Wisconsin governor seals 400 years of public school funding increases with budget veto

Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers, a Democrat, used his line-item veto power to enact a state budget that increases spending for public schools for the next 400 years, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Mr Evers used the broad powers given to Wisconsin governors to strike a hyphen and the “20” from a reference to the 2024-2025 school year. The line-item veto will make sure that the limits that the state imposes on school districts on how much they are allowed to raise per student will increase by $325 until 2425. The line-item veto will table debates between the two parties during the budget-writing season.

Republicans control the state legislature in Wisconsin. Mr Evers said that the move would “provide school districts with predictable long-term increases for the foreseeable future.”

Mr Evers also used his line-item veto to nullify much of Republicans’ proposed $3.5m tax cut that would have mostly slashed taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. But Robin Vos, the speaker of the state House, decried the move.

“Legislative Republicans worked tirelessly over the last few months to block Governor Evers’ liberal tax and spending agenda. Unfortunately, because of his powerful veto authority, he reinstated some of it today,” he said in a statement.

Dan Rossmiller, who represents the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said that while the permanent annual funding was “certainly appreciated,” the additional funding could vary depending on the school district and that the rate might not meet or exceed inflation rates in some districts.

“I wish the amount would have been higher,” he said. “With inflation at 40-year highs, it's really important to be able to attract and retain teachers and staff, and to be able to pay the increased costs of everything in a school district's budget.”

Republicans likely could not override Mr Evers’s action since they lack a veto-proof majority in the state legislature.