Constitutional Amendment to Limit Veto Power
Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are looking to ask voters if Gov. Tony Evers, or any Wisconsin governor, should have the power to essentially write whatever law he wants.
Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, and Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, on Monday announced a new constitutional amendment that would limit the governor’s veto power.
“For too long, governors in Wisconsin have abused the partial veto power to twist legislation passed by elected representatives into something that is unrecognizable. We need a permanent fix to this problem," the three wrote in a statement.
Gov. Evers has used his veto powers dozens of times during his six-plus years in office.
Most famously, Evers changed a few numbers and dashes in the current state budget to change a one-year school funding increase into a 400-year school funding increase.
The Republicans say that’s now what the framers of the state constitution ever envisioned.
“The proposed constitutional amendment would return the Wisconsin Constitution to the original intent of what a partial veto meant. According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, ‘There is no evidence that the partial veto power was originally intended to allow the governor to fashion new words or sentences or to embark on new policy directions not intended by the legislature.’," the lawmakers added. “The proposed amendment would only allow a governor to reject entire bill sections and reduce appropriations."
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has already heard one case regarding the governor’s veto powers, and on Friday the court accepted another one.
Addressing the governor’s veto powers in the constitution, however, would go around the liberal-majority court, and check the governor’s power.
“As Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley has said, ‘The governor is becoming the most powerful person in the state, arguably, just to make the law whatever he declares.’,” the lawmakers said in their statement.
“This proposed amendment is a common sense solution that would put Wisconsin in line with how the majority of states treat the governor’s veto power.”
All proposed constitutional amendments have to pass the legislature in two separate legislative sessions. That means even if Republicans approve a veto amendment this year, they would have to wait two years to vote on it again. Voters would then have their say, likely in the spring election in 2027.
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