Posted Monday, December 28, 2009 -- 4:38pm
By Zac Schultz

Maple Bluff: Jim Doyle began his seventh year as Governor in both his strongest and weakest positions. He finally had the votes to pass more of his social agenda, but didn't have the money to pay for his most ambitious programs.

With a new majority in the Assembly, the Democrats had complete control of the legislature. "The result was things that I'd been fighting for for years, I now had legislative leadership that was in line with me on it. So we got a lot done."

Over the course of the year the legislature approved a statewide smoking ban, mandated insurance coverage for autism treatment, created a domestic partnership registry, expanded Badgercare Plus to cover childless adults, and most recently they passed major drunk driving reform. "We accomplished a lot," says Doyle.

But Doyle admits more of his agenda was sidetracked by the worst budget deficit in state history. The budget deficit started bad and got worse, peaking at $6.7 billion.

Federal stimulus money cushioned some of the blow, but Doyle still had to raise taxes, make cuts and furlough state employees. "Clearly, the number one priority now has to be how we get people back to work."

Governor Doyle's next big announcement came in August. when he announced he would not run for a third term.

Doyle is a career politician with a competitive streak, so it wasn't an easy decision to step aside. "One that I regretted the very moment I announced it."

Especially since Republicans will use Doyle's name to attack other Democrats next November, and Doyle won't be able to defend himself. "I understand that's sort of their mentality and I think they'll make a big mistake doing that."

Doyle has another year in office, but really the legislative year ends next May- after that everyone is focused on the elections.

So Doyle only has a few months to get his green jobs package and education reform passed. "The word priorities really does matter."

There's only one thing Doyle doesn't want to talk about for next year, his legacy as Governor. "I'll talk about legacy with you a year from now."