Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced this week he’ll try again to bring a citizen-led referendum process to Wisconsin, which would allow voters to enact policies directly without the state Legislature’s approval.
Evers said he’ll include the idea in his upcoming two-year budget proposal, set to be introduced in full in the coming weeks. But Republicans are likely to scrap the idea once they start rewriting the state’s spending plan, as they have with hundreds of Evers’ policy proposals during past budget cycles.
Evers cited Republicans’ frequent use of constitutional amendments in 2024, which allowed them to place ideas before voters that Evers has previously rejected. Republicans could put four more of those questions on the ballot in upcoming elections.
“Republican lawmakers have repeatedly worked to put constitutional amendments on the ballot that Republicans drafted, and Republicans passed, all while Republicans refuse to give that same power to the people of Wisconsin. And that’s wrong,” Evers told reporters Friday.
Here’s what to know about how citizen-led referendums work in other states, what Republicans think of bringing the idea to Wisconsin, how past efforts have fared and what types of referendums Wisconsin does have:
What is a citizen-led referendum, and how does it work in other states?
Gov. Tony Evers delivers his 2023-2025 biennial budget message Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, inside of the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
About half of states, including neighboring Michigan and Illinois, give citizens a role in getting a statewide referendum on the ballot.
Typically, individuals called “circulators” — who are sometimes paid — work to gather a certain threshold of voter signatures in support of the proposal, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Signature drives can cost several million dollars.
Interestingly, no new states have established a citizen initiative process since 1992, when Mississippi began allowing it. If lawmakers did put Evers’ proposal into practice, Wisconsin would be the first state in over three decades to enact the process.
Recently, citizens in other states have voted on referendums about marijuana legalization, abortion access and paid sick leave, for example. In his announcement, Evers said the proposal would allow Wisconsinites a chance to weigh in on policies that have wide support in statewide polling.
Those include making abortion legal in all or most cases, creating a medical marijuana program, expanding Medicaid, using a nonpartisan commission for redistricting, providing paid family leave and enacting “red flag” laws and universal background checks for firearms.
More: What to know about referendums in Wisconsin, and why citizens can’t petition for them
What do Republicans think about bringing a citizen referendum process to Wisconsin?
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican from Rochester, told the Journal Sentinel last month he would probably not support allowing citizens to bring forward ballot initiatives.
“The idea like in California, where you have dozens of ballot questions and it’s literally paid signature-gatherers and out-of-state interests trying to influence the process, probably not. I think our system works pretty well,” Vos said.
Vos added he believes in representative democracy. That’s opposed to direct democracy, which refers to the concept of citizens making decisions or enacting laws directly, without going through their elected representatives.
Republicans who control the Legislature typically strip out any non-fiscal policy ideas in Evers’ plan and begin writing their own budget from scratch. Evers’ proposal for citizen-led referendums is likely to be on that chopping block.
Have there been attempts to bring citizen-led referendums to Wisconsin before?
Over a century ago, voters actually rejected establishing the idea in Wisconsin.
In 1914, a referendum question asked whether citizens should be allowed to bring forward petitions for new laws or constitutional changes, and 64% voted against it.
Democrats have tried again in recent years. Last session, Democrats introduced a proposal to allow citizens to initiate petitions, but Republicans didn’t schedule hearings for it.
And in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s reversal, Evers asked lawmakers to consider the same thing, allowing voters to “go to referendum on the issues that matter to them.” Republicans gaveled in and out of that special session without taking up the issue.
What types of referendums does Wisconsin have?
The referendum questions Wisconsin voters saw on their ballots in 2024 are called constitutional amendments, because they change the language of the state constitution.
These amendments must be passed by state lawmakers two sessions in a row before they can appear before voters. Because Republicans control the Legislature, they have the power to pass and schedule constitutional amendments for certain elections without the governor’s approval.
There are other types of referendums in Wisconsin, but both can only be initiated by state legislators. Lawmakers can place non-binding, advisory referendums on the ballot to gauge public opinion and inform future policy.
Another type of referendum allows voters to approve or reject a law before it goes into effect, even after it’s passed by lawmakers and signed by the governor.
What referendums could Wisconsin voters see next?
In 2024, Republicans placed five constitutional amendments on ballots across three elections. Voters approved three of them and rejected two of them.
Four more constitutional amendments are on the docket to be passed a second time this year — the last step before going to voters.
Vos told the Journal Sentinel his party plans to pass one of them this month to meet the deadline to appear on the April 1, 2025, ballot. That amendment would cement Wisconsin’s voter identification requirement into the state constitution.
Three more could appear before voters in 2025 or 2026. If passed by voters, those would prohibit closing places of worship during a state of emergency, limit the governor’s partial veto power and end discrimination or preferential treatment in public entities based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.
More: Wisconsin voters saw 5 statewide referendums in 2024. They might see 4 more in 2025. Here’s what they are.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers wants citizen-led referendums in Wisconsin. What does that mean?