Republicans file lawsuit challenging Evers's partial vetoes to literacy bill

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican legislators have filed a second lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto powers, this time alleging that he improperly struck sections of a bill that set up a plan to spend $50 million on student literacy.

Republican lawmakers filed their suit Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court. The action centers on a pair of bills designed to improve K-12 students’ reading performance.

Evers signed the first bill in July. That measure created an early literacy coaching program within the state Department of Public Instruction as well as grants for public and private schools that adopt approved reading curricula. The state budget that Evers signed weeks before approving the literacy bill set aside $50 million for the initiatives, but the bill didn’t allocate any of that money.

The governor signed another bill in February that Republicans argue created guidelines for allocating the $50 million. Evers used his partial veto powers to change the multiple allocations into a single appropriation to DPI, a move he said would simplify things and give the agency more flexibility. He also used his partial veto powers to eliminate grants for private voucher and charter schools.