Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wisconsin) has signed a GOP-passed budget, but with more than four dozen line-item vetoes. Among those items, Evers crossed off a hyphen and a number "0" to give schools in the state the ability to increase funding now through the year 2425.
From Wisconsin Public Radio:
Schools will get an additional $325 per student in each of the next two fiscal years under the budget approved by Republicans. In a surprise move, Evers used his line-item veto to continue the annual increase for over the next 400 years.
And from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
It's the second time Evers, a former state superintendent and public school educator, has used his partial veto authority to increase funding for public schools.
Said Evers in his veto message:
I object to the failure of the Legislature to address the long-term financial needs of school districts. This veto makes no changes to the per pupil revenue limit adjustment provided in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and provides school districts with predictable long-term spending authority increases.
Districts were limited in how much they could increase funding for schools each year, under a Scott Walker-era rule. Now, however, they can raise funding to a much greater degree, giving local governments more power to decide for themselves -- without state-imposed restrictions -- what's best for them.
Featured image credit: Tony Evers/Flickr
