Here & Now

Nygren Breaks Down Final Legislative Budget Motions

ZAC SCHULTZ:

WE TURN NOW TO THE CO-CHAIR OF THE JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE, REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE JOHN NYGREN, WHO JOINS US FROM MARINETTE. THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TODAY.

JOHN NYGREN:

GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

THE FINAL VOTE IN THE ASSEMBLY WAS 52-46. IN THE END, 11 REPUBLICANS VOTED NO. MOST OF THEM FROM COMPETITIVE DISTRICTS. DID THEY HAVE POLICY ISSUES WITH THE BUDGET OR WERE THEY ALSO LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT ELECTION?

JOHN NYGREN:

WELL, I THINK THERE’S PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT OF POLICY, A LITTLE BIT OF POLITICS. YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I CAN’T PUT MYSELF IN THEIR SHOES, PER SE, BUT I KNOW WE DO HAVE CONCERNS. THERE’S CONCERNS FROM SOME OF OUR MEMBERS ABOUT THE PREVAILING WAGE DISCUSSION. I THINK THEY WOULD PREFER THAT TO HAVE BEEN A SEPARATE VOTE OUTSIDE THE BUDGET. I THINK THAT’S WHY SOME OF THEM EXPRESSED THEIR DISPLEASURE. AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN THE DOCUMENT CAME OVER FROM THE SENATE, AS IT WAS EVEN WITH THE PREVAILING WAGE ALREADY IN IT, I THINK THE BOTTOM LINE WAS A GOOD MOVE FOR THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, IS GOING TO MAKE US A MORE COMPETITIVE STATE.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

THE OPEN RECORDS CHANGES RECEIVED A LOT OF ATTENTION. DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES THEMSELVES WENT TOO FAR OR DID MOST OF THE UPROAR COME FROM THE FACT THAT THEY CAME IN THE BUDGET AT THE LAST MINUTE?

JOHN NYGREN:

PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH. I ACTUALLY THINK SO ANYTIME WE HAVE A BUDGET, YOU’RE DEALING WITH THE TWO DIFFERENT HOUSES. YOU’RE DEALING WITH THE ADMINISTRATION, THINGS THAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE. I THINK INCREMENTALLY PERHAPS SOME OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES WERE APPROPRIATE. IN FACT IT’S BEEN DISCUSSED WIDELY IN THE MEDIA THAT I FAVOR US TAKING A LOOK AT CONSTITUENT PRIVACY WHEN THEY CONTACT A LEGISLATOR ABOUT BEING ABLE TO ASSURE THAT THEIR INFORMATION DOESN’T BECOME PUBLIC. THERE’S A BALANCING TASK AS IT IS RIGHT NOW. BUT PERSONALLY I’VE BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE I’VE BEEN ASKED FOR OPEN RECORDS AND REDACTED THE PERSONAL INFORMATION, ONLY TO BE THREATENED WITH A LAWSUIT. AND SENATOR ERPENBACH ON THE DEMOCRAT SIDE, SAME THING. SO BECAUSE OF THAT I THINK THAT’S A REASONABLE DISCUSSION TO HAVE. BUT, AS I SAID, ANYTIME YOU GO PUT MULTIPLE VIEWS INTO IT, FROM A PUBLIC PERCEPTION IT MAY HAVE BEEN A BRIDGE TOO FAR.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

THE BUDGET WAS OVERDUE. LEGISLATORS WERE CANCELLING VACATIONS. AND GOVERNOR WALKER IS GOING TO ANNOUNCE HE’S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT ON MONDAY NIGHT. HOW MUCH PRESSURE WAS THERE TO PASS THIS BUDGET RIGHT NOW?

JOHN NYGREN:

YOU KNOW WHEN THE GOVERNOR ANNOUNCED HIS INTENT – HE WANTED THE BUDGET PASSED EARLY – BECAUSE OF THAT HE INTRODUCED IT IN EARLY FEBRUARY A FEW WEEKS AHEAD OF THE NORMAL SCHEDULE. I EVEN SAID BACK THEN, YOU KNOW, WE’LL DO OUR BEST TO, YOU KNOW, GET THIS THING DONE EARLY. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S NOT ABOUT TIME. IT’S ABOUT PUTTING A DOCUMENT TOGETHER THAT FIRST OF ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT DISTRICTS THAT HAVE VAST DIFFERENCE IN THEIR VIEWPOINTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE DOCUMENT. SO PUTTING A BETTER PRODUCT TOGETHER VERSUS A TIME LINE WAS ALWAYS THE PRIORITY FOR US.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

NOW, THE NEXT BUDGET DEBATE WON’T START UNTIL AFTER THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. DO YOU THINK SCOTT WALKER WILL BE THE PERSON THAT WILL BE INTRODUCING THAT BUDGET TO THE LEGISLATURE?

