Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor’s power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was free to spend most of that money as he pleased, directing most of it toward small businesses and economic development, angering Republicans who argued the Legislature should have oversight.

That’s what would happen under a pair of related constitutional amendments up for voter approval in the Aug. 13 primary election. The changes would apply to Evers and all future governors and cover any federal money to the state that comes without specific spending requirements, often in response to disasters or other emergencies.

Democrats and other opponents are mobilizing against the amendments, calling them a legislative power grab that would hamstring governors’ ability to quickly respond to a future natural disaster, economic crisis or health emergency.

If the amendments pass, Wisconsin’s government “will become even more dysfunctional,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union.

“Wisconsinites are so weary of riding the partisan crazy train, but it is crucial that we show up at the polls and vote ‘no’ on these changes as they will only make us go further off the rails,” she said in a statement.

But Republicans and other backers say it’s a necessary check on the governor’s current power, which they say is too broad.

The changes increase “accountability, efficiency, and transparency,” Republican state Sen. Howard Marklein, a co-sponsor of the initiative, said at a legislative hearing.

The two questions, which were proposed as a single amendment and then separated on the ballot, passed the GOP-controlled Legislature twice as required by law. Voter approval is needed before they would be added to the state constitution. The governor has no veto power over constitutional amendments.

Early, in-person absentee voting for the Aug. 13 election begins Tuesday across the state and goes through Aug. 11. Locations and times for early voting vary.

Wisconsin Republicans have increasingly turned to voters to approve constitutional amendments as a way to get around Evers’ vetoes. Midway through his second term, Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in Wisconsin history.

In April, voters approved amendments to bar the use of private money to run elections and reaffirm that only election officials can work the polls. In November, an amendment on the ballot seeks to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in local elections.

Republicans put this question on the August primary ballot, the first time a constitutional amendment has been placed in that election where turnout is much lower than in November.

The effort to curb the governor’s spending power also comes amid ongoing fights between Republicans and Evers over the extent of legislative authority. Evers in July won a case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court that challenged the power the GOP-controlled Legislature’s budget committee had over conservation program spending.

Wisconsin governors were given the power to decide how to spend federal money by the Legislature in 1931, during the Great Depression, according to a report from the Legislative Reference Bureau.

“Times have changed and the influx of federal dollars calls for a different approach,” Republican Rep. Robert Wittke, who sponsored the amendment, said at a public hearing.

It was a power that was questioned during the Great Recession in 2008, another time when the state received a large influx of federal aid.

But calls for change intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government handed Wisconsin $5.7 billion in aid between March 2020 and June 2022 in federal coronavirus relief. Only $1.1 billion came with restrictions on how it could be spent.

Most of the money was used for small business and local government recovery grants, buying emergency health supplies and paying health care providers to offset the costs of the pandemic.

Republicans pushed for more oversight, but Evers vetoed a GOP bill in 2021 that would have required the governor to submit a plan to the Legislature’s budget committee for approval.

Republican increased the pressure for change following the release of a nonpartisan audit in 2022 that found Evers wasn’t transparent about how he decided where to direct the money.

One amendment specifies the Legislature can’t delegate its power to decide how money is spent. The second prohibits the governor from spending federal money without legislative approval.

If approved, the Legislature could pass rules governing how federal money would be handled. That would give them the ability to change the rules based on who is serving as governor or the purpose of the federal money.

For example, the Legislature could allow governors to spend disaster relief money with no approval, but require that other money go before lawmakers first.

Opposing the measures are voting rights groups, the Wisconsin Democratic Party and a host of other liberal organizations, including those who fought to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying group, and the Badger Institute, a conservative think tank, were the only groups that registered in support in the Legislature.

Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, one of the best pitchers in baseball, was punched in the mouth in the first inning Saturday, as Royce Lewis cranked a first-pitch slider for a two-run home run.

Skubal, though, responded like an ace.

“Giving up two in the first, I’ve done that a lot?” Skubal said. “Unfortunately, I have. In ’21, I gave up a lot of runs in the first inning, so it’s learning experiences. There’s a ton of growth to be had, even three years ago, that you can take into today’s game.”

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Skubal mowed down the Minnesota Twins throughout the rest of his seven-inning start, leading the Tigers to a 7-2 win Saturday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.

The Tigers (52-54) have won 13 of their past 19 games.

“Do you think I think about the future?” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I do in my own way, but not in the moment. In the moment, we’re trying to win the game. I love what we’re building here, but I want to stop talking about building. I want to win every game. What we’re witnessing with Tarik is just scratching the surface on what he can do.”

Skubal, the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award with a2.35 ERA through 21 starts, allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 96 pitches.

The Tigers drew 35,138 fans on Saturday night.

“What an environment,” Skubal said, when asked about crowf. “I don’t know how many people were there tonight, but it was a great environment, and it was great last night, and I look forward to playing in front of the fans like this again tomorrow — and winning a series. It was awesome.”

The Tigers also received a boost from Javier Báez, who hit a home run for in third consecutive game. He padded a one-run lead with a two-run homer — his third homer in a stretch of 11 plate appearances — in the seventh inning, turning on a middle-in fastball from right-handed reliever Brock Stewart.

Báez had one homer in his first 229 plate appearances.

“I love it,” Skubal said. “I love Javy, everything about him. He plays the game hard. I’ve always admired that about him. Ground ball, he’s running it 90 feet pretty hard no matter how he feels. I got a ton of respect for that player.”

The homer from Báez extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-2. Still in the seventh, the Twins replaced Stewart with left-handed reliever Steven Okert for a left-on-left matchup with rookie Colt Keith.

