OPINION: Why You Should Vote No on the Constitutional Amendment Questions

On your August ballot, you’ll find two questions about amending the Wisconsin Constitution. The rightwing Republican legislature put these questions on the ballot, and they worded them in a sneaky way to lure you into voting yes.

But don’t be fooled by Robin Vos & Company. Vote no on both
questions.

Here are the two questions you’ll see:
Question 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. 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:“ Allocation of federal moneys. 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?”

Vos and his cronies put these questions on your ballot so they could strip more power from Governor Tony Evers and any future governor. For nine decades, the governor of Wisconsin has had the authority to allocate much-needed federal funds to improve our lives. That authority should remain in the hands of the governor.

It’s your money we’re talking about! You’ve already paid your federal taxes, so when the federal government sends that money back to us in Wisconsin, the chief executive of our state, elected by a majority of us as citizens, should be the one to keep spending those funds.

It’s the most democratic way. And it’s the most efficient way. Look, we’ve already seen how the Republican-dominate legislature gummed up the distribution of federal funds and failed to respond to the COVID pandemic. Because of their stall tactics, Wisconsinites were deprived of $25 million in federal unemployment benefits that Evers didn’t have sole discretion over.

And remember, the Republican-dominated legislature did nothing for he first 300 days of the pandemic to help any of us out! In emergencies like a pandemic, these constitutional amendments would totally get in the way of our Wisconsin businesses getting the relief they need, and us Wisconsinites getting the care we need.

These amendments would compound any disaster. And in non- emergency situations, these amendments would also spell trouble. They would jeopardize crucial money for our schools and universities, money for our farmers, money to clean up toxic waste dumps and to keep our lakes clean. The legislature could just sit on that money until they got a rash.

Amending our Wisconsin Constitution is not something that should be done lightly, and it certainly shouldn’t be done as part of an ongoing power grab by Robin Vos and the gerrymandered legislature.

Most of all, we shouldn’t amend our Wisconsin Constitution in such a way that would adversely affect our lives, especially in an emergency. So please vote no on both constitutional amendment questions on your August ballot.

Matt Rothschild, the former executive director of the Wisconsin
Democracy Campaign, wrote this op-ed for the Civic Media Radio Network.