LRB analysis: Tony Evers can't order Josh Kaul to drop ACA lawsuit without legislative approval
A legal analysis prepared Wednesday by a legislative attorney says Gov. Tony Evers does not have the authority to order the state's attorney general to withdraw from a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, despite Evers' declaration on Tuesday that he would do so.
Responding to comments made by Republican lawmakers that the governor had directed Attorney General Josh Kaul to act illegally, an Evers spokeswoman said Evers is not directing Kaul to take any particular action.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, requested the memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau after Evers announced in his State of the State address that he had sent Kaul a letter directing him to pull Wisconsin out of the multi-state lawsuit.
"The people of Wisconsin voted for a change this November and asked us to stop playing politics with their health care," Evers said in his speech. "That’s why I’m announcing tonight that I have fulfilled a promise I made to the people of Wisconsin by directing Attorney General Kaul to withdraw from a lawsuit that would gut coverage for the 2.4 million Wisconsinites who have pre-existing conditions."
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