On Friday, April 18, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision upheld Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023 partial veto that extended annual school funding increases until the year 2425 by striking numerals and punctuation in the budget bill. The GOP-controlled legislature had passed a two-year increase in schools aids. Gov. Evers used his partial veto authority to, in addition to issued other partial vetoes, change a sentence in the budget bill from “for the 2023-24 school year and the 2024-25 school year” to read “for 2023-2425.” By doing so, he was able to extend these annual funding increases until the year 2425.

Regarding the ruling Gov. Evers said, “This decision is great news for Wisconsin’s kids and our public schools, who deserve sustainable, dependable, and spendable state support and investment.” Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, which had filed the lawsuit, described the veto and the court’s upholding of it as “an embarrassing example of executive overreach, and an equally embarrassing example of a hyper partisan judicial ruling.”

This decision significantly affects what had been the general understanding of gubernatorial veto powers in Wisconsin and will dramatically affect how the Wisconsin Legislature proceeds as it considers the next two-year state spending plan. Lawmakers will proceed with caution as they determine how to now proceed in light of this new understanding of gubernatorial veto powers.