Opinion: Editorial

Vote ‘yes’ on Frankenstein veto

Vote yes to kill Frankenstein

For far too long, governors in Wisconsin have enjoyed far too much veto power. When signing budget bills, governors are able to take words and numbers from multiple sentences and turn them into brand new sentences. The result is totally new spending or a new allocation of spending, not contemplated or intended in the least by the Legislature.

The maneuver, which has become known as the “Frankenstein” veto, is an egregious violation of the separation of powers our government is founded upon.

Legislatures create laws. Executives approve and enforce them.

Granted, it’s not quite that simple — administrative agencies do have a limited power to create law — but the Frankenstein veto turns the traditional scheme on its head. The Legislature is in essence removed from the legislative process. With creative use of a black marker, the governor may craft law as he sees fit, and no one can provide a check on his whims.

Governors have long abused this power. Tommy Thompson used it in his budgets. Current Gov. Jim Doyle has as well, most recently using it to double the allowable municipal property tax levy increase and eliminate the levy limit for technical colleges in the 2007-09 biennial budget.

Luckily, Frankenstein’s day of reckoning is here. Voters can land a fatal blow by voting “yes” on the partial-veto question in Tuesday’s election. We urge them to do so.

The question on the ballot reads: “Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating a new sentence by combining parts of two or more sentences of the enrolled bill?”

A few people have argued the amendment does not go far enough. It would not prohibit governors from stitching together words within a single sentence, for instance. This may well be true, but it’s no reason not to vote to stop the preposterous practice of combining words from multiple sentences. Though still powerful, the governor’s veto ability would be severely curtailed.

This monstrosity has lived for long enough — since 1931. Let’s kill it Tuesday.