Vote No on Partial Veto Referendum

This letter to the editor, by John Gostovich, MS Economics, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on October 8, 2026.

The Wisconsin League of Women Voters and the Wisconsin Education Association Council recommend voting “No” on the “Partial Veto Referendum” on your Nov. 3 ballot.

If approved, the “Partial Veto Referendum” would amend our Wisconsin Constitution to prohibit any governor from using a partial veto to create or increase a tax or fee in the state budget passed by the Legislature; however, the governor still could use a partial veto to eliminate or reduce a tax or fee in the budget.

Wonder why this “Partial Veto Referendum” is on your Nov. 3 ballot?

Our Wisconsin Constitution says only the Legislature may propose a constitutional amendment. In two consecutive legislative sessions, majorities in the Assembly and Senate must approve identical constitutional amendments and referendum question language. Unlike a bill or a budget passed by the Legislature, the governor can’t veto a proposed constitutional amendment. A referendum question about adopting a proposed constitutional amendment must be put on a statewide election ballot. To be adopted, a proposed constitutional amendment must get a majority of “Yes” votes on the referendum question.

The Legislature approved the “Partial Veto” constitutional amendment and referendum question language along party lines, with only Republicans voting for it. Republican legislators objected to Gov. Tony Evers using his partial veto power over the 2023-25 state budget they approved to raise the school revenue limit by $325 per student per year until 2425.

Our Wisconsin Constitution says the Legislature may override the governor’s veto by a two-thirds supermajority vote in both the Assembly and Senate.

But Republicans didn’t have the votes to override Democrat Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto of their 2023-25 state budget.

So instead, only Republicans voted for the “Partial Veto” constitutional amendment and referendum question language, which Evers couldn’t veto.

Evers says raising the school revenue limit was necessary because the Republican-majority Legislature failed to allocate sufficient general state aid to fund our public schools. Some Republicans running for election now incorrectly claim Evers raised property taxes for 400 years, but his partial veto only raised the annual school revenue limit, not a tax or fee. The revenue limit caps how much funding a local school district may receive each year from the combination of general state aid and property taxes, but the local school board decides whether to levy the maximum allowed amount.

Vote “No” on the “Partial Veto Referendum” to reject a one-sided, unbalanced and unnecessary amendment of our Wisconsin Constitution.