A pair of questions on Wisconsin’s August 13 ballot would give state legislators more control over how federal money is spent in the state.
If approved by a majority of voters statewide, the Republican-backed proposals would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to limit the governor’s power to spend federal funds unilaterally in specific instances. The proposals would work in tandem. One would require legislative approval before Wisconsin’s governor could expend federal money earmarked for the state. The other would bar future Legislatures from giving that power away.
Question 1 on statewide ballots reads, “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 asks voters, “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?”
Wisconsin’s Constitution gives lawmakers control over the state’s purse strings. But there are exceptions. Under state law, a governor can accept and distribute federal money without the Legislature’s involvement, as long as those allocations comply with the federal laws which made the money available.
Wisconsin’s governor has held that discretion over federal funding since the 1930s, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.
The proposed changes to the state constitution would strip Wisconsin’s governor of that unilateral authority by requiring legislative sign-off.
Wisconsin is one of 40 states that allow their executive branch to spend “unanticipated” federal funds without special legislative approval, according to a 2022 Legislative Reference Bureau analysis. But nearly three-quarters of those states have some type of restriction on that authority, according to the LRB, which cited the National Association of State Budget Officers.