Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Budget Committee Block of Conservation Programs

An interior view of the Wisconsin Supreme Court courtroom, inside the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. Public Domain

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 5 ruled that the state Legislature’s budget committee cannot block Gov. Tony Evers from implementing conservation projects for which funds have already been approved by the Legislature.

The court decided 6–1 in Evers vs Marklein that once funds are legally appropriated through the legislative branch, the spending of those funds is in the power of the executive branch, that is, the governor’s office.

The case revolves around the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, a 1989 land conservation initiative “to acquire land to expand nature-based outdoor recreational opportunities and protect environmentally sensitive areas.” The program has been administered by Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, and was set to receive more than $33 million in annual funding through fiscal year 2026.

However, subsections of two statutes allowed Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance to have review power over certain expenditures, especially in projects that exceeded $250,000. The first statute gave the committee power to review project expenditures for 14 days, and to block the spending until a meeting was called and the spending approved by the Wisconsin Legislature.

The second statute applied to any amount of money spent on land purchases “outside of a project boundary,” and required approval by 12 members of the Joint Committee on Finance.

The statutes raised questions about delineation of power between the executive and legislative branch. Mr. Evers argued that the Department of Natural Resources was acting under executive orders from the governor, and that the GOP-led finance committee was overstepping its bounds.

The legislators countered that the review process is within “its power to oversee the expenditure of state funds under its ‘power of the purse.’”

The majority opinion of the court rejected the Joint Committee on Finance’s arguments as “unpersuasive because, as we have said before, the governor ‘oftentimes carries out his functions through administrative agencies.’”

“The legislature must make ‘an appropriation by law,’ but once it does so, spending money ‘in pursuance of’ that law falls within the core executive power to faithfully execute the laws,” the opinion stated.

Chief Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler wrote the sole dissenting opinion, casting the decision to hear the case as politically motivated since the court delayed addressing the other two aspects of the original petition.

The governor’s case originally included similar questions about the Joint Committee on Employment Relations rejecting a pay adjustment for University of Wisconsin employees, and the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules vetoing a set of environmental and procedural guidance regulations given through several executive-controlled agencies. These issues were delayed for later consideration by the court.

“Simply stated, there is no good reason why those four members of the court gave preferential selection to part of this case, fast-tracking only one of the three issues, rushing to decide that lone issue, which just happens to limit legislative power only. What’s the rush?” Judge Ziegler wrote in her dissent.

“There is absolutely no good reason to have handpicked this case and this one issue, ahead of all the other cases, taking it out of turn, and placing it to the front of the line,” she wrote.

Mr. Evers celebrated the decision, saying it “rightfully resets constitutional checks and balances, and restores separation of powers.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Misha Tseytlin, attorney for the Legislature, for comment.

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.