Wisconsin Governor Partially Vetoes State Budget, Increases School Funding for 40 Decades
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers partially vetoed the new state budget on July 5, allowing for increased funding for public schools for the next four centuries.
The Democratic governor, who is himself a former state education secretary and teacher, signed off on the two-year $99 billion spending plan after making a number of amendments—51 partial vetoes in total—including reducing the Republican-led income tax cut of $3.5 billion to $175 million and completely scrapping lower rates for the two highest earning brackets.
While the Republican-controlled state Legislature’s budget bill had included a funding increase of $325 per student for the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 school years, Mr. Evers struck out a hyphen and the “20” in that reference, meaning Wisconsin K–12 public schools will now receive a funding increase of $325 per student every year until 2425.
The school funding marks the largest increase in statewide revenue limit authority since revenue limits were first imposed on K–12 schools in 1993–94.
“We have gotten to work these last four years making smart, strategic investments—and our economy shows it,” Mr. Evers, who had previously threatened to veto the entire budget, said in a statement Wednesday.
“So, we began this biennial budget process with historic opportunity, and with it, historic responsibility—not to be careless or reckless, but to save where we can and stay well within our means while still investing in needs that have long been neglected to protect the future we are working hard to build together,” he continued.
“But even as I am glad the Legislature joined me in making critical investments in several key areas, the fact remains that this budget, while now improved through strategic vetoes, remains imperfect and incomplete,” the governor added, before accusing GOP lawmakers in the state Legislature of having “failed to meet this historic moment.”
Budgets Have ‘Always Been About Pragmatism’
Mr. Evers went on to note that funding for high-speed broadband, increased aid for schools, fully-funded universal school breakfasts and lunches, and affordable and accessible child care are critical issues that needed to be addressed in the budget.
“Investing in our University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College Systems. Targeted tax relief for caregivers, parents, seniors, veterans, and their spouses. BadgerCare expansion. Expanded paid family leave. Legalizing and taxing marijuana much like alcohol. Investments in community-driven solutions to our workforce challenges. These aren’t controversial concepts; my budgets have always been about pragmatism and solutions, not wish lists or politics, from the beginning,” Mr. Evers said.
Some Republicans voiced their disappointment with the governor’s move and his “liberal” spending agenda.
“Legislative Republicans worked tirelessly over the last few months to block Governor Evers’ liberal tax and spending agenda. Unfortunately, because of his powerful veto authority, he reinstated some of it today,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in a statement.
“Vetoing tax cuts on the top two brackets provides hardly any tax relief for truly middle-class families,” Mr. Vos continued. “His decision also creates another economic disadvantage for Wisconsin, leaving our top bracket higher than most of our neighboring states, including Illinois.”
“Clearly, now that he’s won re-election by taking credit for Republican ideas, it’s business as usual for Governor Evers, as he returns to his true liberal ideology,” Mr. Vos added.
However, advocates including Dan Rossmiller, who represents the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, welcomed the partial vetoes, saying they were “certainly appreciated.”
Still, Mr. Rossmiller said he is concerned that the increased funding may not meet the rate of soaring inflation for some districts in the state.
Previous Governor Vetoes
“I wish the amount would have been higher,” Mr. Rossmiller told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “With inflation at 40-year highs, it’s really important to be able to attract and retain teachers and staff, and to be able to pay the increased costs of everything in a school district’s budget.”
According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, Wisconsin is one of 44 states that allow their governors to veto individual line items of legislative budgets, an authority that even the president of the United States does not have.
Mr. Evers has vetoed multiple Republican-sponsored bills in the past, including one dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” in April 2022 that would have granted parents more choice in their children’s education, and a bill banning the teaching of critical race theory in Wisconsin schools.
Doubling down on his defense of the budget changes again on Wednesday, Mr. Evers told Wisconsin Public Radio that they reflect his “belief system.”
“I think people understand that part of my job going forward, again, the next four years, will be to be that goalie. And to prevent bad legislation from becoming law,” he said.
While Mr. Evers was able to make a string of changes to the state budget prior to its signing, he was not able to undo a $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which Republicans had argued was needed to prevent the funding from going to controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at the system’s 13 universities.
However, the newly-signed budget does allow for the university to receive the funding at a later date providing it can prove that the money will not be spent on DEI programs and will instead go toward workforce development efforts.
It is not immediately clear if GOP lawmakers will attempt to override Mr. Evers’s budget vetoes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
