Governor Evers Signs State Budget into Law, Makes Line-Item Veto Changes

Governor Tony Evers has signed the two-year state budget, and
used his line-item veto power on portions of the spending plan that was passed
by the Republican-controlled legislature last week. Evers signed the budget
this (Wednesday) afternoon at the State Capitol, after receiving the budget
late last week. Under state law, Evers had the option to sign the budget, veto
the whole bill or use the line-item veto to remove parts of the bill. Evers
said in a message to the legislature that the budget is “in many ways, insufficient”,
but added that he opted against vetoing the budget in its entirety because it “would
have been more of the same divisiveness and petty, political theatrics that the
people of Wisconsin have had to put up with for far too long.”


Evers used his line-item veto authority 78 times on the
budget. A major change in the budget is a 100 million dollar increase in school
funding over the Republican proposal. The Governor’s version also puts back
funding to build new youth prisons and reduces or removes work requirements for
low income assistance programs.


State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is generally
pleased that the Governor made relatively few line-item vetoes to the budget,
and thanked the governor for signing the budget – including “fully embracing
the middle class tax cut.” State Senator Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac also
commented, thanking the Governor for making the “responsible decision” to sign
the budget into law.


Information from the Wisconsin Radio Network contributed to this report