Wisconsin has an election on Tuesday,  August 13, 2024. This is normally a partisan primary with some local nonpartisan elections. But this time the election also includes two constitutional amendments.   Voters may not know about these amendments or their impact if adopted. But they are important and will have negative consequences for many people. This is not an election to ignore.  

This article provides information, background and resources to help voters understand these amendments and their potential impact. The text of the amendments is legalistic. The average voter may not know what he or she is voting on from reading the proposed amendments. Here is the text as it appears on the ballot.  

Question 1: Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?  

Question 2: Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?  

Note that a “yes” vote supports amending the state constitution and “no” vote opposes the proposed changes.  

Under current state law the Wisconsin governor has the sole authority to manage and allocate  federal dollars received by the state. Many federal programs require governors to control the use of federal dollars. With the budgeting process, the legislature can control state spending that uses state taxes  but has no role in the distribution of federal dollars. Governors of both parties have had this authority since 1930. For 94 years this has been the accepted practice. So why do Republicans now want to change this practice?  

These proposed constitutional amendments change both the process for distributing federal money and who has the power to make decisions about the use of federal funds. If approved, the two constitutional amendments will allow legislative interference with how federal moneys are spent. These amendments will tie the hands of governors and will create problems for timely and effective use of federal money.  

 If adopted these amendments will have significant impact on may diverse groups and individuals who currently receive various assistance through federal funds. The legislature will be able to insert politics into the normal distribution of federal funds. This will be especially bad for using federal dollars for emergencies such as natural disasters or pandemics when a rapid response is important.   

You may think no legislative leaders would play politics with disaster relief or other important federal aid. But you would be wrong. The current Republican legislative leadership has a long history of playing political games at the expense of the general public good. They are quite willing to put politics before people and have proved this by their past actions.

  During the COVID pandemic there were many political battles between the Republican controlled legislature and the governor over how to deal with the pandemic. The legislature tried to interfere with the governor's legal authority to manage the crisis by opposing business and school closings, mask mandates and immunization mandates. The legislature even refused to meet to address pandemic issues. On several occasions, when the governor called special sessions, the legislature (as legally required) opened the special session but immediately adjourned. We should be glad they could not interfere with the federal pandemic relief funding.  

Other examples of Republicans declining federal money for political and ideological reasons occurred under Gov. Walker. One of Walker's first acts as Governor was to kill the Milwaukee to Madison light rail project. Wisconsin lost federal dollars, and many people were denied healthcare,  because of Republican refusal to expand Medicare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.  

People should remember that federal dollars are important for much more then disaster relief.  Federal dollars routinely are used for many purposes including infrastructure projects, environmental remediation, school funding, medical care, law enforcement, business development, assistance for farmers, green energy subsidies, and social assistance programs. These dollars are vital to the well being of people and our economy.

We don't need politically motivated politicians meddling with the administration of these funds.   Voters should also remember that these dollars are our federal taxes – our money – coming back to Wisconsin. They should be used for the purposes authorized by Congress.   

These amendments are part of larger, ongoing effort by the Republican controlled legislature to weaken the powers of Governor Evers. They have taken numerous actions (even before he was initially inaugurated in 2019)  to reduce his executive authority. It is clear that these constitutional amendments are a power grab by the legislature. They are not needed to improve the administration of federal funds in Wisconsin.   

So if these amendments are adopted, it is quite believable that Republicans would use their new power to kill initiatives they disagree with for political reasons. Federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for green energy projects or for efforts to mitigate climate change could be killed by the legislature. It is well known that Republicans do not “believe” in promoting sustainable energy or taking action on climate change.      

These constitutional amendments are not needed and can result in harm to people and important public activities in Wisconsin. This is why a wide variety of nonpartisan public interest organizations are opposing these amendments. Respected organizations like the League of Women Voters, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the Sierra Club, Citizen Action Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, Wisconsin Conservation Voters, and the Wisconsin Public Health Association are urging people to vote “no” on these amendments.      

In urging citizens to vote “no” on these amendments, the strictly nonpartisan League of Women voters is being unusually blunt. On their website they say, “It's no secret that Wisconsin’s legislature spends more time playing partisan games than acting on the issues most Wisconsinites care about. When natural disasters strike we don’t have time to wait for the slow-moving legislature to get funds to communities in need. These measures [the amendments] would deprive our communities of needed resources while our legislators play partisan games... [and] thus failing to govern at all.”   To learn more about this issue watch the LWV webinar at https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/august-2024-constitutional-amendments.