Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Gov. Evers 400-year veto

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The state Supreme Court upheld Gov. Tony Evers broad partial veto that locked in school funding increases for the next 400 years.

In a split 4-3 decision, liberal justices declared Evers' partial budget veto was constitutional, marking a defeat for Republicans who argued against the move.

In the majority opinion, Justice Kill Karofsky wrote "We are acutely aware that a 400-year modification is both significant and attention-grabbing. However, our constitution does not limit the governor’s partial veto power." 

The veto in question occurred in the 2023-2025 state budget when Evers increased how much revenue K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425.

He was able to use his partial veto pen to strike the “20” related to the 2024 school year and removed a hyphen. That changed the end date to “2425.”

Governor Evers reaction to the ruling, "Hell yes!."

"This decision is great news for Wisconsin’s kids and our public schools, who deserve sustainable, dependable, and spendable state support and investment."

The court's decision was also celebrated by school advocates. 

"I'm hearing a lot of relief that we know at least at the minimum have a small assurance the spending authority in each district will be increased every year," said Heather DuBois Bourenane, executive director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network.

State Superintendent Jill Underly called the decision "a win."

"Districts have been asking for sustainable, predictable revenue for years," Underly said.

In the dissent, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn said the decision was "no laughing matter."

"One might scoff at the silliness of it all, but this is no laughing matter," Hagedorn wrote. "The decision today cannot be justified under any reasonable reading of the Wisconsin Constitution."

Republicans slammed the court's ruling. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called the court a "rubber stamp" for liberals' agenda and argued the move will increase property taxes without action from the legislature and the executive branch. 

"The Supreme Court’s partisan decision today should worry every Wisconsinite," Vos said. "The Governor can now raise property taxes - unchecked by any other branch of government - for hundreds of years."

The decision comes after some justices appeared skeptical during oral arguments, with some calling the veto “extreme” and “outrageous."

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.

Wisconsin has some of the broadest partial veto powers in the county. A governor can strike out almost anything in the state budget, such as crossing out numbers, words or punctuation to dramatically change what state lawmakers intended the budget to look like.

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