The Governor Keeps the Power. So What Are We Actually Voting On?
By Windy Lynn Warren
Here is the question as it will appear on the ballot:
“Partial veto. Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee?”
Let’s break it down in simple terms.
Wisconsin gives its governor an unusually broad partial veto. When the Legislature sends the governor a state spending bill, the governor can approve most of it while crossing out certain pieces. Wisconsin governors can even strike individual words and numbers in ways governors in other states generally cannot.
This isn't a new power. Wisconsin governors have had the partial veto since 1930, and governors from both parties have found creative ways to use it. Wisconsin voters have already amended the Constitution twice to put limits on that power.
So why are we being asked about it now?
In 2023, the Legislature approved a $325-per-student increase in the amount of revenue school districts could raise for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 school years.
Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto to make that $325 adjustment continue through 2425.
Evers said his purpose was to give school districts predictable funding authority beyond those two years. His veto did not directly raise property taxes, but it allowed school districts to raise more money through property taxes if state aid did not cover the difference. The Wisconsin Supreme Court later upheld the veto under the existing rules governing the partial veto.
What would Question 1 actually change?
Here's the part that can easily get lost:
Question 1 does not get rid of the governor's partial veto. The governor keeps it either way.
Even if Question 1 passes, future governors could still use the partial veto to change words, numbers, dates, spending and other parts of a state spending bill, as long as those vetoes follow the other constitutional rules.
Question 1 would take one particular result off the table: a governor could no longer use the partial veto to create or increase a tax or fee—or give another government body the authority to do so.
And “tax or fee” doesn't necessarily mean something far removed from everyday life. Wisconsin budgets deal with things such as driver's-license and vehicle fees. For example, the 2025–27 state budget increased driver's-license fees and several vehicle-related fees.
So what does YES or NO mean?
YES would add the new restriction to the Wisconsin Constitution. Supporters argue that if a tax or fee needs to be created or increased, legislators should have to approve it rather than allowing one governor to accomplish that result through a partial veto.
NO would leave the Constitution as it is now. Opponents argue that the partial veto gives the governor an important way to push back against the Legislature. They also question why the Constitution should newly prohibit a governor from using the partial veto to increase taxes or fees while not creating the same prohibition against using it to decrease them.
So what are we really deciding?
We're not being asked whether Wisconsin should keep or eliminate the partial veto.
The governor keeps that power either way.
We're being asked whether to put one more boundary around it:
Should a Wisconsin governor be able to use the partial veto when the result creates or increases a tax or fee—or gives someone else the authority to do it?
And because we're being asked to change the Wisconsin Constitution, not pass an ordinary law, reversing that decision later would require going through the constitutional-amendment process again.
Sources
Wisconsin State Democracy Research Initiative — Wisconsin’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment on Partial Gubernatorial Vetoes
Wisconsin Department of Administration — Gov. Tony Evers, 2023–25 Budget Veto Message
https://doa.wi.gov/budget/SBO/2023-25%20Veto%20Message%20FM.pdf
Wisconsin Department of Transportation — Legislation Affecting DMV
https://www.wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/vehicles/frms-pubs/Legislation-Affecting-DMV.aspx