MADISON — For the first time in a generation Democrats control the Legislature and the governor’s office, but their ability to set the state’s agenda will be hamstrung by the overwhelming $5.4 billion budget shortfall.
“I think it’s going to be really ugly,” said Mordecai Lee, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a former Democratic state lawmaker.
The Legislature begins its 2009 session on Jan. 5.