State Assembly Republicans failed for the fourth time Thursday to gain the two-thirds majority vote necessary to override a veto by Gov. Jim Doyle. By a 61-37 vote, the veto of a bill that would have required voters to present photo ID at polling places survived the override attempt.
Each of the previous override attempts failed by a margin of one to three votes after drawn-out controversy and debate.
\It seems to be a waste of time,"" Doyle said.
The democratic governor's earlier vetoes of Republican-backed attempts to give the Legislature approval rights on American Indian gambling contracts, to freeze local property taxes and to allow schools to refuse to employ convicted felons also faced override attempts. In all cases, GOP votes stuck to the party line and not enough Democrats joined them to save the bills.
These particular vetoes were largely symbolic targets, according to Dennis Dresang, UW-Madison professor of political science. The Republican majority is trying to ""box the governor into what it regards as a corner,"" he said, but a successful override is unlikely.
Even after a veto is upheld, the Legislature can reintroduce a defeated bill. The governor may then choose to veto it again.
Steve Baas, press secretary for Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said Democrats put ""partisanship and the interests of their governor"" ahead of voters' interests in opposing the voter-identification bill.
Democratic Representatives Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, Anthony J. Staskunas, D-West Allis, and Bob Ziegelbauer, D-Manitowoc, voted to overturn the veto. For a two-thirds vote, seven Democrats in the Assembly would have to side with Republicans.
""We have a highly partisan way of proceeding in the legislature,"" Dresang said. ""The major consequence is that nobody in the government, neither the legislators nor the governor, looks good to the public.""
Carrie Templeton, press secretary for Senate Minority Leader Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said only a frank discussion between Doyle and Republican leaders could move the Legislature past partisan arguments such as the veto override attempts.
""They need to sit down with the governor,"" she said. ""He is the governor of this state and they need to realize that.""
Doyle has said he will veto a bill now in the Legislature that would permit people to carry concealed weapons, but he is not certain whether they will again attempt to override him.
""Only time will tell,"" he said.
