– Editorial – - Proposed constitutional amendment unneeded power grab
By Editorial Board
A proposed constitutional amendment to strip power from the governor and put it in the hands of the legislature, is a politically-motived power grab that will ultimately harm Wisconsin residents.
At the Aug. 6 partisan primary election, voters will be asked to weigh-in on a proposed constitutional amendment to take away the governor’s authority to spend federal funds received by the state, and instead, require legislative approval, via a joint resolution or legislative rule, in order for the governor to allocate federal funds on behalf of the state.
The current system was put in place during the Great Depression, with the governor having the ability to accept and allocate federal funds.
The issue the Republican leadership in the legislature has with the current system, is with decisions about how the COVID recovery funds under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) were spent. More specifically, it is who got the political credit for spending the funds to help communities and businesses recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The challenge is, that the amendment wouldn’t just impact those federal funds, but impact all federal funds the state receives, for everything from education to highway infrastructure. Under the existing framework, funds are received by the state and through the executive branch’s authority, are sent out to state and local agencies, to be spent for their assigned purpose.
The system works and has worked well, under both Republican and Democrat governors. The current justification for the amendment has more to do with legislative Republican leadership not wanting to work with Gov. Tony Evers, than for any other justifiable reason.
The constitutional amendment and legislative power grab would add another layer of bureaucracy to getting the federal funds to where they are needed, to be spent at the local level. At the same time, it will add more options for political gamesmanship, as legislators attempt to grandstand to bring attention to their political talking point of the day.
One only has to look to the recent embarrassment of the legislature holding University of Wisconsin budget funds hostage, as part of an attempt to micromanage university system functions, as an example of what could happen when politics gets in the way of basic common sense.
It is not hard to imagine a situation where such things as funding for school breakfast and lunch programs, are held up over political squabbles. With numerous examples at the state and national level, it is hard to underestimate the level of pettiness members of the legislature might sink to, in order to score what they perceive as a political win.
Wisconsin voters must reject attempts by the legislature to strip power from the governor and put a stop to the legislature’s blatant power grab.
Members of the Courier Sentinel editorial board include publisher Carol O’Leary, general manager Kris O’Leary and Star News editor Brian Wilson.
