attorney said.
CBS declined to comment.
The investigators
The investigation began
in August and is being led
by two former federal
prosecutors: Nancy Keste-
nbaum and Mary Jo White,
who was also head of the
Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Moonves
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