Evers can lock in 400-year school funding increase using veto, court says

MADISON, Wis. - The Democratic governor of Wisconsin’s creative use of his uniquely powerful veto can lock in a school funding increase for 400 years, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling

What we know:

The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court affirms the partial veto power of Wisconsin governors, which is the broadest of any state and has been used by both Republicans and Democrats to reshape spending bills passed by the Legislature.

Wisconsin is the only state where governors can partially veto spending bills by striking words, numbers and punctuation to create new meaning or spending amounts. In most states, governors can only eliminate or reduce spending amounts.

The court’s four liberal justices ruled Friday that the state constitution allows the governor to strike digits to create a new year or to remove language to create a longer duration than the one approved by the Legislature.

What they're saying:

"We are acutely aware that a 400-year modification is both significant and attention-grabbing," Justice Jill Karofsky wrote for the majority. "However, our constitution does not limit the governor’s partial veto power based on how much or how little the partial vetoes change policy, even when that change is considerable."

Justice Brian Hagedorn, writing for the three-justice conservative minority, said Wisconsin was now in a "fantastical state of affairs" that allows the governor to write new law through the use of his partial veto.

"One might scoff at the silliness of it all, but this is no laughing matter," Hagedorn wrote. "The decision today cannot be justified under any reasonable reading of the Wisconsin Constitution."

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders did not immediately return messages seeking reaction.

Case details

The backstory:

The ruling came in a case against Evers that was supported by the Republican-controlled Legislature. It is one of two lawsuits pending before the court dealing with vetoes by the governor. Republicans this year also introduced a constitutional amendment intended to curb veto powers.

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Evers’s partial veto in 2023 increased how much revenue K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and instead vetoed the "20" and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, more than four centuries from now.

Evers told lawmakers at the time that his partial veto was intended to give school districts increases in funding "in perpetuity."

The Legislature, along with the state’s largest business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, argued that the court should strike down Evers’ partial veto and declare it unconstitutional. They argued that the Evers veto was barred under a 1990 constitutional amendment adopted by voters that removed the ability to strike individual letters to make new words — known as the "Vanna White" veto, named the co-host of the game show Wheel of Fortune who flips letters to reveal word phrases.

Finding otherwise would give governors unlimited power to alter numbers in a budget bill, they argued.

But Evers countered that the "Vanna White" veto ban applies only to striking individual letters to create new words, not vetoing digits to create new numbers. Evers said that he was simply using the longstanding partial veto process allowed under the law.

Wisconsin's partial veto power

Dig deeper:

Wisconsin’s partial veto power was created by a 1930 constitutional amendment, but it’s been weakened by voters over the years, including in reaction to vetoes made by former Republican and Democratic governors. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020, then controlled by conservatives, undid three of Evers’ partial vetoes, but a majority of justices did not issue clear guidance on what was allowed.

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Reshaping state budgets through the partial veto is a longstanding act of gamesmanship in Wisconsin between the governor and Legislature, as lawmakers try to craft bills in a way that is largely immune from creative vetoes.

Republican legislative leaders have said they were waiting for the ruling in this case and another pending case affecting the governor’s veto powers before taking up spending bills this session, including the two-year state budget.

The other case centers on whether Evers properly used his partial veto power on a bill that detailed the plan for spending on new literacy programs. The Legislature contends that Evers’ partial veto was unconstitutional because the bill did not appropriate money. Evers contends the Legislature is trying to control how the executive branch spends money and limit his partial veto power.

If the court sides with Evers in that case, it could greatly expand the kinds of bills subject to partial vetoes in the future.

Reaction

WisGOP Chairman Brian Schimming

"Today’s ruling exposes the stark partisanship of the current Wisconsin Supreme Court. By upholding Governor Evers’ expansive use of the line-item veto, the Court has granted him unchecked authority to override the will of Wisconsin voters. The people of Wisconsin will not overlook this far-left judicial activism and blatant power grab."

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerc Executive Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley

"We're disappointed by today's ruling. Governor Evers exceeded his authority at the expense of taxpayers, and now our great-great-great-great-grandchildren will still be paying the price for his reckless disregard for the law.

"Evers' 400-year veto goes down in the history books as an embarrassing example of executive overreach, and an equally embarrassing example of a hyper partisan judicial ruling. It's undemocratic and a shame to increase taxes on voters for four centuries without their approval. The Governor and Supreme Court have effectively stolen the Legislature’s exclusive authority under the Constitution to write the law."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)

"Is any Wisconsin citizen surprised that the liberals on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are now a rubber stamp for liberal ally Tony Evers?

"The Supreme Court’s partisan decision today should worry every Wisconsinite. The Governor can now raise property taxes - unchecked by any other branch of government - for hundreds of years.

"The liberal Justices’ decision itself describes the effects of this decision as ‘significant and attention-grabbing.’ Modest words for a tortured reading of our Constitution that will hurt Wisconsin taxpayers for hundreds of years to come, all in the name of supporting their ally in the Governor’s office.

"Justice Hagedorn, joined by the Court’s other conservatives, had a more accurate reaction, calling it ‘a mockery of our constitutional order. This is a mess of the court’s making.’" 

State Sen. Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg)

"The liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court proved again that they will rule based on partisanship and politics rather than the rule of law. 

"Governor Evers’ 400 year veto was an unprecedented overreach that will impact generations of Wisconsin taxpayers. 

"Allowing 400 years of automatic spending increases is an irresponsible decision that will increase property taxes, drive seniors from their homes, and make homeownership more difficult for working families."

WisconsinTony Evers