Contact: Aaron Collins, 608-266-2254
MADISON – Today, Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) entered into an unprecedented closed session and subsequently refused to take action to allow Attorney General Josh Kaul to move forward with an undisclosed settlement agreement on behalf of the state of Wisconsin. Today’s meeting was the direct result of December’s lame duck Extraordinary Session and 2017 Wisconsin Act 369, which changed state law to require the Attorney General to have all settlement agreements approved by JFC. Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement:
“Today, we witnessed the real life consequences of legislating solely with the intent to retain power at any cost. Attorney General Kaul made it clear today that the settlement he was bringing before the Joint Committee on Finance was serious and urgent, and that failure to reach a resolution in this case would have immediate consequences for Wisconsin taxpayers. These committee proceedings are the latest embarrassment in Legislative Republicans’ legacy of division, and their willingness to put politics over the people they represent in December during the lame duck session. Democrats warned at the time that the settlement provisions in Act 369 would lead to widespread confusion. Wisconsinites cast their vote to allow Josh Kaul to act on their behalf, and in the best interest of our state. In one of the most blatant attacks on democracy in our state’s history, Republicans have decided to override the will of the people and strip powers away from the democratically elected Attorney General. What a mess.”
