---

Dear Editor:
On December 5th, while most of us here in Wisconsin were still sleeping, a Republican majority led by divisive leadership pushed through a sweeping mess of rushed and sloppy bills primarily intended to consolidate power in the state legislature and remove power from the incoming Democratic Governor and Attorney General.
These bills, totaling 141 pages, were delivered to legislators for review late Friday afternoon, November 30. A public hearing was held Monday, December 3rd at the capital in packed testimony and overflow rooms. The final vote in the Senate came just before sunrise on December 5th with the Assembly vote a few hours later, after mostly closed-door caucuses all day on December 4th.
As the Wisconsin League of Women Voters said in a statement published Monday: "Good legislation does not result from a rushed, secretive process with little opportunity for input from the public or even the agencies that will be charged with implementing the changes.
Not surprisingly, Senator Marklein voted party-line in favor of the lame-duck bills, and hasn't responded to constituents who asked him to oppose. We already know that he votes 99.3% of the time with Senate Leader Scott Fitzterald, but in this case he did it in the face of extreme opposition by his constituents. 51st Assembly Representative Todd Novak, on the other hand, responded Monday December 3rd to constituents by email saying he "just recently received drafts" of the proposals. On December 5th he let constituents know that he voted against all three measures because of the volume of constituent objections to them.
Now it's up to Governor Walker to do the right thing and veto the bills: SB 884, SB 887, and AB 1070. Email him: govgeneral@wisconsin.gov. He needs to realize we know this is a blatant attack on our system of checks and balances. This is his chance to do something ethical before he leaves office.
Sincerely,
Marie L. Baker,
Dodgeville