Keith greeted Okert by unloading on an inside sinker for a two-run home run to right field. He has 11 homers in 95 games, with his latest homer putting the Tigers ahead, 7-2.

It was Keith’s first homer against a left-handed pitcher in his MLB career.

“It’s been tough because I never really face them as much,” Keith said. “It’s been inconsistent. But I feel like, when I’m feeling good, I’m able to hit anybody. Hopefully, I just keep getting at-bats against them, and I can build on that as we go.”

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Tarik Skubal stars

In the first inning, Skubal allowed a leadoff single to Manuel Margot on his second pitch of the game.

Then, Lewis crushed Skubal’s slider that hung around at the bottom of the strike zone for a two-run home run to left-center field with one out in the first inning.

Just like that, the Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead.

“A bloop and a blast,” Skubal said. “That happens in this game. My command, my execution, was really bad for probably the first two or three innings, too. Just continuing to attack guys, even though you know it’s not going exactly the way you want to, and then you’ll just kind of find it, and that’s what happened.”

Skubal allowed three of five hits in the first inning. After the first, the only other hits came from Jose Miranda in the fourth inning and Carlos Santana in the sixth inning.

In the fourth, Skubal retired the next three batters to strand Miranda: Santana (strikeout), Willi Castro (strikeout) and Ryan Jeffers (flyout). In the sixth, Skubal struck out Miranda to open the inning before avoiding trouble after Santana’s one-out single by striking out Castro and getting Jefers to line out.

Skubal issued both walks with one out in the fifth inning, but Byron Buxton struck out and Lewis flew out to strand the runners. He struck out Buxton with a mix of fastballs and changeups.

“That happens in this sport,” Skubal said. “Just don’t let it impact the next pitch, and I felt like I did a good job of that.”

He generated 13 whiffs on 52 swings — a 25% whiff rate — with three fastballs, two sinkers and eight changeups. The Twins entered Saturday with the best offense in baseball against left-handed pitchers, posting a .784 OPS.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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With just a few days left before the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers made a move to supplement their effective yet burdened bullpen by sending a pair of minor league prospects to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-hander Nick Mears Saturday afternoon.

On the surface, Mears, 27, doesn’t have the kind of impressive numbers that one would expect from a deadline acquisition. In 41 appearances for the Rockies this season, Mears has a 1-4 record and 5.56 ERA but has been spectacular of late, posting a 1.80 ERA over his last 12 outings while holding opponents to a .160 batting average during that stretch.

His recent success, combined with a fastball that averages a shade under 97 MPH and a propensity for generating weak contact, made him an ideal fit for a team with a top-tier defensive infield and a coaching staff that has become one of the best in the game at helping pitchers figure out ways to capitalize on their strengths.

“It came together really quickly,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. “We had a lot of conversations over the last several days and Nick Mears kept coming up in conversation. The ability to access that kind of arm , we felt like it made a lot of sense. We’ve obviously had a lot of success here with our bullpen to this point and we felt like adding another good arm like Rick Mears was somebody that would continue to help our staff as well.”

The move couldn’t have come at a better time.

Just two hours before the deal was announced, Milwaukee placed left-hander Bryan Hudson on the injured list with an oblique strain, leaving the Brewers without one of their most dependable — and effective — relief options as they head into the stretch run of the 2024 regular season.

Acquired in January in what was at the time a somewhat under-the-radar trade with the Dodgers, Hudson has been nothing short of spectacular in his first full big-league season. In 41 appearances, Hudson is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and has struck out 54 batters over 50 2/3 innings of work.

After posting a 0.82 ERA through his first 29 appearances, Hudson’s name was bandied about as a potential All-Star selection but he’s 0-1 with a blown save an 6.75 ERA over his last six outings which seemed to suggest something might be amiss.

Manager Pat Murphy dismissed the notion that Hudson’s injury stemmed from his heavy workload.

“To say his workload is egregious in any way is not accurate,” Murphy said. “He’s been pretty steady. We’ve really done a great job of not overusing him because he’s thrown more ever before.

“Anything could have contributed (to the injury). We know how pitching injuries are. They can happen on one pitch and they can happen over time. Who knows. It has nothing to do with his arm. This is in his side so he could have done it some other way. We don’t even know what it is for sure.

“It’s just disappointing that we continue to deal with injuries every day.”

Murphy wasn’t exaggerating. Hudson’s injury comes a day after Milwaukee had to place Rob Zastrynsy on the IL with left elbow tendonitis. The Brewers have lost 12 different pitchers to injury in 2024 — including two with season-ending injuries (Wade Miley and Robert Gasser, both of whom underwent Tommy John surgery).

Right-hander Brandon Woodruff, underwent shoulder surgery last fall that will leave him out until next season, while All-Star closer has been out since Spring Training due to surgery to repair stress fractures in his back.

“It hurts. It hurts and you want so badly for the team to continue to perform and have that same edge,” Murphy said. “You get dealt these cards every day but you can’t let it get you. It’s a test. You’ve got to just keep going. You can have those inner battles. That’s why you come up with “undaunted.” The reason we talk about something like that is because the tendency is not to be undaunted. You can say that every team goes through this. I don’t care what every team has been through and some how, they’ve been able to come out on the other side.”

The addition of Mears along with Tyler Jay, who was called up earlier Saturday to replace Hudson on the active roster, should provide a temporary boost while Milwaukee is expecting to get Williams back perhaps as soon as next week.

More help is on the way as J.B. Bukauskaus, DL Hall and Joe Ross progress in their minor league rehab assignments while Arnold still has three days to try and find more help on the trade market ahead of the July 30 deadline.