Article snippet: Republican legislators in several states are moving to cement their authority at the expense of Democrats who won November's midterm elections — before those Democrats are sworn into office. In Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina, lame-duck sessions of Republican-controlled state legislatures are working on measures that would alter the balance of power in the GOP's favor. In Missouri, legislators are contemplating a plan that would weaken a voter-passed initiative that limits the value of gifts lawmakers can accept from lobbyists and implements a cooling-off period before retiring legislators can become lobbyists themselves. Critics say the efforts thwart the will of the voters, who handed Democrats new victories in all four states. Republicans are racing to implement the changes before they lose some or all of their power next year. “It's anti-democratic, and anti-republican, and it basically blows up all the norms of what is supposed to be the core feature of a free political system, which is the peaceful and orderly transfer of power,” said Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Just days after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) conceded defeat to Democrat Tony Evers, Republican legislative leaders in Madison said they would contemplate a plan to claw back authority the legislature had given the governor after Walker took office in 2011. The legislature held a hearing on those measures, as well as a bill to weaken the authorit... Link to the full article to read more