The Capitol Report, produced by WisPolitics.com — a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics — provides a weekly analysis of issues being debated in Wisconsin state government. It is underwritten by the WNA and produced exclusively for its members. WisPolitics.com President Jeff Mayers is a former editor and reporter for the Associated Press and a former political writer for the Wisconsin State Journal.
The 4-3 liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is doing a lot of the expected things — restoring absentee ballot drop boxes, taking up abortion cases and the like.
What may not have been expected is the recent 6-1 decision in which ideologies merged to overturn the process that the GOP-run Legislature has used to block stewardship purposes. The court ruled the process violates the separation of powers, finding the Joint Finance Committee’s power to review purchases after lawmakers had already approved appropriating the funds interferes with the executive branch’s core functions.
Insiders see that as a big victory for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who sued the Legislature over the separation of powers issues.
Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, writing the majority opinion, found the process permits a legislative committee, rather than the executive branch “to make spending decisions for which the legislature has already appropriated funds and defined the parameters by which those funds may be spent.”
“While the constitution gives the legislature the power to appropriate funds, the power to spend the funds the legislature has appropriated for a specific project belongs to the executive branch,” Bradley wrote.
Conservative chief Justice Annette Ziegler dissented. Ziegler faulted the new majority for fast-tracking the issue, calling them faithful when it comes to picking political favorites.
Ziegler wrote: “Instead of allowing this case to proceed through the process, sifting and winnowing the issues, and then taking all the issues at the same time, which would serve to produce consistency, they forge on. Selecting an issue that only impacts the Republican-controlled legislature and the longstanding Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program should raise eyebrows.”
The JFC process allows any member to anonymously object to a project, which then triggers a meeting by the full committee for a vote. Evers argued that amounted to a legislative veto because there’s no requirement that the full Legislature review the decision.
Evers hailed the court’s decision, saying Republicans in the Legislature have given themselves outsized influence and power.
“I’ve spent years working against near-constant Republican obstruction, and this historic decision rightfully resets constitutional checks and balances and restores separation of powers,” Evers said. “This decision is a victory for the people of Wisconsin, who expect and deserve their government to work—and work for them, not against them.”
According to the suit, the Finance Committee has blocked almost a third of the stewardship projects the Department of Natural Resources has submitted for review.
Evers originally targeted other committee actions such as the Joint Committee on Employment Relations temporarily blocking pay raises for UW employees and the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules rejecting administration proposals to update commercial building standards and a policy declaring it malpractice for medical professionals to practice conversion therapy. But the court narrowed the case to the stewardship actions.
Midwest Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit law center filed a friend of the court brief for Save Our Water and Wisconsin Conservation Voters, noted the high court limited its ruling to JFC vetoes of funding decisions and did not rule on committee vetoes of administrative rules. However, the court announced in a separate order that it will consider taking up the matter.
Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, welcomed the ruling but added: “At the same time, we have a lot more work to do, especially when it comes to reigning in the power of legislative committees to veto administrative rules. Committee vetoes make state government less accountable to the voters. They allow small groups of legislators to prevent environmental and public health laws from being implemented as written. That’s inconsistent with our state constitution and incompatible with a healthy democracy.”
The Capitol Report is written by editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
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