Governor’s Illegal Veto Tied Up Funding in Court for More Than a Year
MADISON – Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) released the following statement after the Joint Committee on Finance, the state’s budget-writing committee, voted late Friday evening to release funding for sweeping literacy reforms. This vote came after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in Legislature v. DPI last Wednesday that Governor Evers illegally used his partial veto on a previous reform bill, causing a delay in the delivering of funds:
“On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sent a unanimous message to Governor Evers: he cannot act as both the legislative and executive branches of Wisconsin’s state government. While he may not apologize for abusing the powers of his office, he should apologize to all of Wisconsin’s students and their families for needlessly – and illegally – holding up critical literacy funds from reaching their classrooms.
With this decision now behind us, I’m proud to once again to vote to put this money where it should have been for the past sixteen months: in Wisconsin’s schools, replacing failing curricula and helping our kids who need it the most.”
Last session, the Legislature passed a comprehensive reading reform bill to combat Wisconsin’s literacy crisis. Studies show that nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin thirds graders can’t read at grade level, and that 70% of Wisconsin schools use an objectively failing literacy curriculum.
Rather than fund this science-based reform, Governor Evers used his partial veto to turn $50 million for student services and replacing failing curricula into a slush fund. This is not the first time Governor Evers used his partial veto to turn the funds meant to address crises into slush funds. Last session, Governor Evers used his veto pen to effectively turn $125 million intended to battle PFAS contamination and help pollution victims into an unaccountable DNR slush fund. The Governor previously created a similar slush fund with $15 million intended to help communities in western Wisconsin deal with the fallout of abrupt hospital closures.
