‘400-Year Veto’ Fight Heads To Wisconsin Voters In November
Assembly also passes sports betting bill and a wake boat bill with unusual rider.
The door to the Wisconsin State Assembly on Monday, July 14, 2025, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Wisconsin voters will be asked whether the state’s constitution should be amended to prevent the governor’s powerful partial veto from increasing taxes or fees under a measure that cleared the state Assembly Thursday.
It’s a direct response to a partial veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ in 2023 authorizing school districts to raise property taxes to bolster their budgets through the year 2425.
Republicans have continually blamed Evers’ “400-year veto” for causing property tax bills in Wisconsin to hit their highest point since 2018. With a party-line vote on the Assembly floor Thursday night, they responded by passing a joint resolution that will place a consequential question on voters’ November ballot.
Voters will be asked whether the Wisconsin Constitution should be amended “to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee.”
The partial veto power used by Wisconsin governors since 1930 is a standout compared to other states. Since then, it’s only been tempered nine times through similar constitutional amendments.
Gov. Tony Evers delivers the State of the State address Tuesday Feb. 17, 2026, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
During debate on the Assembly floor Thursday, state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, claimed Evers’ 2023 veto “will tax seniors out of their homes and push the dream of home ownership further out of reach for young families.”
“And I look forward to the voters approving this constitutional amendment in November,” said Nedweski.
Democrats in the Legislature have stood by Evers’ veto that authorized schools to raise more money through local property taxes, claiming he had no other choice because Republicans haven’t been willing to adequate fund public education.
In addition to the amendment question, Republicans in the Assembly also passed a bill that would eliminate the annual school funding increases created by Evers’ veto for the 2027-28 school year and beyond. Unlike the proposed amendment, Evers would have the power to veto that plan.
Online sports betting bill passes quietly
After months of debate and internal turmoil over enacting online gambling, a proposal to do just that passed quietly out of the Assembly on a voice vote. That means lawmakers didn’t have to record their support or opposition to the move.
The amended bill would pave the way for people to place bets online, in accordance with requirements that gambling in Wisconsin is governed by native tribes. It creates a “hub and spoke” model, in which the hub is computer servers managing wagers on tribal property, and the spokes are individual bettors’ phones.
The legislation hit a snag in November, in part because of the unusual configuration of its opposition. Opponents included a conservative coalition of groups opposed to gambling on philosophical grounds, major national gambling outfits who said they’d be squeezed out of the market, and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, who argued it would run afoul of state and federal laws.
WILL attorney Dan Limington, who has called the bill “sneaky,” argued on social media that the issue needs to be decided via a constitutional amendment, and said it will give the tribes an unfair monopoly.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it’s unclear if it will be taken up for a vote.
Republicans tack sandhill crane hunt onto wake surfing legislation, drawing outrage from Democrats
The Assembly chambers erupted with shouts from Democrats who chanted “shame!” after Republicans added an amendment that would create a sandhill crane hunt onto a bill aimed at regulating wake boating.
The amendment initially didn’t draw any attention until Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, noticed it contained language authorizing a crane hunt.
“In all of my years when I was waterskiing and doing water sports, I’ve never seen a sandhill crane water ski,” said Andraca. “I don’t know, can they slalom, or do they only go behind the wake boat?”
Andraca said the surprise amendment was evidence of “gamesmanship” in the Legislature. She said it’s “the kind of stuff that really gets people upset.”
Democrats in the state Assembly line up to have their votes removed from the record after Republicans amended a bill on wake boat regulations with language that would establish a sandhill crane hunt. Anya Van Wagtendonk/WPR
After Democrats complained about the crane hunt amendment not being “germane” to the original bill, Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, called their concern “rich,” pointing to a series of amendments Democrats attempted to attach to Republican bills in a prior Assembly session. Sortwell argued regulating wake boats and hunting sandhill cranes are related.
“For those who aren’t aware, sandhill cranes like to nest near water lines,” said Sortwell. “They like to be in the marshy areas — you know, where we often find marshy areas around lakeshore? You know what’s a great way to protect our lakeshores? Keeping those high speed, high wake boats away from those shorelines.”
Following the bill’s passage, Democrats left their seats to line up and individually ask the Assembly clerk to have their votes counted against the combined legislation as a form of protest.
Also on Thursday…
In an effort to wrap up all business for the year, lawmakers voted on several dozen bills Thursday across a floor session that lasted more than seven hours. In addition to the above, they also approved bills to:
- Block local communities from passing “rights of nature” ordinances, which grant legal rights to natural resources, like wetlands or rivers. The ban passed 54-41. It already passed the Senate, and now heads to the governor’s desk.
- Create a legal pathway to sue people who engage in “sextortion,” or the act of blackmailing people over sexual images. That bill passed 95-1, with Rep. Shea Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, the lone no vote. It now heads to the Senate.
- Create matching funds to the federal investment accounts for newborns, known as “Trump accounts.” Under the bill, Wisconsin would add $1,000 to the accounts for babies born in Wisconsin on top of the $1,000 that the federal government would provide. That legislation passed on a voice vote and now heads to the Senate.
- Set age limits on certain digital apps and social media platforms.
Republicans delayed votes on other bills until Friday, when they could adjourn for the rest of 2026.
Republicans send ‘400-year veto’ constitutional amendment to voters was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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