(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters are going to get to decide on the governor’s veto powers after lawmakers in Madison approved a constitutional amendment aimed at limiting what the governor can do with a veto.
“Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee?” the ballot question will read.
The amendment comes after Gov. Tony Evers used a veto to order a 400-year school funding increase.
In that veto, Evers crossed out a few numbers and some punctuation to turn a two-year school funding increase into a four-century funding increase.
Evers’ veto touched off a wave of property tax increases this year.
Wisconsin’s governor has one of the most powerful vetoes in the country, and Evers has used it several times during his two terms in office.
The Republican-led legislature tried to ban future, similar vetoes, but the governor vetoed those efforts. That is why lawmakers chose to push a constitutional amendment.
It’s not the first time Republicans in Wisconsin have gone to voters with proposals that Evers blocked.
The legislature approved four other proposed constitutional amendments between 2023 and 2025. Voters approved all of them.
