Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Unanimously in Favor of GOP in Veto Battle With Governor

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Republican-controlled Legislature on June 25 over Gov. Tony Evers’s veto powers.

The court on June 25 struck down the Democratic governor’s partial veto of a Republican-led bill that detailed the plan for spending on new literacy programs designed to improve K–12 students’ reading performance. The state justices ruled that he improperly used his veto power over the measure.

In 2023, Evers signed into law a bill that created an early literacy coaching program within the state Department of Public Instruction. The bill also created grants for schools that adopt approved reading curricula to pay for changing their programs and to train teachers on the new practices. However, Republicans put the $50 million to pay for the new initiative in a separate emergency fund controlled by the Legislature’s budget committee.

Evers later issued a partial veto and said that the Legislature lacks the power to withhold the money, arguing that the Wisconsin Supreme Court should step in to release that funding to the state’s education department.

But the court on June 25 ruled that his partial veto on the non-appropriations bill was unconstitutional and that the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) cannot force the Joint Finance Committee to give it $50 million for literacy programs.

The court also sided with the Legislature and said the budget committee can legally put money into an emergency fund to be distributed later. That is what it has done with the $50 million for the state literacy program.

“The constitution gives the governor authority to veto in part only appropriation bills—not bills that are closely related to appropriation bills,” the court ruled, adding that the “court has no constitutional authority to override the legislature’s choice and appropriate the money to DPI instead.”

The governor, the order added, also “breached his constitutional boundaries” with the veto.

The court also ruled that the Legislature can put money for certain state programs into an emergency fund under the control of its budget committee. Evers had argued that such a move was unconstitutional.

In a statement, Evers criticized the state Supreme Court’s order and claimed that the legislative committee is improperly placing a hold on the $50 million.

“Twelve lawmakers should not be able to obstruct resources that were already approved by the full Legislature and the governor to help get our kids up to speed and ensure they have the skills they need to be successful,” the governor said in a statement on June 25. “It is unconscionable that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is allowing the Legislature’s indefinite obstruction to go unchecked.”

He also said that the $50 million had “sat unspent” in the Capitol for two years and that he had “spent those two years fighting tirelessly to get Republicans to release those funds, including suing to force them to do so.”

The state’s highest court, however, stated, “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.”

Republican leaders in the state Legislature hailed the court’s order and said that Evers acted in an unconstitutional manner. State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, both Republicans, said in a joint statement that “it is encouraging to see the Court put an end to this game” and accused Evers of playing “politics with money earmarked for kids’ reading programs.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.