Wisconsin's Constitutional Amendments Designed to Preserve Minority Rule

August 6th, 2024

Wisconsin’s Republicans are trying to undermine democracy yet again, this time in the form of two constitutional amendments on next week’s fall primary ballot. Voters should reject this power grab designed to make the Assembly Speaker a shadow governor, and in doing so, slow down government even more.

Every Wisconsin governor since at least 1931 has had the power to direct federal funding without legislative approval. Wisconsin’s constitutional amendment process requires proposed amendments to be passed in consecutive legislative sessions, before going to ballot for the People to vote on. This goes back to Covid, where in 2021, Republicans introduced a bill to compel Governor Evers to obtain consent from the legislature prior to spending money. He vetoed the proposal.

This soft coup would only directly affect money that the federal government gives to the state for disaster relief. The last time Wisconsin received federal disaster aid from FEMA was Covid. Should Wisconsin receive money retroactively for the rash of tornadoes earlier this year or suffer through another major bout of flooding, why on earth would we ever want to slow aid when people need it the most?

Governor Tony Evers Photo credit: Wisconsin Watch

Of course, we should expect this from Wisconsin’s Republican Party. They did this same thing in the waning days of Governor Walker’s term simply to deprive then Governor-elect Evers of the same powers and privileges they afforded Governor Walker. Their strategy has been simple: obstruct, delay, and disempower. Since 2023, Wisconsin Republicans have put seven amendments on the ballot, more than Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio combined. They’ve been largely successful.

Wisconsin deserves better than Republican laziness and obstruction. We don’t need to reward them with a veto over disaster aid. When you vote in the August 13 primary, be sure to vote no.