Doyle stresses tax cuts, working with moderates in second term

From health care to stem cell research, education funding and tax cuts, Gov. Jim Doyle should find more support for his policies in the statehouse as he embarks on his second and perhaps last term in office.

He will be buoyed by a shift in power in the Senate and an increase in Democrats in the Assembly, but that doesn't guarantee success.

"I realize we're going to have to compromise, we're going to have to work together," Doyle said Wednesday. "I think what we saw was an electorate saying what they don't want is a continual fight over divisive social issues."

Doyle outlined an aggressive agenda while campaigning to keep his seat, including making all health care premiums tax-free, expanding health care coverage for senior citizens and children, and keeping funding levels high for education. But he is counting on an improved economy resulting in higher tax receipts, along with some unspecified budget cuts, to pay for the new proposals without raising taxes.

Doyle also made his support of embryonic stem cell research a lynchpin of his campaign, promising to continue the work pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The governor championed the planned $375 million public-private project, scheduled to break ground next year, called the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. it is aimed at making Wisconsin a leader in biomedical research including embryonic stem cell work.

Doyle's first term was marked by frequent vetoes as he butted heads with the Republican-controlled Legislature. Among the vetoes he issued were on a property tax limit bill (twice), a legalization of concealed weapons (twice), and a measure requiring voters to show IDs at the polls (three times).

Doyle said Wednesday he looks forward to a better working relationship with the new Legislature, which he said will feature more input from moderate Republicans.

"I'm really thrilled to have the Senate on my side. I'm really thrilled with the kind of gains the Democrats made in the Assembly," Doyle said. "One side can't roll over the other any more."

State Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, the majority leader in the Assembly and in line to be the next speaker, was in a meeting Wednesday and did not immediately return a message seeking comment. A spokesman for the state Republican Party also did not immediately return a message.

If Doyle wants to be a centrist, this will be a good test since he will have to work closely with both chambers to get anything done, said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor John Coleman.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are going to be able to get through their complete agenda, Coleman said.

"For anything to get through the whole legislative process, they're going to have to work a little bit of magic to get things done," he said.

Majorities mean everything in the Legislature. The party that controls one house can block the opposing party's legislation. A party that controls both houses can dominate state politics.

Democrats needed only three seats to retake the Senate in Tuesday's election. They got four, giving Democrats an 18-15 edge in the chamber.

In the Assembly, the Republicans' majority shrank from 59-39 to 53-46.

Democratic control of the Assembly only further seals the fate of the death penalty in Wisconsin.

Even though voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved restoring the death penalty for certain cases backed by DNA evidence, the referendum was advisory, meaning the Legislature would have to take action for it to be brought back.

Doyle opposes the death penalty, which meant a veto was almost certain. But with most Democrats also in opposition, it's unlikely anything would clear the Senate.

"I don't think you'd ever see a death penalty bill come out of the Legislature," Doyle said.

Doyle, who beat Republican Mark Green 53 percent to 45 percent, was also able to overcome an attempt by Republican conservatives to draw out their base of support with an amendment banning same-sex marriage, which passed by a wide margin.

About a third of voters who supported the gay marriage ban still voted for Doyle, according to an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

The divisive governor's race was marked by millions of dollars spent on negative TV ads and visits by high-profile politicians and celebrities hoping to influence the race in a state expected to be a battleground in the 2008 presidential race.

As for Doyle's future, he said on the campaign trail that he always assumed this would be his last statewide race, but he deferred making a decision for a couple of years.