(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto on a non-appropriations bill was unconstitutional and the Department of Public Instruction cannot force the Joint Finance Committee to give it $50 million for literacy programs.
According to the state constitution, the governor can only use a partial veto on bills that directly appropriate money.
However, Evers partially vetoed a bill that would create accounts to eventually hold the money for DPI literacy programs but which didn’t actually have any money attached in February 2024, giving DPI broader spending flexibility to use the funds on any literacy initiative it wanted and to ignore the original fixed deadline approved by the State Legislature.
The veto was unconstitutional, according to the court.
“The constitution gives the governor authority to veto in part only appropriation bills – not bills that are closely related to appropriation bills,” the court ruled.
Additionally, the court approved the Joint Committee on Finance’s action to withhold $50 million in literacy funding from DPI because the money had only been earmarked for for future programs in committee notes but wasn’t legally binding.
“The legislature appropriated the money DPI seeks to JCF,” the court ruled. “This court has no constitutional authority to override the legislature’s choice and appropriate the money to DPI instead.”
DPI and Evers argued that the $50 million had effectively been promised to DPI and the Legislature could not use procedural technicalities, such as structuring legislation in a manner designed to insulate non-appropriation bills from the governor’s partial veto.
However, the court rejected this argument, stating that only JCF holds legal authority over the funds.
The court added that that DPI’s “disappointment” in not receiving the $50 million from the Legislature is ultimately “a political, not legal, problem.”
Evers issued a statement criticizing the Supreme Court’s ruling and the committee’s hold on the money.
“Twelve lawmakers should not be able to obstruct resources that were already approved by the full Legislature and the governor to help get our kids up to speed and ensure they have the skills they need to be successful,” Evers said. “It is unconscionable that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is allowing the Legislature’s indefinite obstruction to go unchecked.”
The court’s opinion disagreed.
“Although the executive branch may be frustrated by constitutional limits on the governor’s power to veto non-appropriation bills, the judiciary must respect the People’s choice to impose them,” the court said.
CJ Szafir, CEO of the Institute for Reforming Government, said in a statement that with Evers’ “unconstitutional veto pen” out of the way, it’s time for the Legislature to pass bills that address Wisconsin’s literacy crisis by appropriating funds with proper accountability measures.
“Broken political promises have blemished reading reforms, ultimately leaving schools to rack up bills with no refund,” Szafir said. “The Legislature now has the opportunity to pass updated Act 20 accountability measures and provide schools with significant funding for reading curriculum, teacher training, and screening tests.”
