(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is proposing a requirement that the Wisconsin Legislature allow citizens to propose binding referenda to enact statutory and constitutional changes through a majority vote at the ballot box and without the Legislature’s approval.
Evers said that will include the proposal in his biennial budget. It comes after five statewide referenda questions were proposed to voters in 2024, which Evers said were put on the ballot by Republican legislators.
“The will of the people should be the law of the land,” Evers said. “Republican lawmakers have repeatedly worked to put constitutional amendments on the ballot that Republicans drafted, and Republicans passed, all while Republicans refuse to give that same power to the people of Wisconsin. And that’s wrong,”
Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in response that the proposal should not be included in a budget proposal.
“The budget should be a budget, not a policy document. Instead of proposing a laundry list of policy items,” LeMahieu wrote. “@GovEvers should be focusing his effort on using the state surplus to address rising costs.”
Evers said that the Legislature did not listen to policies that have “broad public support” in the state and that residents do not have recourse where their thoughts are ignored by the Legislature.
Evers specifically pointed to legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, expand BadgerCare, restore Roe v. Wade abortion rules, add red flag gun laws, additional paid family medical leave and redistricting changes. He said that a majority of Wisconsin residents support those plans but the Legislature refuses to pass them.
“That has to change,” Evers said. “If Republican lawmakers are going to continue to try and legislate by constitutional amendment, then they should give the people that same power and that’s what I’ll be asking them to do in my next budget.”
Evers said that 20 other states, including Michigan, Illinois and Ohio, allow for binding citizen-led referenda.
“Ballot initiatives are what gave American farmers California’s awful Prop 12 law,” Wisconsin Farm Bureau Executive Director of Government Relations Jason Mugnaini wrote on social media. “It has destroyed family hog farms and raised costs for everyone. Consumers saw up to 40% price increases on pork in California.”
