With a newly elected, Republican-controlled state Legislature, Wisconsin will likely see a slew of deregulatory bills this season.
The GOP now has a majority of 60-38, with one Independent in the state Assembly, and 19-14 in the state Senate.
Among the 14 Democratic lawmakers ousted this election cycle were some of the most prominent people at the Capitol. Both Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Wausau, and Speaker of the Assembly Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, were defeated by their Republican challengers.
One of the top contenders for the next Speaker of the Assembly, state Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, is looking forward to creating jobs and minimizing government power, according to his spokesperson Jim Bender.
Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, D-Madison, said the election results reflected voters' economic woes but that the legislation the Democratic Legislature passed over the last two years will continue to help the economy recover.
Bender said there was not much done over the last few years at the state level that Republicans plan on dismantling. However, he said with Walker as governor, Republican lawmakers will be able to pass bills that will make savings accounts tax-deductible and require voters to present a photo ID at the polls.
Roys said the policies that will come from the Republican Legislature in the next two years will benefit to corporations at the expense of the middle class.
""That's why you're going to see in two years people will have recovered their memories of how we got into this economic mess in the first place,"" Roys said.
