In June, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the state legislature could continue withholding funds intended for childhood literacy education under the Department of Public Instruction.
The court ruled unanimously that Democratic governor Tony Evers had overstepped his partial veto power— intended only for appropriations bills— when he adapted the 2023 Wisconsin Act 100 to fund a “literacy program” instead of a “literacy coaching program,” which had the intended effect of combining two separate appropriations into one.
Writing for the Supreme Court’s unanimous majority, Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley said the Wisconsin state constitution “does not authorize the governor to partially veto a nonappropriation bill, which the governor may veto only in its entirety. We hold the governor breached his constitutional boundaries because the bill he partially vetoed was not an appropriation bill. We also hold JCF [Joint Committee on Finance] did not improperly withhold funds the legislature appropriated to JCF.”
Evers said that he would “never apologize” for battling for Wisconsin education. “Nearly $50 million to help improve our kids’ reading has sat unspent in Madison for two years because Republican lawmakers have refused to release it,” Evers said. “I have spent those two years fighting tirelessly to get Republicans to release those funds, including suing to force them to do so.”
The previous 2023 Wisconsin Act 20 created an Office of Literacy under the DPI, which was intended to create the literacy coaching program, with coaches who help to teach reading to students between kindergarten and third grade, and also to administer literacy grants to help retrain teachers in the science of reading. The Office of Literacy and the coaching program were originally funded separately.
“I am partially vetoing this bill because I object to overly complicating the allocation of funding related to literacy programs in Wisconsin by creating multiple appropriations for what could be accomplished with one,” Evers explained in 2024. “By consolidating funding into one appropriation, the department will have the flexibility necessary to utilize the appropriate amount of funding for various literacy needs based on the needs of Wisconsin schools. The department would not be able to do so with the funding divided between multiple appropriations.”
Republicans in the state legislature reacted by refusing to release the $50 million for the literacy coaching program; thus the lawsuit.
Now, Evers says that decision on the part of Republicans in the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee is going to lead to money for literacy education drying up. The governor affirmed his commitment to abiding by the court’s decision while still urging Republicans to release the funds.
“Since the Wisconsin Supreme Court today declined to step in and end this indefinite obstruction, today I, again, urge Republicans to release the nearly $50 million investment to improve reading and literacy across our state—and to do so today, before those resources expire at the end of this month,” Evers said. “Failing to do so by that deadline would be reckless and irresponsible. Stop messing around with our kids and their futures and get it done.”
Republican state senate president Mary Felzkowski, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling, saying: “This was a blatant attempt by Governor Evers to expand his already incredibly strong veto powers. I am pleased that the court, despite its deep divisions, upheld the Finnegan precedent and ruled that the governor’s actions were inappropriate. Wisconsin’s governor already has an incredibly strong veto pen, and that power does not need to be expanded. The separation of powers is a core feature of our government, and it is heartening that even the leftists on our Court haven’t forgotten this.”
The Wisconsin Education Association Council, reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, decried Republicans’ continued refusal to disburse the funds:
“These politicians give lip service to literacy, while leaving educators without funding to do our job. On the cusp of another state budget, these same politicians again threaten to underfund public schools instead of working across the aisle for the good of students.”