Wisconsin special sessions proving to be not so special

It is time to change the rules for special sessions in Wisconsin. Under current law, the Governor has the authority to call lawmakers back to Madison to convene a special session of the legislature. In the two years since Tony Evers took office, he has exercised that authority seven times, calling lawmakers back to Madison to consider ideas such as gun control, pandemic response and yesterday, to ask lawmakers to agree to provide more money for public education. Each time the result has been the same. Lawmakers convene the meeting as the law requires, but then gavel out and adjourn the session, typically in minutes. In each instance, there was no public testimony, no debate and no vote. None have led to any legislation. As it is written, the law requires a special session be convened at the urging of the Governor, but does not require that lawmakers actually take any action. Wisconsin should change the law so that lawmakers have to actually discuss the issue that sends them back to Madison. If our representatives are going to be there and collect their per-diem payments, we should at least get some work out of them. Otherwise these special sessions are little more than political theatre.