Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Uses Selective Veto Power on State Budget to Support Schools

…and also raise the overall state employee compensation by an eventual 6% and more money for correctional officers.

By Gwen Levee and Dr. Benjamin M. Drury

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers performed a magic show today. Governor Evers strategically and systematically and best of all legally coordinated a state budget that exercised his broad veto powers to steer billions in funding to schools, state employees, and correctional officers. With his signature on the budget, Evers decided to gut a Republican tax cut to instead allocate increased school funding because that is what makes sense right now. What does not make sense right now is giving billions to a small group of already wealthy white men to spend on cocaine they will eventually just lose in The White House. Evers’ strong political strategy triggered accusations from some Republicans who felt that Evers was reneging on previous agreements. Governors in Wisconsin possess considerable partial veto authority, and Evers skillfully employed this power to leave his mark on the budget. Notably, this budget marks the third instance in which Evers has signed a budget passed by a Republican-controlled legislature, further…