A committee in the state Senate unanimously passed a resolution to limit the governor's Frankenstein"" veto power Wednesday.
Senate Joint Resolution Five would amend the state constitution to stop the governor from using a veto to combine individual sentences to create new sentences, which can change the intent or effects of passed legislation.
State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, chair of the Senate Ethics Reform and Government Operations Committee that passed the resolution, said it was likely the resolution would be passed by the state Senate.
The resolution, which is not a piece of legislation since Gov. Jim Doyle must sign legislation for it to become law, passed the state Assembly early in the legislative session. If the state Senate adds an amendment to the resolution, then it will have to be sent back to the state Assembly to be voted upon again.
The bill passed out of the committee without any amendments Wednesday, and according to Risser, the state Senate may vote on it as soon as December or January. Risser said if the resolution were passed in the Senate without amendment, then it would become a referendum to be voted on in the April elections.
Jim Bender, spokesperson for state Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said Fitzgerald was strongly in favor of the resolution. Bender said the best case scenario would be the resolution passing the state Senate without an amendment.
Bender said the reason for the resolution not being acted upon until now is because Senate Democrats wanted to allow the governor the ability to change aspects of the state budget.
Doyle supported ending certain ""Frankenstein"" veto abilities when he was the Attorney General and running for governor, according to Risser.
After he signed the recent state budget, Doyle said that, had his veto authority been limited, he would have been unable to make certain vetoes that benefited local governments and firefighters.
Doyle's office was unavailable as of press time.
Even if the constitutional amendment were passed, the governor could still veto individual words and therefore change possible effects in legislation, according to Risser.
