(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Senate voted to approve a measure that would allow Wisconsin voters this fall to limit the governor’s partial veto power.
The Senate voted 18-15 to approve Senate Joint Resolution 116, which would state that the governor “may not create or increase or authorize the creation or increase of any tax or fee” while exercising partial veto power.
The resolution needs to be passed by the Assembly and then would be on the November ballot statewide for voters to decide.
The proposed constitutional amendment comes after Gov. Tony Evers used the current veto power to erase numbers and a hyphen to change the year “2024-25” to “2425” in a school appropriation in the budget bill.
That meant a $325 per student per year funding increase for the next 400 years was allowed and later upheld in a 4-3 ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
“The partial veto was never meant to be used as a tool to raise taxes,” Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said after it was passed. “This amendment restores balance and ensures that no Governor can abuse his authority and act like a king.”
Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said that the amendment would take unintended power away from the governor and provide more balance with the Legislature.
“In wake of what the Governor did, taxpayers are already feeling the sting of the Governor’s partial-veto,” Kapenga said in testimony on the bill. “Wisconsinites simply cannot afford more increases on their property tax bill.
“Wisconsin Governors currently enjoy one of the most powerful partial-veto pens in the country. Even under Republican Governors, this has been something I have always been opposed to. If adopted, this amendment would rebalance power between the executive branch and the legislative branch and further restrict the executive from rewriting laws passed by representatives of the people.”
