Referendums on Wisconsin ballot confusing. If they pass, expect more gridlock in Madison.

Regardless of the seemingly endless supply of “unprecedented” events happening in relation to the November election, please don’t let that distract you from Wisconsin’s August primary election, because the Legislature is asking to amend our state constitution.

Again.

Yes, we're being asked to vote on two more constitutional ballot measures that are poorly worded.

Again.

This time they're asking whether to limit the authority of Wisconsin governors to spend federal funds and give greater oversight to the Legislature. These are federal funds that go toward things like the environment, health care, roads and disaster relief.

But not only is the wording of the questions misleading and confusing, as they usually are, this time they're on a primary election ballot that sees much lower voter turnout compared to the general election that will attract millions of votes in November.

Putting these measures on this ballot feels especially deceptive considering how consequential the ramifications could be for the state. On top of that, Republicans often criticized school boards for timing school referendums for lower turnout elections.

Wisconsin governors have sweeping powers on federal dollars

Wisconsin governors have sweeping powers to decide how federal money can be used.  Apparently, that discretion was just fine when former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, would petition for federal government aid, like he did in the wake of significant flooding in southern and northern Wisconsin in 2018.

But the Legislature was less than fine with this power dynamic when Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, was in charge of distributing billions of dollars in coronavirus relief money.

With gerrymandered majorities in the Assembly and Senate, the referendum language was approved by the Legislature in consecutive legislative sessions and now goes to voters on Aug. 13. If approved, the proposals would become part of the state Constitution and cannot be vetoed by the governor.

Here are the two questions (brush off your law degree):

• Question 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?”

• Question 2: “Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”

What does that even mean?

In the very simplest terms, voting "No" would keep things as they are today.

Voting "Yes" would inject the Legislature into the process of allocating federal money and restrict the powers of Evers and any other governor moving forward.

Opponents argue the change could gridlock badly needed aid

Voting yes on these two questions could upend or slow down how billions of dollars are spent. Along with the federal aid for the categories listed above, if these amendments are approved, it would also impact the the allocation of the money Wisconsin is set to receive from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Advocates for this change, such as the conservative think tanks the Badger Institute and Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, argue that this will provide more accountability when federal money is spent by providing an important check on executive power.

However, when you think of the toxicity of our current state government, it's hard to imagine the parties coming together and making expeditious decisions in response to an emergency.

Consider the ongoing gridlock over releasing the $125 million PFAS trust fund. That was approved over a year ago during the state budget process and it's still not resolved. Now imagine similar stalemates over every future weather related disaster, from droughts and floods to tornadoes.

But regardless of how you vote on these measure, just be sure to cast a ballot, if for no other reason than to remind the Legislature that they can't sneak these measures by us.

Because it’s insidious enough that we continue to have these confusing yet consequential referenda on our ballots with little to no context provided with them.  This year alone, we will have had five referendum questions on the ballot: two on April 2, two on Aug. 13 and one on Nov. 5.

But now they’ve also snuck them into an election with way lower turnout in the attempt to make a major change when fewer people are looking … or voting.  Prove their cynical bet wrong and vote in August and November.

You can find a preview of your local ballot at myvote.wi.gov.

Kristin Brey is the "My Take" columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Referendums on Wisconsin ballot designed by state GOP to be confusing