State Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere, has always been an interesting character. Perhaps it comes with the territory, as he is stranded over in the corner of the state in Door County, surrounded by tourists and cranberry farmers. Or it just might be the cowboy hat he totes around on his head. However it came about, Lasee has a reputation of being an interesting lawmaker, and with that comes interesting ideas. One of Lasee's most recent initiatives is actually one of his old standbys: give the offices of secretary of state and lieutenant governor the axe in Wisconsin.
Lasee has tried to get rid of these positions numerous
times in the past to no avail, but not necessarily due to merit.
The position of secretary of state in particular is of questionable
value to the state, particularly since it was stripped of the
responsibility to regulate and tabulate voting.
Currently, the secretary of state is tasked with four
duties: succeeding the lieutenant governor upon a vacancy in that
position, holding a spot on the board of commissioners for the sale
of public lands, maintaining the records of official state acts and
keeping the seal of the state of Wisconsin. Of these duties,
replacing the lieutenant governor and guarding the state seal are
wholly unnecessary and involve no work whatsoever, the board of
commissioners seat could easily be appointed by the governor and
maintaining records could be done by some political-wonk high
school student. Yet for performing these simple responsibilities,
the secretary of state's office receives almost $400,000 in funding
yearly.
Based on that assessment, it is hard to justify keeping
the secretary of state around. If not for partisan political
struggles and the institution that is Douglas LaFollette, the
sitting secretary of state who has been in office for decades, the
position could probably be done away with easily. But the
lieutenant governor's chair is another issue. The position's power
can change with every election, as it often becomes whatever the
officeholder makes of it. Barbara Lawton hasn't exactly had a lot
on her plate with the position, but she has used it as a soapbox
for issues she finds important, such as promoting the arts.
However, the only real duty the lieutenant governor is actually
assigned is to wait in the wings for the governor to vacate
office.
Now while this is not a heavy workload, it is
nonetheless essential. The state needs somebody to step into the
governor's position immediately in the event the office is vacated.
Unlike the unnecessary secretary of state position, the lieutenant
governor cannot just be tossed aside.
However, that doesn't mean the position cannot be used
more effectively. Other than the governor, the lieutenant governor
is the highest profile position in the state and it should hold the
responsibilities of such a position. Barbara Lawton and her
successors shouldn't just stand around waiting for the governor to
keel over. At the very least, the lieutenant governor should be
given the responsibilities of the secretary of state, and
preferably other duties from other overtaxed government
agencies.
