Here & Now

Fast Facts: Governor's Veto

Frederica Freyberg:
The Wisconsin governor has powers beyond that of many other states and it comes in the form of the veto. This is the most powerful tool governor-elect Tony Evers will have at his disposal. Marisa Wojcik tells us what this veto power entails.

Marisa Wojcik:
With governor-elect Tony Evers working on his transition into Wisconsin’s executive office, there’s speculation as to how the newest governor will use one of the strongest tools in his arsenal, the power to veto. The Wisconsin governor’s veto power is amongst the strongest in the nation. It includes the ability to strike individual words and digits. The governor can partially veto bills that authorize spending money. This started in 1930, when Wisconsin amended its constitution to allow the authority. Before then, the governor could pass or veto a bill only in its entirety. So when lawmakers sometimes jumbled unrelated and controversial items into a spending or budget bill, the governor didn’t have the power to root them out. According to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the partial veto power is meant to make it easier for the governor to have a quasi-legislative role and is allowed if the changes lead to a workable law. So historically, what does this power look like? One form the veto took was dubbed the Vanna White Veto, when a single letter inside a word could be crossed out to create a whole new word. In the 1987-89 budget bill, former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson used this power 290 times, leading members of the state Senate to sue the governor. After that, the Frankenstein veto came to life, which instead of striking letters to form new words, the governor could strike parts of sentences to form new sentences. In 2005, former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle used this power to scrub 752 words from a single budget bill. What remained were 20 words that moved $427 million from transportation to education. Voters eventually decided in statewide referendums to end both the Vanna White and Frankenstein vetoes. But Wisconsin’s governor can still be productive with their pen. Governor Scott Walker used the power of the partial veto to remove the word “not” from a budget bill. So when the Legislature intended for something not to happen, all of a sudden it was a requirement. With a Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate, Governor Walker didn’t have to rely on the veto so much to push an agenda. But Democrat Tony Evers might get creative with his veto pen. For these and other fast facts, visit wpt.org.

Frederica Freyberg:
That was Marisa Wojcik reporting. Early this week, Republican Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel conceded the election to his Democratic challenger, Josh Kaul. Schimel had considered a recall, having lost by 17,000 votes. Following the concession, Governor Scott Walker appointed Schimel to a Waukesha County judgeship.