Lawmakers consider options after a governor’s budget veto violates new constitutional amendment

Talk about it

The governor’s budget director admits that Jim Doyle made a mistake when he used the Frankenstein veto on the new state budget, even though voters made the practice illegal by changing the Constitution last year.

Fiscal Bureau director Bob Lang noticed that Doyle struck words from three sentences to create a new sentence.

It changed the scope of a study that the Legislature had commissioned on state facilities for mentally-disabled.

Budget director David Schmiedicke said the error might have occurred because Doyle only had a couple days to review the massive budget before he signed it into law on Monday.

Bethesda Lutheran Homes of Watertown asked lawmakers for the study and its vice president of legal affairs said Doyle’s veto actually improved it.

Schmiedicke said Doyle’s intent could have been accomplished through a proper veto and his office would work with the Legislature to make it legal.

Joint Finance co-chairman Mark Miller says lawmakers are consulting with attorneys to see what should be done.

Tags: jim doyle, frankenstein veto, constitutional amendment, wisconsin