Republicans win big as Wisconsin lawmakers head home for summer

By Kirsten Adshead  |  Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON – With the budget passed and June in the rear-view mirror, lawmakers have gone home for their summer break.

Those with an “R” next to their name, by and large, should be going home happy.

“I thought the governor and the legislature got a lot done off their agenda two years ago with the first state budget and the Act 10 (collective bargaining) issue, and they obviously found that there were quite a few things still left on their agenda,” University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political scientist Joe Heim said. “Having the ability to pass things through the legislature and get it approved by the governor (because Republicans control both branches of government) is just a major advantage to one party, frankly.”

Many of the measures were clearly controversial.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, called Gov. Scott Walker’s $70 billion budget extreme and anti-middle class.

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