There must be a good joke somewhere in the fact that Wisconsin voters get to weigh in on Frankenstein on April Fools Day.
On April 1, Wisconsin voters will decide whether the governor should retain perhaps the broadest and oddest veto power in the United States. The governor has partial veto power that allows for the rewriting and combining of sentences to change laws approved by the Legislature. That operation, with a pen, to create new laws has been dubbed the "Frankenstein veto."
Earlier this year, lawmakers voted to place the fate of the "Frankenstein veto" in the hands of voters. A resolution banning the peculiar veto power is on the April 1 ballot.
Although the ban doesn't go as far as it could in taking away the governor's partial veto powers, it is a step in the right direction. Voters should support it.
Why is this an important issue?
With the "Frankenstein veto," the state's governor is able to change with a few strokes of a pen the meaning of legislation that may have taken months to devise in the Legislature. The governor may also use the power to add money to a budget that wasn't approved, or even considered, by lawmakers.
The perfect example of an abuse of this power occurred in 2005, when Gov. Jim Doyle used his partial veto power to reduce a 752-word section of the state budget to 20 words that moved $427 million in transportation funds to the state's general funds. These were funds intended for road projects that were moved at the governor's discretion to cover other state bills. No legislator approved the transfer, which ended up increasing school spending by $330 million and leaving a big hole in the transportation budget that remains today.
Another example occurred in the most recent budget process, when Gov. Doyle single-handedly raised the property tax revenue cap for local governments from 2 percent to just under 4 percent. He did so after legislative Democrats and Republicans agreed to keep the cap at 2 percent. The result was as expected - municipalities almost everywhere increased their budgets by 4 percent rather than the 2 percent they had been prepared - and apparently able - to accept.
In 1990, the "Vanna White veto" was eliminated. That unusual power allowed the governor to change letters in words.
It's time now, 18 years later, to prohibit the governor from being able to stitch together sentences and phrases to give laws and budget provisions new meanings.
It's not enough, of course. Even if the resolution is passed, the governor still would be able to rewrite numbers or strike words to change meanings. This power we've called the "Son of Frankenstein veto."
But this change is better than none. Hopefully, Wisconsin voters agree April 1.
On April 1, Wisconsin voters will decide whether the governor should retain perhaps the broadest and oddest veto power in the United States. The governor has partial veto power that allows for the rewriting and combining of sentences to change laws approved by the Legislature. That operation, with a pen, to create new laws has been dubbed the "Frankenstein veto."
Earlier this year, lawmakers voted to place the fate of the "Frankenstein veto" in the hands of voters. A resolution banning the peculiar veto power is on the April 1 ballot.
Although the ban doesn't go as far as it could in taking away the governor's partial veto powers, it is a step in the right direction. Voters should support it.
Why is this an important issue?
With the "Frankenstein veto," the state's governor is able to change with a few strokes of a pen the meaning of legislation that may have taken months to devise in the Legislature. The governor may also use the power to add money to a budget that wasn't approved, or even considered, by lawmakers.
The perfect example of an abuse of this power occurred in 2005, when Gov. Jim Doyle used his partial veto power to reduce a 752-word section of the state budget to 20 words that moved $427 million in transportation funds to the state's general funds. These were funds intended for road projects that were moved at the governor's discretion to cover other state bills. No legislator approved the transfer, which ended up increasing school spending by $330 million and leaving a big hole in the transportation budget that remains today.
Another example occurred in the most recent budget process, when Gov. Doyle single-handedly raised the property tax revenue cap for local governments from 2 percent to just under 4 percent. He did so after legislative Democrats and Republicans agreed to keep the cap at 2 percent. The result was as expected - municipalities almost everywhere increased their budgets by 4 percent rather than the 2 percent they had been prepared - and apparently able - to accept.
In 1990, the "Vanna White veto" was eliminated. That unusual power allowed the governor to change letters in words.
It's time now, 18 years later, to prohibit the governor from being able to stitch together sentences and phrases to give laws and budget provisions new meanings.
It's not enough, of course. Even if the resolution is passed, the governor still would be able to rewrite numbers or strike words to change meanings. This power we've called the "Son of Frankenstein veto."
But this change is better than none. Hopefully, Wisconsin voters agree April 1.
