Vetoes strike at spending power

Legislators continue to question if one of Gov. Doyle's partial vetoes, the subject of this earlier post, violated the Wisconsin Constitution?

It appears to give [state Administration Secretary Marc] Marotta blanket power to take tax funds from the general fund and put them in "segregated" or "program" accounts - funds reserved for specialized income such as transportation taxes, lottery profits, tuition and fees.

The discussion was largely in separation of powers terms; Article IV, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitutions says "The legislative power shall be vested in a senate and assembly."

Marotta conceded that the veto questioned by legislators can be seen as giving him broad authority to shuffle money between state accounts. But he said he will respect the Legislature's traditional oversight over state spending.

Legislators "shouldn't worry," Marotta said. "They do have a role to spend money."

While it is assumed there will not be enough members of Doyle's party to join an override effort, one Democratic legislator was openly critical, and not just of the Governor.

Even a member of Doyle's own party, Rep. Dave Travis of Waunakee, said governors of both parties in Wisconsin have historically used illegally broad veto power.

But that power has been given to governors by judges, said Travis, who sued [former Gov. Tommy] Thompson over the issue.