Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to hear veto challenge

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case seeking to dramatically scale back the ability of governors to change the intent of lawmakers through partial budget vetoes.

Rick Esenberg, leader of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty that brought the case, said Wednesday that the court had agreed to take the case, skipping the usual process of lawsuits working their way up from lower courts.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is controlled 5-2 by conservatives. The case seeks to reverse more than four decades of precedent upholding the governor’s broad veto power.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ 78 partial vetoes, arguing that he improperly and unlawfully used his broad constitutional powers to create new laws never approved by the Legislature.