CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – If you remember high school civics, you might recall that the power of purse lies with the legislature. The President can only spend money that’s appropriated by the Congress.
In Wisconsin, the state legislature puts together a budget. The governor then decides whether to sign it, or veto it in all or in part.
Only there’s some special money that, apparently, belongs just to the governor. Tony Evers can spend it as he wishes, without legislative approval. It’s federal COVID aid from Washington. That money goes directly to governors and they can do whatever they want with it.
And that’s exactly what the Governor did earlier this week. He took $170-million in federal COVID reimbursement money, and spent it on a program that offers more money to daycare workers. Now addressing the shortage of childcare workers probably polls well. Working parents don’t want their daycare center to be short-staffed, especially if that limits the number of children who can be watched on a given day. It’s actually bad policy. When a third party is covering costs, those costs always go up. Daycare will become more expensive, not less.
And here’s the problem. Republicans, who control the legislature, had turned down the same request for funding from the Governor earlier this month. But that money would have come out of the state’s surplus. What the legislature wanted was to cut a deal with Governor Evers… you know, the normal give-and-take that happens in a purple state with divided government. Perhaps the legislature would have agreed to some daycare cash, if the governor, perhaps, were agreeable to some type of tax cut. That should be an easy enough deal to make if both sides were to negotiate. But Governor Evers doesn’t negotiate. He almost never meets with legislative leaders. And why should he? He has his own private purse of money that he can do whatever he wants with. So that’s what he did.
But it’s unconstitutional. The newly liberal state Supreme Court won’t reign in this abuse, especially while a Democrat is governor.
What should happen? A constitutional amendment that makes it clear. All money, from fees, to legal settlements, to federal aid, must go through the regular appropriations process.
Chris Conley
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