By LaKeshia N. Myers
Representative LaKeshia Myers
Like sands in the hourglass, the last few days in the state capitol have been intense. With the state budget passing along party lines, the bill headed to the governor’s desk. Legislators from both sides waited with baited breath, to see what Governor Evers would do with the budget. One he pledged he would veto if Republicans included $32 million in cuts to the University of Wisconsin system for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officers.
Doubling down on his recent abhorrence of all things diverse, equitable, or inclusive, Robin Vos was sure to make defunding diversity a key component of the biennial budget. In the realm of political tableau, this was Speaker Vos’ proverbial “triple dog dare” to Governor Evers to see if he would keep his promise of vetoing the budget. Never one to shy away from a fight (or apparently a political game of chicken), Governor Evers chose to “play chess, not checkers” with the state budget. Opting to not veto the entire budget, but instead to exercise his preeminent line-item veto authority.
Line-item veto, is a power granted to governors in only forty-four states; it allows executives to veto parts of a budget bill instead of the entire measure. Wisconsin, in particular, gives governors the uniquely powerful line-item authority for appropriations bills that allow them to target sentences, words or in some cases even a single character or digit. Governor Evers made key changes to the GOP budget by slashing tax cuts and guaranteeing education funding increases for the next 402 years. You read that correctly—400 years. It was a staggering maneuver that follows years of intense battles between Evers and Republican lawmakers (Vox, 2023). All told, Evers used a line-item veto fifty-one times in the budget bill; other vetoes included reducing the amount of taxpayer money available to Visit Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention and vetoing a tax cut that would benefit only the eleven wealthiest Wisconsinites.
While the governor’s creative deployment of his veto authority has prompted consternation from legislative Republicans, any threats of a judicial challenge may prove to be untoward, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court will have a liberal leaning majority on August 1, 2023, with the addition of Judge Janet Protasiewicz. If I were to colloquialize the political back and forth of this budget cycle and Republican leadership, I would invoke the spirit of Howard Cosell, “Down goes Vos! Down goes Vos!”—and cue Governor Evers’ new theme song, “How Ya Like Me Now” by Kool Moe Dee.
It has been said, “he who knows the rules, wins the game”—and when that game includes line-item veto, Tony Evers has the ultimate trump card.