So I'll just keep a timer for five.
Yep.
I don't have to worry about that last question.
Sure.
I'll monitor right here.
All right.
Well, Governor, even just thanks for your time today.
In terms of the lawsuit that you are filing, many of the issues you've used in examples
of there have been going on for years, so why file it now?
Well, the other issues we're irritating and we're hoping to deal with it in a good way.
That when you say to 35,000 state employees at this University of Wisconsin, employees
and say, we're not sure about that 4% for you or you're not going to get it now, that
pushed me over the ledge, frankly.
I mean, first of all, I do believe it's illegal.
That's part of what our lawsuit is about, is that there's nothing in law or the budget
that was passed, which is law, to say that the Speaker or the Republicans in general
leadership can say, well, that 4% you're not going to get it or you might get it if you
do X, Y, and Z, none of that's in law.
So that is an illegal act and so that pushed me over the edge.
I mean, the other issues, you know, I do believe it's just like, you know, a further effort
that started before I became governor with the lame duck law and all the things that
they've done about not approving my appointees or not, you know, all of that, it's all part
of it.
But when you mess with 35,000 people at one time, that's enough.
The suit is broad because of the different committees you're referring to and the different
actions that those aren't all the same actions those committees are taking.
Are you looking for the Supreme Court if they take this case to make a broad ruling or would
you be satisfied if they issued a narrow ruling specifically on UW employees or J. Croix
or any of the other committees?
I think the legislature would be helpful for the legislature to have a broad idea of what
the earth authority is and what's mine.
That would be the best of all alternatives.
But we have to, you know, at the end of the day, we have to make sure that we pay people
what they should be paid.
So I think the best alternative would be a broad sweeping thing saying this is what
your job is, this is what the governor's job is, start behaving.
You mentioned the lame duck laws and some of these actions you're referring to came out
of the lame duck law.
So is this in effect another lawsuit attempt to relitigate some of those issues that were
passed into law under the previous administration?
Yeah.
I mean, because of that actions, we've always felt that they're wrong-headed.
And so if we have to make some changes, that's fine.
I think broadly speaking, the way the Republicans have essentially taken more and more power
over time from the executive branch, we have to stop that and we have to understand that
there are co-equal parts of government, the judicial executive and the legislative.
And that's the way it's supposed to work.
It's not working that way now.
Would you have filed this lawsuit under a different makeup of a Supreme Court?
Yes.
Oh, gosh, yes.
I think we're going to get more than four votes on this one.
I mean, people should be able to understand what that there is broad.
There is the authority in all three branches.
So absolutely, this is the recent thing, whether new judges there or not, that's irrelevant
to this.
We would have filed that regardless.
You have dealt with the legislature rules, even as your time is super intended in public
instruction.
How long-standing are some of these issues when it comes to the balance of power between
the executive and the legislature?
Yeah.
I think it accelerated with my election.
I think it's always a little bit of an issue going forward.
But because it's just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, it became a thing.
And we have to deal with it.
So I'm glad we filed this suit and we anticipate winning this suit.
A year ago, you were talking about a reset with Republicans in the legislature.
Since then, they have voted down your appointees and you've filed this lawsuit.
Was a reset ever realistic?
Was it always going to be limited or is it just the current state of politics?
It's the current state of politics.
But we passed a budget.
I signed a budget where we brought shared revenue to Milwaukee and other places across
the state, every municipality.
So we've had some successes, but what we can't stand for is people not following the law
and following what we've agreed to.
And we did not agree to what the speaker is doing now.
All right.
Governor Ebers, thanks for your time.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
All right.
Five exactly in my count.
I'm done.