JOHN NYGREN:

WELL, YOU KNOW, IT’S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE THAT A GUY FROM SMALL TOWN WISCONSIN CAN BE IN A POSITION WHERE HE COULD BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I’M EXCITED ABOUT THAT, WHETHER IT BE SCOTT WALKER, WHETHER IT BE ANOTHER PERSON FROM OUR STATE. I THINK IT’S PRETTY COOL THAT THAT CAN TAKE PLACE. NO MATTER WHO THAT GOVERNOR IS, WE GOT A JOB TO DO AND WE’RE WILLING TO TAKE THAT BATTLE UP TWO YEARS FROM NOW.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

NOW, AFTER THE BUDGET WAS PASSED, YOU WENT ON TO ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL MOTION AND THAT WAS THE 20-WEEK ABORTION BAN BILL. OTHER BILLS LIKE THIS IN OTHER STATES HAVE BEEN STRUCK DOWN. DO YOU THINK THIS ONE WILL PASS, OR IS THIS ABOUT BUILDING A CASE FOR THE SUPREME COURT?

JOHN NYGREN:

WELL, YOU KNOW, I’VE OBVIOUSLY BEEN WORKING ON THE BUDGET. THAT HAS BEEN MY MAIN FOCUS. BUT THE RESEARCH THAT I’VE DONE, THE PARAMETERS PUT INTO THIS ABORTION BAN ON 20 WEEKS, BABIES THAT CAN FEEL PAIN BASED ON SCIENCE AT THIS POINT IN TIME, I DO BELIEVE THIS ONE’S DRAFTED DIFFERENTLY, THAT IT WILL WITHSTAND THE POTENTIAL LAWSUITS THAT MIGHT COME. AND I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY THIS IS FIVE MONTHS INTO A PREGNANCY. I THINK OVERALL THE CITIZENS OF WISCONSIN EVEN IF THEY DISAGREE ON WHETHER ABORTION SHOULD BE ILLEGAL OR LEGAL, 20 WEEKS IS PRETTY FAR ALONG IN THE PROCESS AND PROTECTING YOUNG, IN THIS CASE UNBORN, FROM PAIN IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD ALL WORK TOWARDS ACHIEVING.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

NOW THIS IS ANOTHER BILL THAT THE GOVERNOR WANTED TO SEE PASSED BEFORE HE ANNOUNCED MONDAY NIGHT. WAS THERE PRESSURE TO GET THIS DONE AS WELL?

JOHN NYGREN:

BASED ON — WE COULD HAVE GONE IN EARLIER ON IT. IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIMING FOR US. WE HAD OUR MEMBERS IN MADISON. SCHEDULES ARE PRETTY TOUGH COME SUMMERTIME. WE HAD OUR MEMBERS IN MADISON, SO WE DECIDED, AFTER NEGOIATING WITH THE DEMOCRATS ON TIMELINES, TO COME IN ONE DAY ON THE BUDGET, THE NEXT DAY ON THE ABORTION BILL. SO I THINK THAT THAT IS — I DON’T THINK THAT THERE WAS ANY PRESSURE TO GET THIS THING PASSED.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

WE’VE GOT JUST A FEW SECONDS LEFT, BUT IN YOUR TIME UNDER GOVERNOR WALKER WAS THIS THE MOST DIFFICULT BUDGET TO PASS?

JOHN NYGREN:

I THINK IT WAS. YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY — WELL, WE GO BACK TO ACT 10. ACT 10 WAS OUTSIDE THE BUDGET. BUT I DO THINK IT WAS NOT NECESSARILY BECAUSE OF WHAT THE BUDGET CONTAINED, BUT OBVIOUSLY THE SCRUTINY FROM OUTSIDE THE STATE OF WISCONSIN ACTUALLY I THINK DROVE SOME OF THE MEDIA FRENZY AND BECAUSE OF THAT I THINK IT MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO GET OUR MEMBERS TO A COMFORT LEVEL ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES. THE PREVAILING WAGE DISCUSSION CAME INTO IT ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH AND I THINK IT WASN’T SO MUCH THE ISSUES IN THE BUDGET. IT WAS THE ISSUES THAT POTENTIALLY COULD BE IN THE BUDGET LIKE PREVAILING WAGE THAT MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT.

ZAC SCHULTZ:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. APPRECIATE IT.

JOHN NYGREN:

THANK YOU. HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.