It was evident from yesterday's state Supreme Court argument in Jeffrey A. LeMieux v Tony Evers that the governor got too cute and went too far when he used a veto to change a two-year school revenue limit increase to a 402-year hike.
Both liberal and conservative justices were critical of the move. There is good coverage by AP and The Cap Times so I won't rehash it here. A remaining issue for the justices is whether to remand the issue back to the governor or, as has been past practice, let the two-year revenue limit increase take effect.
If the governor thought a more progressive Supreme Court would do his bidding, he was wrong. Evers' 2023 veto power play created an opening for the court to re-examine more broadly the scope of the governor's extensive veto power and rein it in, as some justices suggested doing. He may live to regret his move for that reason.
On the other hand, the court may do public education a favor by rejecting the governor's 402-year, $325-per-pupil revenue limit increase. The limit governs how much districts can raise through property taxes and general state aid.
The Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) said in a presentation last month that the $325 increase was not a windfall, considering the rate of inflation. The $325 boost is still below the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's estimated inflationary per-pupil adjustments of $393 in 2023-24 and $403 in 2024-25, WASBO said.
That $325 will be worth far, far less in 100 years, much less 400 years, than its lagging-behind-inflation value now. By 2048, just 24 years from now, it will take more than twice as much - $660.66 - to purchase what $325 buys now, assuming a fairly modest 3% annual inflation rate.
It's not clear what Evers was thinking when he decided on his veto, but it's apparent he wasn't thinking it through.
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