Gov. Scott Walker making 99 partial vetoes to reshape Wisconsin budget

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday released the 99 partial vetoes he's making to the state budget bill, undoing some significant additions to the bill by his fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

Among the changes to the $76 billion budget, the governor is vetoing a funding increase for the state school districts that spend the least on their students — a provision that Assembly Republicans had introduced with great fanfare.

"I am vetoing this section entirely because the result is a substantial increase in property tax capacity that school districts may exercise without voter input," Walker wrote in his veto message.

Using one of the most powerful veto pens in the country, Walker is also nixing provisions to create a board for state prosecutors and require Milwaukee County Board approval for land sales by County Executive Chris Abele. The governor made nearly as many vetoes in this two-year budget as he did in 2015 and about twice as many as in 2013 and 2011.

Walker will sign the budget just after noon on Thursday at Tullar Elementary School in Neenah. The actions clear the way for the governor to announce in the coming weeks or months whether he'll seek — as is widely expected — a third term in the 2018 elections.

The budget vetoes will eliminate:

All funding for the state Judicial Council, which for decades has advised state officials about court matters.

The Educational Approval Board, which regulates for-profit colleges in the state. The board will end immediately instead of having a sunset date.

A cap on the allocation of state performance-based funding to University of Wisconsin System campuses. The vetoes also nix a provision allowing campuses to choose their performance metrics.

Five jobs from the state Elections Commission. Legislators had agreed to keep 21 of 22 jobs being paid for with expiring federal funds, but Walker lowered that to 16 of the positions.

Most of the current $454 daily stipend for members of the Elections Commission and the separate Ethics Commission. Lawmakers voted to reduce that pay to $227 and Walker cut it further — to $27.

Provisions requiring sexually violent offenders to be placed in their home counties after their release and allowing them to be placed near schools, parks or day care centers.

A nearly $1 million tax break for broadcasters.

A series of steps by lawmakers to put additional oversight on Walker's administration, from additional sign-off on state spending and analysis of state real estate decisions to reporting on state computer projects.

The reconstruction of I-94 near the Minnesota border.

The governor also used his veto powers to put a $500,000 cap on how much developers can claim in a state tax credit program for rehabbing historic buildings that currently totals more than $60 million a year. The change will mean $13 million less in tax credits over the next two years.

Another veto would shift how the state uses $42 million from a national settlement with Volkswagen for violating clean-air laws. The Legislature wanted to give $32 million to local transit systems and use $10 million to replace state vehicles. Walker would allow more money to be used for state vehicles.

Walker also upped the ante for how many Flexible Option degree programs the UW System must create by Dec. 1, 2019. Instead of increasing by 25% the number of self-paced online programs for nontraditional students, Walker called for 100% growth.

Walker's vetoes would also keep in place state caps on how much the lowest-spending school districts can raise per student in local property taxes and state aid. Current law allows all schools to get at least $9,100 per student.

Under the budget bill, that minimum level would have risen to $9,300 per student and then $100 more every year after that until it hit $9,800 per student. Walker deleted that provision, leaving the current minimum in place for low-revenue districts.

Budget committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) tweeted he was "severely disappointed" by the veto.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) noted that Walker was keeping a provision to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, which is generally paid by the wealthy.

“It’s disappointing that Governor Walker used his veto pen to cut more funding from Wisconsin schools while keeping a tax break for 47 millionaires," Shilling said.