I wasn’t surprised when both houses of the state Legislature refused to take a full vote on the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA).
In its original form, it was a sweeping, comprehensive bill that sought to change how Wisconsin “does” our energy, from updating the rules on nuclear power plants to boosting energy efficiency to planning more walkable neighborhoods.
And now it’s dead.
Brings to mind that old political adage, “There are a thousand ways to kill a bill and only one way to pass it.”
Merits (and shortcomings) of the bill asidethat’s a completely different, much longer conversationthe death of CEJA reminds me of the death, rebirth and eventual passage of the health care reform bill that transfixed/bored the entire nation.
The difference? The power of the chief executive.
In the case of health care, President Obama got the process moving, then backed off to let Congress come up with a bill that meet his broad guidelines. That, obviously, turned into a giant cat-herding mess and allowed lawmakers from all parts of the country and political spectrum try to cut a deal for their favored project or policy. The legislative sausage-making process is always ugly. But in our 24-hour news culture, we got to look at every procedural twist and turn up close, then hear ruminations about each one for hours on cable.
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And when all appeared to be getting off track, Obama stepped in to make yet another pitch for health care reform. He gave a speech to clear up Town Hall misinformation. He let the cameras in on a meeting with the House Republicans to show how bankrupt their objections were. And then he told Congress to just get ‘er done. And they did.
Contrast that with the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which was always seen as Gov. Doyle’s baby. It even came out of a governor-created task force on global warming. But that was launched years before Doyle became a lame duck, not loved by members of the state Legislature and no longer feared by them, either.
While the resulting CEJA didn’t include all of the task force’s recommendations, it had enough to be comprehensive, giving a little bit to the utilities, a little to nuclear advocates, and a little to green energy advocates.
And here’s where the death by a thousand special interests comes in.
While the utilities were on board, since they could develop more green energy projects on the ratepayers’ dime, other businesses weren’t. I’m not sure how much of it was based on fear, or hatred of mandates, or a cold hard look at their energy future. But they weren’t having it. They were probably never on board with it so probably never would have been persuaded to support it. The WMC knows how to keep its members in line.
That said, Gov. Doyle had no juice. He couldn’t get hesitant legislators to make a deal and then give him a big win to take into the November elections that would carry them along. Heckthey’ll probably get a boost in November for not supporting him. So unlike Obama, Doyle couldn’t use the power of his office to get something passed.
Which begs the question: What’s Doyle’s legacy? If he wanted to leave office with some big reforms that bore his namemayoral takeover, clean energy, election reformhe certainly hasn’t gotten them. Guess he should have gotten his ducks in a row before he became a lame duck.