State Republican Lawmakers Looking to Add Two Referendums to April Ballot

Thursday, January 19th, 2023 -- 9:16 AM

(By Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio) Republican lawmakers are poised to add two referendums to Wisconsin's April ballot in what Democrats are calling a blatant attempt to drive up GOP turnout for the state's critical Supreme Court election.

According to Shawn Johnson with Wisconsin Public Radio, the GOP ballot questions include one introduced only days ago that would ask voters whether they support requiring adults without kids to search for work to receive welfare benefits.

The proposal is an advisory referendum, meaning whatever the public decides won't change state law one way or another. The other referendum, which would amend the Wisconsin Constitution, focuses on what judges can consider when they set cash bail, emphasizing the kind of tough-on-crime message that has formed the bedrock of conservative judicial campaigns for years.

In an effort to counter those messages, Democrats proposed their own advisory referendum Tuesday to ask the public whether they think the state should repeal its pre-Civil War abortion ban that was reinstated after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Republican legislators rejected that proposal. Both moves underscore the massive importance of Wisconsin's April 4 election, which could swing the ideological balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from conservative to liberal for the first time since 2008.

The proposed advisory referendum, introduced Friday afternoon by top GOP leaders, will ask voters: "Shall able-bodied childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits."

Wisconsin law already requires adults without kids to conduct job searches to receive unemployment insurance, but Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told reporters the state could expand that and require them for people to receive Medicaid, or health care for low-income residents.

"It's so important to show the support of Wisconsin voters that if you're going to receive welfare benefits that you need to apply for work," LeMahieu said. "Able-bodied adults should be working." Democrats called the move political and cynical.

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