Wisconsin primary election referendum questions can help stop gravy train of spending
On Tuesday (Aug. 13) Wisconsin voters have an opportunity to reaffirm that the Wisconsin Constitution is about sharing power. Our constitution should not allow the governor to unilaterally spend billions of dollars taxed from our citizens by the federal government and then sent back to the state without input from the people’s elected representatives in the legislature.
The reasoning behind the proposed constitutional amendments is simple. Our Constitution prohibits the state government from spending money unless it is appropriated by law. The power to make law – to legislate – is vested exclusively in the legislature. While the governor may veto legislation (subject to override), he or she may not make law. This legislative power to appropriate money and make law is also a responsibility. It ought not to be unconditionally delegated to a governor. Our constitution, like that of the United States, limits the concentration of power. It establishes a separation of power in which the exercise of authority is checked and balanced. The legislature cannot simply give that away.
Vote no: Why fix a system that is not broken?
During the recent pandemic, the governor was able to spend $ 5.7 billion dollars on behalf of the state of Wisconsin without input of the body which actually has the constitutional duty to make law and appropriate funds. The proposed amendments make clear that the legislature may not delegate its responsibility to the governor who may not unilaterally spend taxpayer dollars. That’s quite the slush fund with very little restrictions and oversight. Disturbingly, the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau found that the governor’s Department of Administration could not produce any materials to show how it decided to spend $412.6 million of those dollars.
This money is not “free.” Wisconsin citizens paid the taxes that created this fund and both the legislature and the governor should have a role in determining how to spend billions of dollars. No single branch of government would have sole power over spending. In allowing this concentration of spending power, Wisconsin has been an outlier. Most states require that the power to spend federal dollars be shared between the legislative and executive branches.
Special interests pay for misleading ads for Wisconsin primary
As Wisconsinites prepare to vote, they will be bombarded by gaslighting ads, largely financed by special interests who receive taxpayer money. Naturally, they want to keep this unchecked gravy train rolling. They will tell you they are “protecting” the Constitution while seeking to continue this federal evasion of its terms. They’ll say they are defending checks and balances while what they are really doing is keeping them from being rebuilt. The legislature cannot fix this alone because the governor will veto any attempt to do so.
Critics of the amendments will say that the legislature and governor will be “gridlocked.” But that doesn’t happen in other states. Democracy can be messy, but let's demand our elected officials work together rather than throw up our hands and anoint one branch as a dictator over the use of these federal funds.
More confusing referendums on ballot: If they pass, expect more gridlock in Madison.
The most specious charge being made by critics of the proposed amendments is that they are some kind of power grab by the legislature. But legislative Republicans cannot possibly think there will never be a Republican governor – or a Democratic legislature – again. There are no permanent victories in politics and all of us – Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives – should not want this kind of power concentrated in one set of hands. Even if you love what Gov. Evers did with the federal COVID-19 dollars, we guarantee you that someday there will be a governor who you won’t love.
The founders of our Constitution loved democracy and they were suspicious of the concentration of power. In the 21st century, federal dollars have come to play an outsized role in state budgets. Sometimes they must be spent according to federal restrictions. But when our state is free to choose how they are to be used, let’s allow full participation by the elected representatives who make the law and the governor who administers the law. Vote yes on these important amendments.
Rick Esenberg is President and General Counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. CJ Szafir is the CEO of the Institute for Reforming Government.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin primary election 2024 includes referendum questions
