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MADISON - Don't count out Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle just yet.
Sure he's a lame duck after Monday's
announcement that he will not seek a third term next year. But the
super-competitive governor and some allies say he still has time for
achievements that could bolster his legacy during his remaining months
in office.
Among them: bringing high-speed
passenger rail to the state, overhauling Milwaukee's troubled public
schools, approving measures to combat global warming, and helping turn
around the state's tanking economy.
While the governor is losing some power
to force specifics of his agenda, he and Democratic lawmakers — who
run both houses — already tend to agree on many proposals. And in
many other cases, he can take executive action to implement his
priorities without legislative approval.
Doyle said Tuesday he could be more
successful pursuing his agenda on education, health care, energy and
the economy without the distraction of a statewide political campaign.
"I'm not letting up at all,"
he told reporters in Sun Prairie, after announcing the federal
government had approved the extension of Wisconsin's popular
prescription drug program for seniors. "We've got a
year-and-a-half where I'm a governor and I'm not a candidate, and
there are a lot of things we can do."
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
professor Mordecai Lee, a former state senator, served under two lame
duck governors in the 1970s and 1980s. After they announced they were
leaving office, he said the sudden loss of power to force their will
on lawmakers "was just startling."
But he said Doyle and lawmakers could
still pass important legislation because "ideologically they are
already in harmony."
Doyle agreed: "Our basic
priorities and values are very much aligned and I think there's a lot
of good work we can do together," he said Tuesday.
While agreeing on priorities, the
governor's relationship with lawmakers has taken a somewhat sour turn
in recent months. Some were angry with vetoes he made in the state
budget, including a plan to raise the sales tax to pay for
transportation and police services in Milwaukee County.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, recently
lashed out at the governor for scheduling a news conference to
announce stimulus spending that had not been approved by legislators.
He also berated Doyle aides for failing to timely notify lawmakers of
a $47 million no-bid contract with a Spanish firm for two passenger
train sets.
Pocan, a longtime ally of the governor,
said lawmakers would not be "a rubber stamp" but would work
with Doyle during the remainder of his term.
"It's going to be a little harder
to do something if it's his initiative exclusively, but a lot more of
what we have is shared agenda work," Pocan said. "Those
areas are job creation and working to help the economy, the global
warming agenda and a number of other provisions."
An early test of the governor's power
could come in September, when he is expected to ask lawmakers to
approve a package of reforms for Milwaukee public schools. The plan is
expected to give the city control of the troubled school district,
which has high dropout rates and low test scores, and take it away
from the school board.
The governor also wants lawmakers to
approve state incentives for the school districts that work together
to cut costs, spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said.
The Legislature is also expected to
consider measures to fight drunken driving such as requiring repeat
offenders to install devices requiring them to be sober before
driving. Tackling that issue alone would be a signature achievement in
this beer-loving state.
Doyle also can act on his own.
Sensenbrenner said the governor plans to use a package of economic
development incentives approved in the state budget to recruit and
retain businesses and maintain the state's manufacturing base.
After lawmakers eventually approved the
train contract, Doyle's administration is expected to ask for up to
$550 million from the federal government to improve passenger rail
service between Chicago and Milwaukee and expand it to Madison.
Eventually, the line could extend through western Wisconsin to the
Twin Cities.
Doyle will also see through some of his
biggest accomplishments, including groundbreaking research labs being
built at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the expansion of state
health care programs, and a program that promises higher education to
high school graduates who meet certain requirements.
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