by David Martin | Sep 14, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget, State Issue
Resuming session today for the first time since the passage of the State Budget, the Senate voted along party lines to override the partial veto of Governor Evers that raised per pupil revenue limits for the next 402 years. Republicans hold 2/3rds of the chamber, which allows them to override gubernatorial vetoes despite unanimous Democratic opposition. The move comes as part of a larger fight over Governor Evers’ partial vetoes of the Republican tax cuts contained in the state budget. The matter now moves to the Assembly, where the GOP will have to either garner Democratic support or hope a few Democrats are missing from the vote in order to complete (Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) pictured).
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by David Martin | Sep 12, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget, State Issue
This Thursday, the GOP led Senate will attempt to override some of Governor Evers’ partial vetoes used in the 2023-25 Budget. One of the partial vetoes under threat was used to raise per pupil revenue limits by $325 annually for the next 402 years.
In Wisconsin, it takes a 2/3rds supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate to override a veto. Currently the GOP holds a 2/3rds supermajority in the Senate, but are just shy of that benchmark in the Assembly. In order to override the veto in the Assembly, Republicans would need Democratic support or a small number of Democratic lawmakers to be absent during the vote.
by Chris Kulow | Aug 16, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget, State Issue
From an OSS press release: Attorney General Josh Kaul today is announcing that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS) has secured one-time funding to temporarily continue it’s current, lifesaving operations to keep Wisconsin kids safe. Since its inception in 2018, OSS has become a critical resource for students, teachers, school administrators, and educational communities across the state of Wisconsin by implementing practices proven to prevent violence in schools.
“We’re committed to doing everything we can to keep our kids safe by preventing tragedy, and that’s exactly what these funds will help us continue to do,” said Attorney General Kaul. “It remains essential, however, for the state legislature to take action in the current legislative session. We must not allow critical Office of School Safety programs to be gutted at the end of 2024.” (more…)
by Chris Kulow | Jul 11, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
Primarily by rolling back tax cuts proposed by legislative Republicans, partial budget vetoes by Gov. Tony Evers leave the state with a projected $4 billion surplus according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
From Wisconsin Public Radio: In the end, Republicans gave Evers less than half of what he wanted for public schools and zeroed out other programs altogether. And Evers used his partial veto to reject a GOP income tax cut for the state’s top two brackets. The end result leaves lawmakers and the governor with some of the same choices they faced when the budget debate began earlier this year. (more…)
by Chris Kulow | Jul 10, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Republicans are preparing to sue over Gov. Evers’ partial veto that increased public school revenue limits for the next 400 years after the 2023-25 budget cycle.
From Wispolitics.com: “When you say he has the broad authority, that is clearly in question,” Vos said on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We do not know that. He has taken the broad authority, but it doesn’t mean that it’s right.” (more…)
by Chris Kulow | Jul 5, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
Utilizing partial veto “creativity” similar to that of former Gov. Scott Walker, current Gov. Tony Evers struck year numbers, letters and words to create annual school district revenue limit increases of $325 per pupil for each year of the 2023-25 biennium and then for the next 400 years until the year 2425.
In the 2017-19 state budget, Gov. Scott Walker used a similar veto tactic to convert a one-year moratorium on school district’s ability to utilize a revenue limit exemption for energy efficiency projects into a 1,000-year moratorium (a veto that was challenged and ultimately upheld by the state Supreme Court).
How this was accomplished is illustrated below: (more…)
