'Crazy, absurd': Wisconsin Supreme Court debates Evers 400-year school funding veto

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court were outspoken about Gov. Tony Evers partial veto that drastically increased school funding for centuries, calling it "absurd" and "crazy."

The court, controlled 4-3 by liberals, heard a lawsuit backed by conservatives challenging Evers partial budget veto that locked in school funding increases for the next 400 years.

"To put it mildly, it raises eyebrows. And it seems to be outrageous quite frankly," said liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz during oral arguments Wednesday.

Despite their ideological differences, justices seemed to agree Evers board veto powers that Wisconsin governors have had for decades need some limitations.

"I think that there is concern that now we’ve got this 402-year veto," liberal Justice Jill Karofsky said during oral arguments Wednesday. "It does feel like the sky's the limit, the stratosphere is the limit."

Conservative Justice Brain Hagedorn called it "crazy" that governors can unilaterally create new laws “not proposed to them.”

"We have kind of a mess," Haedorn said. "I think if you took any person who was around when this amendment was adopted, they would be shocked."

While justices agreed veto reforms are needed, they were unable to define what limitations could be imposed.

The lawsuit, brought forth by the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Litigation Center, asks the court to undo Evers partial budget veto.

Last year, Evers struck out the number "20" related to the 2024 school year and removed a hyphen. It resulted in allowing school districts to increase the amount of money they can raise by $325 per student, every year until 2425.

Attorneys challenging the maneuver argued Evers overstepped his authority because it was never the Legislature's intent to pass a budget that could raise revenue limits for the next four centuries.

"The legislature never had a chance to consider the 400 years, and have it pass both houses by the majority, so it's really what the problem is here," said Scott Rosenow, an attorney for WMC.

Evers' attorney argued he used powers the executive branch has maintained for years to strike out numbers, words, or punctuation. Wisconsin governors have some of the most expansive veto powers in the county.

If the per pupil increase remains in place, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has warned it could create a burden on taxpayers by forcing them to pay more to fund schools. That's because how much a school district can spend on each student is collected through property taxes and state aid.

Some school officials have expressed opposition to the governor's action, calling it unrealistic and misleading.

Republican and Democratic governors have both used their partial veto authority to drastically change state budgets since the 1930's, but those powers have been scaled back quite a bit over the last few years.

The court is expected to issue a decision over the next few months.