Governors' Veto Power, Former and Current, Argued in Supreme Court Monday
Tuesday, April 21st, 2020 -- 9:07 AM
(AP) -An attorney for a conservative law firm urged the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday to rein in the governor’s expansive partial veto powers, arguing the chief executive’s ability to rewrite state law tramples on the separation of powers with the Legislature.The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit last year seeking to overturn four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes in the 2019-21 state budget. The vetoes shifted $10 million for replacing school buses to electric vehicle charging stations; allowed $75 million meant for local road construction to be used for any transportation program; eliminated a standard $100 truck registration fee; and expanded the types of vaping products subject to tax. The institute argues the high court should invalidate the vetoes because they create new laws the Legislature never intended. The Wisconsin Constitution grants the governor some of the most extensive partial veto powers in the country by allowing him to strike out words and digits to create new law. A ruling in the institute’s favor would dramatically weaken the ability of Evers and future governors to unilaterally alter state budgets and give legislators more freedom to draft the spending documents without worrying about the governor’s edits.
The court heard arguments over the former governor’s veto. Wisconsin Small Business United, an advocacy group for small businesses, filed a lawsuit last year challenging two vetos former Republican Gov. Scott Walker made in the 2017-19 state budget. Walker crossed out individual digits in dates to extend a one-year moratorium on a program that allows schools to raise revenue limits to offset spending on energy efficiency to a thousand years. He also crossed out individual digits in dates to delay the start date for retailers’ tax deductions for customers’ unpaid store credit card debt from mid-2018 to mid-2078. The constitution requires that any language that survives a partial veto must amount to a complete and workable law. It was unclear when the court would rule in either case.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.