The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Tony Evers’ unprecedented partial veto that secured a $325 per-student annual funding increase for public schools through the year 2425, effectively locking in the increase for 400 years.
The 4-3 ruling by the court’s liberal majority Friday affirmed Wisconsin governors’ unique and expansive partial veto powers, stating that the state constitution allows them to alter spending bills by striking digits, words and punctuation, including to create a longer duration than the one approved by the Legislature.
"We have a moral obligation to do everything we can to do right by our kids. I promised to fight for them every day, and I’ll never stop,." Evers said in a social media post Friday.
In 2023, Evers used his partial veto power to increase how much revenue K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 annually until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and vetoed the "20" and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, four centuries from now.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, blasted the decision on Friday.
“The Supreme Court’s partisan decision today should worry every Wisconsinite,” Vos said in a statement. “The 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.”
The ruling came in a case against Evers brought by the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Litigation Center, who argued that the Evers veto was barred under a 1990 constitutional amendment adopted by voters. That amendment removed the ability to strike individual letters to make new words — known as the "Vanna White" veto, named after the co-host of the game show “Wheel of Fortune” who flips letters to reveal word phrases. 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.
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. In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, then controlled by conservatives, undid three of Evers' partial vetoes, but a majority of justices did not issue clear guidance on what was allowed.
GOP leaders have said they want to see a decision before proceeding with the state budget. The other case centers on whether Evers' veto on a literacy funding bill was constitutional. The Legislature contends that Evers exceeded his authority, while Evers argues the Legislature is infringing on executive powers.
Alaina Walsh is the associate news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has covered breaking, city, state and campus news.
