Empower Wisconsin | Nov. 21, 2019
By M.D. Kittle
MADISON —Still silence from Gov. Tony Evers on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
A week after more than 30 Republican members of the Assembly sent a letter to the governor asking him to publicly support the trade deal held up in the U.S. House of Representatives, Evers, as of late Wednesday had not responded.
“The Speaker’s Office hasn’t received any communications from the governor on his stance on USMCA,” Kit Beyer, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) wrote in an an email to Empower Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon.
Rep. Rob Summerfield’s office had heard nothing from Evers, said an aide to the Bloomer Republican who has led the effort to drum up support for the replacement pact for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
State Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), who appeared with Vice President Mike Pence at an event in Marinette Wednesday, tweeted at Evers to publicly announce his support for the trade deal.
“I along with others in the @WIAssemblyGOP sent a letter to @GovEvers urging him to publicly support the #USMCA. It is time @GovEvers publicly proclaims his support for this important trade deal,” Nygren tweeted.
I along with others in the @WIAssemblyGOP sent a letter to @GovEvers urging him to publicly support the #USMCA. It is time @GovEvers publicly proclaims his support for this important trade deal that impacts WI! pic.twitter.com/sbxgAMj8E7
— John Nygren (@rep89) November 20, 2019
While House Democratic leadership has sounded more optimistic that a vote is forthcoming, but Summerfield told Empower Wisconsin last week that partisan politics are getting in the way of this important trade deal.
“With the impeachment (hearings) going on, I think the House Democrats are just concerned about that instead of caring about the people of the United States,” the lawmaker said.
Evers has no power in moving the trade deal along, but supporters say the Democrat could add his voice to a bipartisan chorus of public officials endorsing the agreement, helping to sway Democrats in the House. The deal would bring much-needed relief to Wisconsin’s hurting ag industry through expanded trade and the removal of barriers, supporters say.
