Wisconsin could have a state-funded public option health insurance plan that extends to almost everyone in the state if Gov. Jim Doyle uses his veto power on the BadgerCare Plus Basic bill, a memo released by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau said, though Doyle has denied any intention to do so.

The memo was produced at the request of Assembly Minority leader, Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon. It is dated Mar. 18 but was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

For some, it has raised questions about the governor’s veto power in the state of Wisconsin.

Even though she said she does not believe Doyle will use his veto power on the bill, Kimber Liedl, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the question of veto power brings up a bigger discussion of Doyle’s power in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has stronger veto power than other states.

“Some of the veto power should be carefully looked into. For instance, if he happens to [use the] veto outlined in the memo, he would be challenging the next year’s budget by increasing the government deficit,” Kimber said.

She added increasing the burden of the taxpayers is not ideal, especially when the economic situation of the state is already bad.

“The bill contains appropriation, so it can be vetoed in parts. Representative Fitzgerald wanted to know if there are any ways for the bill to be vetoed. So, I took the bill to see how it could be modified by the governor’s veto authority,” Bob Lang, director of the LFB, said.

The memo addresses two major questions regarding whether Doyle could use his partial veto authority to modify provisions of the bill to create a state-funded health plan available to all Wisconsin residents, and how the partial veto could affect program eligibility, plan benefits and funding for the plan.

The implication of the veto is that once the program becomes a public option, then the state government would take part in funding it.

However, Doyle’s office dismissed such a possibility.

“The bill itself is the governor’s proposal. This is clearly just another attempt by some Republicans to stop a really good program. Their suggestions are ridiculous,” Adam Collins, spokesperson for Doyle, said.

The BadgerCare Plus Basic bill aims to create a state-run program for 34,000 childless adults currently on the waiting list for the BadgerCare Core Plan.

Linda Reivitz, University of Wisconsin faculty expert in health care policy, wrote in an e-mail to The Badger Herald that, in theory, Doyle could use his veto power to create a state funded public option health insurance plan.

In reality, she said, such an event is not going to happen.

“The sponsor of the legislation states that the veto is not the intent of legislation, and the Fiscal Bureau said there is no money to fund a public option from the state department. I conclude that people seem to be getting quite excited over something that is very, very, very unlikely to happen,” Reivitz wrote.