At a pre-session news conference Thursday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the state Legislature is “somewhat hamstrung” and is waiting for the court to hand down decisions on gubernatorial veto powers and abortion rights to know how to proceed with creating the 2025-27 budget.
“It does seem that people who are the most political at the Capitol are not from the Legislature, but they're actually members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Vos said, adding that it is clear the justices “have an end in mind” when decisions are made.
Rep. Tyler August, R-Walworth, said the court’s outstanding rulings will impact the Legislature as they work to create the state’s 2025-27 budget. August pointed specifically to Gov. Tony Evers’ line-item veto to extend school funding for 402 years — up from the two years that was originally intended in the 2022-24 state budget.
“We don’t have a lot of trust in the governor, but especially when he’s now going outside his constitutional responsibility,” August said.
While 44 states have some form of a line-item veto power over appropriation bills, only Wisconsin has the partial veto, which gives governors more power to carve up the state’s spending bills.
A lawsuit filed in April 2024 directly with the Wisconsin Supreme Court argued the move was unconstitutional as it forces school districts to raise property taxes for the next 400 years without approval from voters and asked the justices to undo the partial veto.
The state Supreme Court has yet to hand down a decision on the case. August said the decision would be nice to know as Republican lawmakers work through the current budget writing process.
Additionally, a challenge to an 1849 law banning abortion with no exception for rape or incest is currently pending before the court after a Dane County judge overturned the 19th-century law in 2023. The liberal-controlled court will soon hear a case on whether the ban is law and if the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to an abortion.
On the topic of the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1, Vos said he was surprised at how proud Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford came across about her record of “letting people off with light sentences” during her debate against Brad Schimel, a former Republican Wisconsin attorney general.
“I thought she would try to backtrack and show that she is nowhere near as liberal as she is clearly,” Vos said.
While Wisconsin Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan, they have become increasingly polarized in recent years as the two major political parties continue to back their preferred candidate. Crawford seeks to maintain the court’s narrow liberal majority, while Schimel seeks to swing Wisconsin’s high court back to conservatives.
While Vos said both candidates performed well, he is optimistic about Schimel’s chances of swinging the court back to a conservative majority.
A recent Marquette Law School poll found that among registered Wisconsin voters surveyed, 38% don’t offer an opinion on Schimel, saying they haven’t heard enough about him or they don’t know if they have an opinion of him. More than a majority of respondents, 58%, have no opinion of Crawford.
The poll also found the Wisconsin Supreme Court approval ratings are at 46%, disapproval stands at 37% and 16% with no response.
The winner of the April 1 election will replace retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who has served on the court for 30 years — the current longest serving member.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on X at @annakleiber03.
