Unanimous Supreme Court rules Evers exceeded authority in partially vetoing reading bill

A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court today ruled Dem Gov. Tony Evers exceeded his authority by partially vetoing a bill in a literacy package even though it didn’t include an appropriation.

The court also found the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee acted appropriately in refusing to release nearly $50 million from the Department of Instruction that was part of the overall package designed to boost reading among Wisconsin school children. 

The committee had declined to release the money after Evers issued the partial veto, arguing it was improper. Governors can only veto legislation that includes an appropriation.

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Today’s ruling negates Evers’ partial veto and restores the original language of SB 971 as it was passed by the Legislature.

It was a rare setback for Evers since the liberal majority took over in 2023.

The GOP-controlled Legislature built the package through three bills, separating the funding from the policy in an effort to preclude Evers from using his partial veto authority on the language.

It included: the budget, which put $50 million to fund it in the Joint Finance Committee’s supplemental appropriation; a second bill that included the policy language for the program; and a third that created two appropriations directing money to the effort.

Evers issued several partial vetoes, including one that created a single appropriation instead of the two in the legislation.

In today’s ruling, the court found the third bill didn’t set aside any public funds, noting that “it expressly states that ‘$0’ was appropriated.” Thus, it wasn’t an appropriation bill subject to the guv’s partial veto powers.

Writing for the majority, conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley noted the state Supreme Court over the decades has encouraged the Legislature to separate appropriations and policy into different bills if they want to avoid a governor’s partial veto authority.

“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,” conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote for the court. “This court has no authority to interfere with the legislature’s choices to structure legislation in a manner designed to insulate non-appropriation bills from the governor’s exercise of the partial veto power.”

A Dane County judge had ruled the three bills must be considered as a package. In doing so, Judge Stephen Ehlke ruled Evers’ veto was within his powers. But he rejected a call from DPI to force the Joint Finance Committee to release the funds. That resulted in two appeals: one by GOP lawmakers to challenge Evers’ veto and one from the guv and DPI seeking to release the money.

The state Supreme Court today overturned Ehlke’s ruling, finding that the bill Evers vetoed didn’t set aside public funds for a public purpose, a key determination in whether legislation includes an appropriation.

Today’s ruling also rejected the call from Evers and DPI to compel the release of the nearly $50 million still in the Joint Finance Committee’s supplemental appropriation to fund the literacy effort.

Bradley wrote the court “lacks any legal basis to override the legislature’s appropriation to JCF and transfer it to DPI or anyone else.”

That money is set to lapse to the general fund on Monday, which marks the end of the 2023-25 budget, without action by the Joint Finance Committee.