Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with governor's 400-year veto, calling it 'crazy'

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Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with governor's 400-year veto, calling it 'crazy'

2024-10-10 01:06 Last Updated At：01:11

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court said Wednesday that Gov. Tony Evers' creative use of his expansive veto power in an attempt to lock in a school funding increase for 400 years appeared to be “extreme” and “crazy" but questioned whether and how it should be reined in.

“It does feel like the sky is the limit, the stratosphere is the limit,” Justice Jill Karofsky said during oral arguments, referring to the governor's veto powers. “Perhaps today we are at the fork in the road ... I think we’re trying to think should we, today in 2024, start to look at this differently.”

The case, supported by the Republican-controlled Legislature, is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long fight over just how broad Wisconsin's governor's partial veto powers should be. The issue has crossed party lines, with Republicans and Democrats pushing for more limitations on the governor's veto over the years.

In this case, Evers made the veto in question in 2023. His partial veto increased how much revenue K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and instead vetoed the “20” and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, more than four centuries from now.

“The veto here approaches the absurd and exceeds any reasonable understanding of legislative or voter intent in adopting the partial veto or subsequent limits,” attorneys for legal scholar Richard Briffault, of Columbia Law School, said in a filing with the court ahead of arguments.

That argument was cited throughout the oral arguments by justices and Scott Rosenow, attorney for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Litigation Center, which handles lawsuits for the state's largest business lobbying group and brought the case.

The court should strike down Evers’ partial veto and declare that the state constitution forbids the governor from striking digits to create a new year or to remove language to create a longer duration than the one approved by the Legislature, Rosenow argued.

Finding otherwise would give governors unlimited power to alter numbers in a budget bill, Rosenow argued.

Justices appeared to agree that limits were needed, but they grappled with where to draw the line.

When legal scholars and others look at what Wisconsin courts have allowed relative to partial vetoes, “they think it’s crazy because it is crazy,” said Justice Brian Hagedorn. “We allow governors to unilaterally create law that has not been proposed to them at all. It is a mess of this court’s making.”

The initial reaction from anyone would be that a 400-year veto is “extreme,” said Justice Rebecca Dallet, but the question is whether it's within the governor's authority to use the partial veto to extend the duration of dates.

“The governor is becoming the most powerful person in the state, arguably, to just make the law whatever he declares,” said Justice Rebecca Bradley.

Evers, his attorney Colin Roth argued Wednesday, was simply using a longstanding partial veto process that is allowed under the law.

The court, controlled 4-3 by liberals, will issue a written ruling in the coming months.

Wisconsin’s partial veto power was created by a 1930 constitutional amendment, but it’s been weakened over the years, including in reaction to vetoes made by former governors, both Republicans and Democrats.

Voters adopted constitutional amendments in 1990 and 2008 that removed the ability to strike individual letters to make new words — the “Vanna White” veto — and the power to eliminate words and numbers in two or more sentences to create a new sentence — the “Frankenstein” veto.

The lawsuit before the court on Wednesday contends that Evers’ partial veto is barred under the 1990 constitutional amendment prohibiting the “Vanna White” veto, named the co-host of the game show Wheel of Fortune who flips letters to reveal word phrases.

But Evers argued that the “Vanna White” veto ban applies only to striking individual letters to create new words, not vetoing digits to create new numbers.

Reshaping state budgets through the partial veto is a longstanding act of gamesmanship in Wisconsin between the governor and Legislature, as lawmakers try to craft bills in a way that is largely immune from creative vetoes.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, then controlled by conservatives, undid three of Evers’ partial vetoes in 2020, but a majority of justices did not issue clear guidance on what was allowed. Two justices did say that partial vetoes can’t be used to create new policies.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Evers' attorney's first name. It is Colin, not Clin.

What to know about Hurricane Milton as it barrels toward Florida's Gulf Coast

2024-10-10 01:08 Last Updated At：01:10

As powerful Hurricane Milton charged through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Wednesday, officials said time was running out for people to evacuate — and the odds of survival were bleak for holdouts determined to stay.

