Vos Rejects Special Action for Farmers

Assembly leader says bills from Evers will go through regular process

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos put a stop Thursday to an effort by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to hold a special legislative session to address the state’s struggling rural economy.

The move comes less than one day after Evers’ State of the State address in which the Governor detailed a list of bills to be debated at a special session that he wanted held as soon as next week.

In a statement Thursday, Vos said the bills will be sent to committee and hearings will be held, which is the normal trajectory for a bill.

“Assembly Republicans have a long track record of responding to the needs of our rural communities, which includes creating the Dairy Innovation Hub, fighting for local road funding, assisting our rural schools, allowing farmers to diversify crops and advancing many other farmer-driven initiatives. 

“It’s important that we continue to listen to Wisconsinites who live in our rural communities before moving forward on anything,” said Vos in a statement.

The governor noted that some of the items in his package of rural relief proposals were part of his state budget proposal a year ago but were removed by Republicans.