Gather the torches, all those in favor of divided powers in our state government ? the Frankenstein veto is on its last breath. The state Assembly passed a resolution 94-1 last week amending the governor?s partial veto powers, after decades of abuse by both Republicans and Democrats. Now the amendment will go on the April 1 ballot, and we hope voters will finally put this monster to rest.

While it may seem like a rhetorical scare tactic, the Frankenstein veto gained its moniker from the increasingly brazen use in recent years of the governor?s line-item veto to stitch together unrelated phrases, words and even single digits in legislation. The mad scientist undercurrent of the partial veto, enacted in 1931, lay dormant until the ?70s under Democratic Gov. Patrick Lucey and exploded in 1991 to a record 457 partial vetoes by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. A referendum the year before sought to put a stop to overstepping by the executive, banning a veto method dubbed the ?Vanna White? veto, which circumvented bill language by combining letters of words to form new sentences.

Clearly, instead of taking this as a sign that voters had had enough of budgetary voodoo, our governorship has simply resorted to more arcane methods of summoning spirits from the pet project cemetery. Nowhere was this more evident than in Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle?s 11th hour property tax hike, after his office repeatedly called on legislators to reach a compromise on the delayed 2007-09 budget. Last-minute spending changes do nothing to foster trust between political parties when the next budget rolls around.

Carla Vigue, spokesperson for Mr. Doyle, cautioned voters in a December Herald article ?to be careful when looking at this issue, especially because governors for many years have been using vetoes to stop some of the Legislature’s most extreme actions.?

But the partial veto sans Frankenstein abilities is a more than adequate safety measure for the governor; the veto pen can create as well as negate. The line-item veto was created to stop legislators from slipping in last-minute additions that run counter to a bill?s purpose. Wisconsin?s partial veto would still be more powerful than any other in the country, allowing the governor to reduce spending amounts as well as strike parts of individual sentences. However, the amendment would prohibit governors from combining parts of more than one sentence to create new sentences.

We are relieved the state Legislature has put aside partisan interests for the greater good. We ask voters to strike a fatal blow to Frankenstein this April.