At the Capitol on Tuesday, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee votes along partisan lines to roll back a controversial budget veto by Governor Tony Evers. The so-called 400-year veto Evers made to the 2023-25 state budget provides an annual $325 per pupil for K-12 schools until 2425. The veto was later upheld by the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
“It was by necessity because you guys put in your budget zero dollars, zero additional dollars for general school aids. No increase at a time of massive inflation,” committee member Senator Kelda Roys, a Madison Democrat said Tuesday.
Committee co-chair, Representative Mark Born, said that’s not accurate, and that the 2023-25 budget increased school aid by $525 million each year. “And only in this crazy world of Madison is 11 point some billion dollars zeroing out funding for schools. Oh my goodness. That’s got to be a good defense of a 400-year veto that raises property taxes forever.”
Tuesday’s committee vote was 18-15. Asked to comment during a stop in Wausau, Evers said he’d probably veto the bill if it reaches his desk. “Maybe there’s something that we could trade that for or something, but if it’s just like, ‘since you did that, we’re going to do this,’ I’ll probably veto that.”