Evan Umpir, WMC’s General Counsel & Director of Tax, testified in support of a state constitutional amendment that would prevent a governor from raising a tax or fee through use of his partial veto. In the 2023-25 (current) state budget, Governor Evers used his veto pen to raise property taxes for 402 years by increasing per-pupil school funding each school year through the year 2425. “These partial vetoes and their stealth property tax increase on hardworking Wisconsin homeowners and businesses is not what democracy looks like,” Umpir testified.
Reining in the Wisconsin partial veto authority is not unprecedented and not a partisan exercise. A 1990 amendment curbed the use of the “Vanna White” veto after an unsuccessful challenge to Republican Governor Thompson’s partial vetoes and a 2008 amendment banned the “Frankenstein” veto in response to Democrat Governor Doyle’s use of it in the 2005 budget.
The amendment must pass both the current Legislature and again the next Legislature before the amendment is submitted to voters for ratification.
