Speaker Robin Vos says Gov. Tony Evers shouldn't make key appointment amid court fight
MADISON - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that Gov. Tony Evers should not appoint anyone new to a commission that regulates utilities until there are more court rulings on lame-duck actions aimed at limiting the Democratic governor's power.
He made the comments a day after an appeals court unanimously ruled Evers was within his rights to push aside 15 appointees of former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, including Ellen Nowak of the Public Service Commission.
Vos, a Republican from Rochester, noted more court decisions are expected on the matter and Republicans may win in the long run.
"It comes down to the fact that even under the decision yesterday, they're going to go back and re-argue it and if it means that you have to put Ellen back in, why wouldn't you just let Ellen be there the first time?" Vos said.
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Vos said Evers should put Nowak back on the three-person commission or leave the spot vacant for now. He noted leaving it vacant runs the risk of creating deadlocks on a body that includes one Evers appointee and one Walker appointee.
Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said the governor is consulting with his legal team before deciding what to do on appointments.
"We won’t be making any immediate decisions on appointments," she said.
Evers, Vos, Fitzgerald meet
The fight over appointments comes amid icy relations between Evers and GOP legislative leaders.
Evers, Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau met Wednesday for about 45 minutes. Vos spoke favorably about the meeting but declined to say what was discussed. Vos said he hopes to have another meeting in a couple of weeks.
"I'm going to try to keep our conversations private from the standpoint that, you know, we're not going to negotiate in public," Vos said. "It was a good discussion."
The dispute over appointees is part of a broader legal fight over the lame-duck session Republicans held after Evers beat Walker but before he was sworn in. During that December session they approved laws limiting the powers of Evers and Kaul and confirming 82 Walker appointees.
Lawsuits followed and a Dane County judge in one case blocked all the laws and confirmations. The District 3 Court of Appeals blocked that ruling, but before it did so, Evers withdrew the appointments of the 82 officials.
Evers re-appointed 67 of the officials to their old positions but left the other 15 vacant.
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Republicans contended all the Walker appointees should continue to hold their posts. The Appeals Ccourt disagreed Tuesday, ruling that Evers' withdrawal of the Walker appointees was allowed because when he did it the only court order in effect was one that found their Senate confirmations were invalid.
But the appeals judges also noted the courts may ultimately side with Republicans. If they do, the courts can determine then whether the Walker appointees should be reinstated, they wrote. Republicans said they will ask the state Supreme Court to review the decision.
Both sides are focused on the four appointments with the highest profiles — the one to the Public Service Commission, one to the Labor and Industry Review Commission and two to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
"Four appointees — it seems to me it's not the be-all, end-all for Gov. Evers," Vos said. "I don't understand it."
In response to the court fight, Fitzgerald this week put off confirming Evers' cabinet. He signaled the Senate could reject some of the governor's top advisers, saying some of them "are going to be in trouble."
Vos noted those comments to say the Senate would likely reject anyone Evers tries to put forward to replace Nowak on the Public Service Commission.
"You go through this whole process where it just seems like why couldn't we just hit the reset button and just agree that — you know what? — it's not worth holding up all the other appointments that Sen. Fitzgerald's talking about because we can't find an agreement on this first item," Vos said.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.