Milton was at Category 4 status on Wednesday morning after spending much of Tuesday as a Category 5 storm. It is threatening the Tampa Bay area, a major population center that is home to more than 3.3 million people and has managed to evade a direct hit from a major hurricane for over 100 years. With rain falling and winds picking up, Milton is menacing communities battered when deadly Hurricane Helene came ashore just two weeks ago, swamping the coastline.

Millions have been ordered to evacuate and in the Tampa Bay area, counties are using multiple means of communication to urge people to leave vulnerable areas. By early Wednesday, the normally busy interstate leading into downtown Tampa was mostly free of vehicles and few cars moved on side streets. Drivers looking for gas were hard-pressed to find stations that weren’t closed or boarded up.

National Hurricane Center forecasters warned Milton is “expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane” when it reaches Florida's coast.

Follow The Associated Press’ coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/weather.

Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast late Wednesday.

“We are bracing and prepared to receive a major hit,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Wednesday briefing.

As of Wednesday morning, the storm was about 160 miles (260 kilometers) southwest of Tampa with sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph).

The storm is expected to retain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida on Thursday toward the Atlantic Ocean.

President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip so he could remain at the White House to monitor Milton, warned it “could be one of the worst storms in 100 years to hit Florida."

Milton is just the latest system in a storm season scientists say is the weirdest they’ve ever seen.

Forecasters predicted a busy Atlantic hurricane season, and it began when Beryl became the earliest storm on record to reach Category 5 status. But from Aug. 20 — the traditional start of peak hurricane season — to Sept. 23 it was record quiet, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Then, five hurricanes popped up between Sept. 26 and Oct. 6 — more than double the old record of two. On Sunday and Monday, there were three hurricanes in October at the same time, which had never happened before, Klotzbach said. In just 46 1/2 hours, Hurricane Milton went from forming as a tropical storm with 40 mph winds to a top-of-the-charts Category 5 hurricane.

With hurricanes disrupting the lives of millions in the U.S., some might wonder if it's possible to control extreme weather events. But scientists say hurricanes are too powerful for that, and climate change is providing more fuel than ever for storms like Helene and Milton.

Florida's Gulf Coast is especially vulnerable to storm surge.

Helene came ashore about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Tampa and still caused drowning deaths in the Tampa area due to surges that were about 5 to 8 feet (1.5 to 2.5 meters) above normal tide levels.

With Milton, forecasters warn of a possible 8- to 12-foot (2- to 3.5-meter) storm surge in Tampa Bay, and just south of there, from Anna Maria Island to Boca Grande, a surge of up to 15 feet (5 meters) feet was possible.

In St. Petersburg, located on Tampa Bay, officials said residents should prepare for extended power outages and the possible shutdown of its sewage system. Mayor Ken Welch said it wasn't a storm that the area would recover from quickly: “We have a long road ahead of us.”

Milton is forecast to cross central Florida and dump as much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to the hurricane center.

Tampa International Airport halted flights Tuesday morning, posting on X that it is not a shelter for people or their cars. Nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it was in a mandatory evacuation zone and closed after the last flight left Tuesday. It said all flights were canceled Wednesday and Thursday.

The tourism machine in Orlando, about 84 miles (135 kilometers) inland from Tampa, started grinding to a halt Tuesday. Orlando International Airport — the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked — ceased operations Wednesday. And at least three major theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld — will close.

For some residents of storm-prone Southeastern states, the best indicator of a hurricane’s severity can be found at the local Waffle House.

If the Georgia-based restaurant chain stays open in town, neighbors are reassured that the coming storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the diner has come to indicate impending disaster.

What might sound like silly logic has become one of the most reliable ways for Southerners and even federal officials to gauge a storm’s severity and identify communities most in need of immediate aid. The Waffle House Index was created over a decade ago by a federal emergency management official.