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Wisconsin Question 1, Prohibit Governor from Creating New Words in Appropriation Bills Using Partial Veto Amendment (April 1990)
| Wisconsin Question 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic State executive powers and duties |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Wisconsin Question 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Wisconsin on April 3, 1990. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to prohibit the governor from using the partial veto to form new words by removing individual letters from words in appropriation bills. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to prohibit the governor from using the partial veto to form new words by removing individual letters from words in appropriation bills. |
Election results
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Wisconsin Question 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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387,068 | 60.52% | ||
| No | 252,481 | 39.48% | ||
Overview
Before proposing Question 1, the Democratic-controlled Wisconsin Senate filed a lawsuit against Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) over his use of the partial veto. In its June 1988 decision, the court determined that “any claimed excesses on the part of the governor in the exercise of this broad partial veto authority are correctable not by this court, but by the people, either at the ballot box or by constitutional amendment.”[1]
The Associated Press wrote, "The constitutional amendment was backed by Democrats angered by Gov. Tommy G. Thompson’s use of hundreds of partial vetos to rewrite legislation sent to him by the Democratic-controlled Legislature since 1987."[2] In 1990, Wisconsin had a divided government. Democrats controlled both chambers of the state Legislature, and the governor, Tommy Thompson, was a Republican.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:
| “ | Partial veto of appropriation bills. Shall section 10 of article V of the constitution be revised, and shall an additional provision be created in that section, so that the governor's power to veto appropriation bills in part does not permit the creation of a new word formed by rejecting individual letters in the words of the bill passed by the legislature? | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Constitutional changes
See also: Article V, Wisconsin Constitution
The ballot measure amended Section 10 of Article V of the Wisconsin Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was repealed:[3]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
[Article V] Section 10 (1) (a) Every bill which shall have passed the legislature shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he.
(b) If the governor approves and signs the bill, the bill shall become law. Appropriation bills may be approved in whole or in part by the governor, and the part approved shall become law.
(c) In approving an appropriation bill in part, the governor may not create a new word by rejecting individual letters in the words of the enrolled bill.
(2) (a) If the governor rejects the bill, the governor shall return it the bill, together with his the objections in writing, to that the house in which it shall have the bill originated, who. The house of origin shall enter the objections at large upon the journal and proceed to reconsider it. Appropriation bills may be approved in whole or in part by the governor, and the part approved shall become law, and the part objected to shall be returned in the same manner as provided for other bills the bill. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, or the part of the bill objected to notwithstanding the objections of the governor, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present it shall become a law. But in
(b) The rejected part of an appropriation bill, together with the governor’s objections in writing, shall be returned to the house in which the bill originated. The house of origin shall enter the objections at large upon the journal and proceed to reconsider the rejected part of the appropriation bill. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present agree to approve the rejected part notwithstanding the objections of the governor, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present the rejected part shall become law.
(c) In all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas ayes and nays noes, and the names of the members voting for or against passage of the bill or the rejected part of the bill objected to, notwithstanding the objections of the governor shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any
(3) Any bill shall not be returned by the governor within six 6 days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same the governor shall be a law unless the legislature shall, by their final adjournment, prevent its prevents the bill’s return, in which case it shall not be a law.[4]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Wisconsin Constitution
A simple majority vote is required during two legislative sessions for the Wisconsin State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 17 votes in the Wisconsin State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, "The Wisconsin Governor’s Partial Veto," June 2019
- ↑ The Post-Crescent, "Voters pick Steinmetz, curtail veto power," April 4, 2025
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Joint Resolutioin No. 39, 1989," accessed April 19, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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