(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters will have the opportunity to block a governor from using a partial veto to “create or increase or authorize the creation or increase of any tax or fee” on the November ballot.
The Senate passed a joint resolution with an 18-15 party-line vote after the Assembly previously passed it on a 54-41 vote.
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.
“Wisconsin’s unique ‘partial veto’ is widely regarded as one of the most expansive executive powers in the nation,” Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie wrote in testimony on the amendment. “While most states limit an ‘item veto’ to striking or reducing appropriations within appropriations bills, Wisconsin’s Constitution permits the governor to selectively strike words, numbers, and punctuation in ways that can significantly alter legislative intent – even producing outcomes the Legislature never intended or explicitly rejected.”
The resolution was supported by Americans for Prosperity, MacIver Impact, the National Federation of Independent Business, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin Property Taxpayers and the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council registered against it.
Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said in testimony that Evers’ partial veto upended the balance of power in the state.
“This was a deeply egregious move on the governor’s part, and one that this proposed constitutional amendment aims to stop from ever happening again,” Kapenga testified.
