Madison - Lawmakers voted Thursday to give Gov. Scott Walker veto power over new state rules that have the force of law.

The bill passed the Assembly, 58-34, with all Republicans voting along with Rep. Mark Radcliffe (D-Black River Falls) and Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer (I-Manitowoc) and now goes to the Republican governor for his signature. Walker called for the change to the state administrative rules process as part of a special session on job creation he called in January, saying the bill would help him to cut through red tape that hinders businesses.

The Assembly Tuesday also gave preliminary approval to proposals to repeal early-release provisions for prisoners passed in 2009; to repeal a mandate to study whether police engage in racial profiling to make traffic stops; and to give Walker the power to appoint the state veterans affairs secretary.

Administrative rules are used to implement state laws. Now, they are proposed by state agencies and reviewed by the Legislature. Under the measure, the governor would sign off on rules before sending them to the Legislature.

Most state agencies are already controlled by the governor, but the bill would give the governor a say for the first time in rules written by the Department of Justice and Department of Public Instruction, which are overseen by independently elected constitutional officers.

State Schools Superintendent Tony Evers has questioned whether the bill violates the state constitution. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican, has taken no position on it.

Democrats have argued the bill would weaken the independence of the Government Accountability Board, which oversees the state ethics laws and campaign finance regulations. They said the bill actually complicates the process of passing administrative rules and cedes too much power to the governor, and that Republicans would regret the move when a Democrat is elected governor.

"You're going to regret the day you passed this bill," said Rep. Gary Hebl (D-Sun Prairie). "You're no longer going to be able to take that power away from the governor."

But Republicans said the changes made the esoteric process of writing administrative rules accountable to the public.

"In this bill, the Legislature retains the final say," Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon) said.

The bill would allow court challenges to administrative rules to be made in any county. Now, those challenges can be made only in Dane County, the seat of state government.

In other action, the Assembly gave preliminary approval to bills that would:

Roll back early-release provisions for prisoners passed by Democrats as part of the state budget in 2009.

Democrats objected to final approval of the repeal bill, meaning it will have to be taken up again at a future Assembly session. The bill passed the Senate last week, so once it receives final Assembly approval it will go to Walker, who supports it.

Early release was passed by Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle as part of the 2009-'11 budget in an attempt to find savings and help solve a massive budget deficit by revising the state's Truth in Sentencing law.

Republicans say higher spending on prisons is justified, saying a prison building boom in Wisconsin in the 1990s has helped lower crime rates since then. Democrats counter that states with lower incarceration rates saw similar drops in crime rates.

The state spends about $1.1 billion a year in state tax dollars on prisons.

Repeal a mandate that police track traffic stops to identify possible racial profiling. Democrats objected to the final approval of the bill, which passed the Senate in February.

The current state law, approved in June 2009 as part of the 2009-'11 state budget, required the state's 600 law enforcement agencies to start collecting racial and other data on the drivers involved in all traffic stops on Jan. 1.

Supporters said the current mandate on law enforcement helps ensure that minorities aren't being unfairly targeted and might eventually help close the gap in the criminal justice system between white and minorities, who are imprisoned at a higher rate.

But critics of the requirement said it added another paper-pushing exercise for law enforcement and could potentially require millions of dollars statewide in investments in new equipment.

Give Walker the authority to appoint the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a position currently appointed by the Board of Veterans Affairs. The governor would have to consult personally with the leaders of six state veterans organizations before making the appointment. Democrats also objected to the final approval of this bill, which will go to the Senate once it passes the Assembly.

The bill would add two seats to the board, bringing the total number to nine from the current seven, and would reduce the terms served by board members from six years to four. It would also require at least one member of the board to be from each of the state's eight congressional districts.

These changes would have the effect of giving Walker more appointments to the board more quickly.