Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to strip the governor of his authority to spend federal funds on his own in response to the billions of dollars that have flowed into the state during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was able to spend the money largely as he pleased, giving most of it to diminutive businesses and economic development, angering Republicans who argued the Legislature should provide oversight.
That’s exactly what would happen under two related constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot in the Aug. 13 primary election. The changes would apply to Evers and all future governors and would cover all federal funds made available to the state without specific spending requirements, often in response to disasters or other emergencies.
Democrats and other opponents are mobilizing against the changes to the law, calling them a power struggle in the legislature that would limit the ability of governors to respond quickly to future natural disasters, economic crises or health emergencies.
If the changes are passed, Wisconsin government will “become even more dysfunctional,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
“The people of Wisconsin are tired of jumping on the bandwagon of partisan craziness, but it is critical that we go to the polls and vote ‘no’ to these changes because they will only take us further off the path,” she said in a statement.
But Republicans and other supporters say it is a necessary limitation on the governor’s current powers, which they say are too far-reaching.
The changes increased “accountability, efficiency and transparency,” said Republican Senator Howard Marklein, one of the initiative’s co-sponsors, at a hearing in Parliament.
The two questions, proposed as a single amendment and then separated on the ballot, passed twice by the GOP-controlled Legislature, as required by law, and require voter approval before being added to the state constitution. The governor has no veto power over constitutional amendments.
Early voting by mail for the Aug. 13 election begins statewide on Tuesday and runs through Aug. 11. Early voting locations and times vary.
Wisconsin Republicans have increasingly turned to voters to approve constitutional amendments to circumvent Evers’ vetoes. Halfway through his second term, Evers has vetoed more bills than any other governor in Wisconsin history.
In April, voters approved changes that prohibit the use of private funds to conduct elections and affirm that only election officials can work at polling places. In November, an amendment on the ballot will clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in local elections.
Republicans have placed the issue on the ballot for the August primary election, the first time a constitutional amendment has been brought up in an election in which voter turnout is much lower than in November.
The effort to limit the governor’s spending authority also comes amid ongoing disputes between Republicans and Evers over the scope of legislative power. Evers won a case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July involving the power of the Republican-controlled legislature’s Budget Committee over spending on conservation programs.
According to a report by the Legislative Reference Bureau, in 1931, during the Great Depression, Wisconsin governors were given the power by the legislature to decide how to use federal funds.
“Times have changed and the influx of federal funds requires a different approach,” Republican Rep. Robert Wittke, who introduced the amendment, said at a public hearing.
This power was challenged during the Great Recession in 2008, when the state again received huge financial aid from the federal government.
But calls for change intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government provided Wisconsin with $5.7 billion in coronavirus relief between March 2020 and June 2022. Only $1.1 billion came with restrictions on how it could be used.
Most of the money was used to provide recovery aid to diminutive businesses and local governments, purchase emergency medical supplies and pay health care providers to offset the costs of the pandemic.
Republicans pushed for more oversight, but Evers vetoed a Republican bill in 2021 that would have required the governor to submit a plan to the legislature’s budget committee for approval.
Republicans increased pressure for change after a bipartisan audit report was released in 2022 that found Evers was not lucid about how he decided where the money should go.
One amendment states that the legislature cannot delegate its authority to decide how funds should be spent. The second prohibits the governor from spending federal funds without the approval of the legislature.
If approved, lawmakers could create rules governing how federal funds are used, giving them the ability to change the rules depending on the governor or how the federal funds are being used.
For example, the legislature could allow governors to spend disaster relief funds without authorization, but at the same time require that other funds be submitted to the legislature first.
Opposing these measures are voting rights groups, the Wisconsin Democratic Party and numerous other liberal organizations, including those that fought to repeal Republican districts, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying group, and the Badger Institute, a conservative think tank, were the only groups to express support in the legislature.
