Josh Kaul asks lawmakers to withdraw state from lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act

MADISON - Attorney General Josh Kaul on Thursday asked a powerful group of lawmakers to end the state's involvement in a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act. 

Whether the Republican-controlled committee will grant the request is unclear.

Republican lawmakers supported former Gov. Scott Walker's decision to join 19 other states in suing to overturn the federal law. But the law's most popular provision of requiring coverage for pre-existing health conditions became a central issue in the fall elections and new polling shows public support for getting the state out of the lawsuit.

RELATED:Marquette poll finds support for Gov. Tony Evers' agenda, including nonpartisan redistricting reform

"Assembly Republicans supported Governor Walker and Attorney General (Brad) Schimel when they filed the lawsuit against Obamacare," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said. "Our caucus has not discussed the new request.”

Kaul's request to lawmakers comes after Gov. Tony Evers backtracked on comments he made this week saying he had directed Kaul to withdraw from the lawsuit, which the Democratic governor cannot do under new laws passed by Republican lawmakers in December. 

RELATED:Tony Evers reverses course, won't direct Josh Kaul to withdraw from Obamacare lawsuit after all

Evers reversed course on how to handle a lawsuit the same day Kaul told the governor he could not withdraw the state from the suit as Evers promised in the televised speech.

In a letter delivered to Evers on Wednesday, Kaul said only the Legislature's finance committee had authority to withdraw Wisconsin from the federal lawsuit to overturn the law. 

Evers in his first State of the State address told a statewide audience Tuesday he "fulfilled a promise I made to the people of Wisconsin by directing Attorney General (Josh) Kaul to withdraw from a lawsuit that would gut coverage for 2.4 million Wisconsinites who have pre-existing conditions."

But after Republicans accused Evers of directing Kaul to take an illegal act, and after Kaul said he couldn't withdraw from the suit anyway, Evers reversed course Wednesday and a spokeswoman said he was not directing Kaul to take any action. 

"This conversation about how exactly the DOJ will comply with a law intended to strip the governor's authority and undermine the will of the people is frankly a distraction that Republicans clearly wanted," spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said Thursday. "Republicans know that people don't support their plans to gut the Affordable Care Act and are desperate to change the conversation."

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed laws after the Nov. 6 election that shift powers from Evers and Kaul to the Legislature, including the power to withdraw from lawsuits.

Vos said this week's episode "is just another example of Governor Evers’ reckless disregard for the law."

Vos cited Evers' opposition to work requirements for recipients of welfare benefits and comments during Evers' State of the State address about withdrawing from the federal lawsuit.

"The Legislature is a co-equal branch and will be watching carefully for the next law he tries to break," Vos said.

Evers pivots on ACA suit

Evers pivoted on the issue Wednesday just hours after a nonpartisan attorney for the Legislature drafted a memo that contended Evers doesn’t have the power to get Wisconsin out of the lawsuit under the new law.

“There is thus no provision in (a statute cited by Evers) allowing the governor to request, require, or approve the attorney general to compromise or discontinue an action,” Sarah Walkenhorst, an attorney with the Legislative Reference Bureau, said.

In a case such as this one, only the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has the power to decide to end Wisconsin’s participation in the case, Walkenhorst wrote. She drafted the memo at the request of Fitzgerald, a Juneau Republican.

Baldauff also said Thursday that Evers "is ready to move forward with protecting the health care of millions of Wisconsinites."

A Marquette University Law School poll released Thursday showed strong public support for Evers' approach to health care, which includes withdrawing the state from the federal lawsuit and using Obamacare funds to provide health coverage to more people under BadgerCare Plus.

Thursday's poll also showed most voters did not approve of the bills passed in December to curb the power of Evers and Kaul.

Evers pledges $31M for Marinette Marine

Evers on Thursday also announced he would include $31 million in the budget for Marinette Marine, a shipbuilder in northeast Wisconsin.

The funding will be included in the two-year state budget Evers will propose next month, and is contingent on the company receiving federal funding to expand its shipyard.

The state funding will allow Marinette Marine to make additional improvements to expand its shipyard infrastructure and compete for a $10 billion federal shipbuilding contract.

The expansion will support the company’s staff of 1,500 employees and will allow it them to hire an additional 400 full-time employees.

“Marinette Marine is a source of pride for Wisconsin and employs thousands of Wisconsinites in good-paying, family-supporting jobs. Their success is an essential part of the Marinette community and local economy,” Evers said in a statement.

GOP Rep. John Nygren of Marinette appeared with Evers Thursday to announce the proposed funding and said he met with Evers last week about potentially investing in the Marinette shipbuilder.

“This investment will help Marinette Marine continue to compete on the world stage for years to come,” Nygren said in a tweet Thursday.