Post by Old Badger on Jul 5, 2023 22:35:10 GMT -5
Ah, Wisconsin! Home of the Arch-Progressive "Fighting Bob" LaFollette, and also Arch-Rightist "Tailgunner Joe" McCarthy. More recently, of Tammy Baldwin and Scott Walker. In other words, a place of ideological diversity almost unmatched anywhere. And something else: a unique power that Governors wield under the rubric of the line-item veto. Nearly all states (but not the federal government) allow their Chief Executive to veto specific lines in legislation, typically in budget bills. But in Wisconsin, the 1930 Constitution was written in such a way that the Governor can eliminate not only entire lines but also individual words. Famously, in the 1970s Gov. Patrick Lucey reversed legislative intent by the simple act of lining out the word "not".
Well, current Governor Tony Evers today pulled off one of the most audacious moves in Wisconsin history by using this power to "increase funding for public schools for the next 400 years, a flex of the Democrat's power in a state where he's often at loggerheads with Republicans [who control both Houses of the Legislature]...Evers was able to make the nearly 400-year-old addition by vetoing part of a phrase that had referred to the 2024-25 school year, by striking a hyphen and the "20." When read together, the legislature's previous proposals for the 2023-24 and the 2024-25 school years became 2023-2425...Evers' veto means that the state limit on how much school districts can "raise through the combination of state aid and local property taxes" would increase $325 per student each year through 2425."
www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wisconsin-gov-tony-evers-thwarted-republicans-with-a-creative-veto-that-increases-school-funding-for-the-next-400-years/ar-AA1dtF89?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=071933215111459f97e45d12c5b323d7&ei=96
Before being elected Governor in 2018, Evers had been Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state for 10 years. This is his last biennial budget as Governor, and what he's done is to force future Legislatures/Governors either to continue increasing public school funding or explain to voters why they're making cuts. It's a clever move, and no it won't last 400 years (hell neither Wisconsin nor the USA might be around in 400 years), but he's put the onus on pinchpennies to take affirmative action to cut school support or just live with his escalator. What a ballsy mensch!
Well, current Governor Tony Evers today pulled off one of the most audacious moves in Wisconsin history by using this power to "increase funding for public schools for the next 400 years, a flex of the Democrat's power in a state where he's often at loggerheads with Republicans [who control both Houses of the Legislature]...Evers was able to make the nearly 400-year-old addition by vetoing part of a phrase that had referred to the 2024-25 school year, by striking a hyphen and the "20." When read together, the legislature's previous proposals for the 2023-24 and the 2024-25 school years became 2023-2425...Evers' veto means that the state limit on how much school districts can "raise through the combination of state aid and local property taxes" would increase $325 per student each year through 2425."
www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wisconsin-gov-tony-evers-thwarted-republicans-with-a-creative-veto-that-increases-school-funding-for-the-next-400-years/ar-AA1dtF89?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=071933215111459f97e45d12c5b323d7&ei=96
Before being elected Governor in 2018, Evers had been Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state for 10 years. This is his last biennial budget as Governor, and what he's done is to force future Legislatures/Governors either to continue increasing public school funding or explain to voters why they're making cuts. It's a clever move, and no it won't last 400 years (hell neither Wisconsin nor the USA might be around in 400 years), but he's put the onus on pinchpennies to take affirmative action to cut school support or just live with his escalator. What a ballsy mensch!