October 9, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held oral arguments in a case challenging Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that extended school revenue increases for 400 years. The lawsuit challenging the partial veto was brought by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), the state’s largest business lobbying association.

In the 2023-25 state budget bill, the legislature included a $325 increase to schools’ per-pupil revenue limits for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years in the budget when it was sent to Gov. Evers for his review. Gov. Evers vetoed the “20” and the hyphen to make the end date 2425 (language in red was struck):

Wisconsin governors may approve appropriation bills “in whole or in part,” with the approved part becoming law. Under the Wisconsin Constitution, this power is limited, such that “[i]n approving an appropriation bill in part, the governor may not create a new word by rejecting individual letters in the words of the enrolled bill, and may not create a new sentence by combining parts of 2 or more sentences of the enrolled bill.” Wis. Const. art. V, § 10(1)(c).

WMC is arguing that Gov. Evers “selectively struck words, digits and a dash to create a new word, so what he did was not like a digit veto that reduces an appropriation by striking a single digit, he created a new word and a new 400-year duration that wasn’t there.” Some justices appeared skeptical of WMC’s argument, essentially saying that a number is not a word or a letter, and thereby the partial veto is constitutional. Others appeared uncomfortable with the governor having the authority to basically create a law which has not been proposed.