Wisconsin Assembly speaker aims for bipartisanship with budget

Link to January 15 Oshkosh Northwestern article.

Excerpt:
The newly elected Democratic leader of the state Assembly says he wants to include Republicans in solving the state’s $5.4 billion budget problem, but until Wednesday he hadn’t reached out to them and now his motives are being questioned.

Speaker Mike Sheridan of Janesville said that he plans to meet with Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, later this month to talk about the budget. That meeting is planned even though there is no obligation for the party in control to consult with the minority, in this case Republicans.

Fitzgerald's view: [He] said he hasn’t been approached by Doyle or any Democrats working on the budget and he doesn’t expect to be."It’s just not going to happen," he said. "They’re going to have bigger problems among themselves. I don’t expect them to invite us to the table."