Gov. Evers Again Urges Republican Lawmakers to Heed the Will of the People, Approve His Proposal Allowing Wisconsinites to Initiate Ballot Initiatives

MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers again slammed Republican lawmakers in the Wisconsin State Legislature today as they are poised to pass yet another Republican-drafted, Republican-backed, Republican-passed constitutional amendment-the sixth in about the last year’s time-all while they plan to reject the governor’s proposal to give the people of Wisconsin the same power as the Legislature. 

“Republican lawmakers today are poised to put their sixth constitutional amendment on the ballot in just a year’s time while they oppose my proposal to give Wisconsinites that same opportunity-that says a lot about how much they value the voice and the opinions of the people of Wisconsin,” said Gov. Evers. “Poll after poll has shown Wisconsinites support commonsense policies like protecting reproductive freedom, expanding BadgerCare, legalizing marijuana, and gun safety reforms, among other critical efforts. Republicans have repeatedly rejected those policies, often with no deliberation, debate, or vote. That’s wrong. If Republican lawmakers are going to continue ignoring the will of the people and legislating by constitutional amendment, then they should give the people of Wisconsin the power to pass the policies they want to see at the ballot box.”

Gov. Evers previously released a video message highlighting his plan to propose requiring the Legislature to allow the people of Wisconsin to put binding referenda on the ballot in Wisconsin, enabling Wisconsinites to enact statutory and constitutional changes through a majority vote at the ballot box and without the Legislature’s approval. The governor’s video message is available here. Just days after the governor announced his plan, Republican lawmakers voiced that the proposal was “D-O-A. Dead on arrival. It’s never going to happen.” 

Unlike many other red and blue states across the nation—including some of Wisconsin’s Midwestern neighboring states—Wisconsinites do not have the power to propose new laws or constitutional amendments through a binding ballot initiative process, which would otherwise enable the people of Wisconsin to enact policy changes through a simple statewide majority vote. In Wisconsin, only the Legislature can approve and place ballot questions on the ballot, leaving Wisconsinites little recourse when the Legislature fails to enact policies that have broad public support.

The governor’s proposal would empower the people of Wisconsin to put issues and areas that have long been supported by a majority of Wisconsinites but have been repeatedly rejected by the Republican majority in the Legislature to a vote on a statewide ballot, including legalizing and regulating marijuana, ensuring access to safe and legal abortion, expanding BadgerCare, and enacting commonsense gun safety reform policies, among other critical priorities of statewide importance and support.

Wisconsinites saw five statewide referenda questions in 2024-the most in a single year in over four decades, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-all of which were drafted, legislatively passed, and placed on the ballot by Republican lawmakers, largely without direct input from the people of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin State Assembly is set to vote on and pass the constitutional amendment today, Jan. 14, 2025. This is the second consideration of this proposal by the Legislature, which passed the Wisconsin State Senate last week, and will put the proposal on the ballot for the upcoming spring election.

An online version of this release is available here.