'Hundreds of millions' at stake if GOP lawmakers and attorney general don't agree soon, Josh Kaul says

MADISON - Hundreds of millions of dollars could be at stake if Republican lawmakers and Attorney General Josh Kaul don't agree soon on how to settle lawsuits facing state taxpayers, Kaul said Tuesday.

"The Legislature is at a point now, there are serious consequences the state could face if they don't move forward," Kaul said in an appearance at Marquette University in Milwaukee.  

Sixteen lawsuits involving Wisconsin taxpayers haven't been settled because Kaul and lawmakers are at an impasse over how to resolve them — a struggle resulting from a new law requiring the Democratic attorney general to get permission from the Legislature's GOP-controlled finance committee to settle legal challenges.

Kaul wants lawmakers to meet behind closed doors to discuss the legal challenges and in at least one case, sign secrecy agreements. He says the pledges to keep details private are needed to avoid jeopardizing the settlement offer. 

But lawmakers don't want to sign the nondisclosure pledges and say Kaul isn't providing them with enough details to make decisions, which prompted finance committee leaders to cancel a meeting with Kaul last week.

"It is our goal to not use closed-door sessions," said Rep. John Nygren, the Republican co-chairman of the finance committee. "The goal of this is to be more transparent, not less."

The deadlock has lasted for months and Kaul suggested Tuesday the only solution could be in taking cases to trial instead of settling.

However, in settlement offers involving multiple states, Wisconsin taxpayers could lose out if a process to settle lawsuits isn't figured out, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, dismissed Kaul's characterization of the situation, which blames Republican lawmakers for the standoff.

"The Attorney General already knows of numerous ways he can present confidential settlement information to the Joint Finance Committee and he continues to drag his feet," Fitzgerald said in a statement.

Kaul said his solution to the standstill is to repeal the law. 

"This is all totally unnecessary," he said. "The easiest fix is just to get rid of this mess and clean it up."

But Fitzgerald said the law isn't changing.

"He can work with us or be part of the problem," he said. 

Republican lawmakers approved the new law after Kaul and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won their elections but before they were sworn in. The law is part of a series of measures aimed at limiting their powers and giving lawmakers more oversight of court cases handled by the attorney general.   

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.