Gov. Scott Walker says he’ll discourage lawmakers from taking up any legislation that distracts from his core mission of creating jobs, and that includes eliminating same-day registration, right-to-work or immigration bills.
Walker stopped short of issuing any veto promises, but he said he only wants to focus on his priorities such as workforce development. The governor said that applies regardless of his personal opinions about some of the proposals.
“Anything else that distracts from that is something we’re going to push off and encourage the Legislature not to bring up,” the governor said yesterday after a “Talk with Walker” event at a Madison business.
Some critics have suggested Walker was avoiding issuing a veto threat on eliminating same-day registration because he wants to leave the door open on the subject.
But Walker said “there’s no way I’m signing a bill that costs that much money” after a GAB estimate put the pricetag of repeal at $5.2 million, and that naysayers are only trying to distract from his focus on jobs.
“We have good ideas, and they don’t have a good counter to that,” Walker said.
The Republican guv also said he would discourage lawmakers from taking up right-to-work legislation, explaining that Wisconsin’s political environment has finally stabilized and he has no interest in going back to a state of turmoil.
Walker denied that meant he was afraid to take on controversial topics, saying right-to-work was the only potential bill out there that could prompt a return to the protests seen at the Capitol almost two years ago after he introduced his roll back of collective bargaining for public sector employees.
“The last thing I want to do is create a sense of uncertainty out there,” Walker said.
— By WisPolitics Staff
