Voters overwhelmingly agreed in a statewide referendum Tuesday, with 71 percent approving a constitutional amendment banning what critics call the "Frankenstein veto." That's when Gov. Jim Doyle has crossed out words and digits and cobbled together others from multiple sentences in spending bills to create policies never intended by the Legislature.

But Doyle and his successors will still have many ways to use their partial veto power to rewrite budget policies and taxing and spending levels to their liking.

"The governor still has a strong veto, and he'll continue using it to protect Wisconsin taxpayers and priorities when the Legislature goes to extremes," Doyle spokeswoman Jess Erickson said.

Wisconsin governors have the unique ability to approve spending bills "in whole or in part" under a 1930 constitutional amendment. Courts have said that gives them broad authority to remake budgets approved by lawmakers.

The amendment only prohibits governors from crossing out words and numbers to create a new sentence from two or more sentences. They could still cross out words within a sentence to change its meaning, remove individual digits to create new numbers or delete entire sentences from paragraphs.

Indeed, Madison lawyer Fred Wade, an expert on the veto, said lawmakers should have gone farther in trying to restrict the partial veto authority.

"This amendment simply doesn't do the job," he said. "I think it's ironic we voted on April Fool's Day. This is supposedly a proposal to eliminate the 'Frankenstein veto' and it doesn't do that."

Doyle, a Democrat, has used the power to reshape budgets to reflect his priorities since taking office in 2003. Among other things, Doyle increased aid for local communities and schools by hundreds of millions of dollars through such maneuvers, which critics called an abuse of power.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, called the referendum "a good step forward" that will restore the balance of power between the executive branch and the Legislature.

"Governors should have the ability to have a strong veto pen but when it got to a point where there were vetoes that were contradicting the wishes of the Legislature, that's where you began to see some concerns about abuses taking place," he said. "I'm glad the people passed this."

Rick Reyer, a 47-year-old radio station manager in Wausau, was among those who ratified the change.

"I don't believe the governor should have the authority to change bills or laws that have been put into place based upon a whim," he said.

Lawmakers pushed for the amendment in 2005 after they said Doyle overstepped by rewriting a section of the budget to divert millions of dollars of transportation money to schools.

He crossed out more than 700 words and stitched together others to create one new sentence allowing his administration to transfer $427 million out of the transportation fund. He cobbled together individual digits from five sets of numbers to come up with that figure, a maneuver he said saved public schools from harmful cuts.

In last year's budget, Doyle cobbled together digits from three sets of numbers to allow municipalities to raise property tax levies by 3.86 percent. Lawmakers had limited increases to 2 percent, but Doyle said that shortchanged police and fire services. His rewrite allowed property taxes to rise $45 million more than lawmakers wanted.

The Legislature passed the amendment in two straight sessions, setting up Tuesday's statewide vote. Constitutional amendments require approval in two sessions and from a majority of voters.

The amendment will go into effect when state officials certify the election results. Government Accountability Board spokesman Kyle Richmond said that must happen by May 15 but could come weeks earlier. The timing is important because lawmakers are currently considering a budget repair bill that Doyle could rewrite.

The amendment is the second in recent decades limiting the partial veto power as governors have increasingly used it in creative ways. In 1990, voters banned the so-called "Vanna White veto" after Gov. Tommy Thompson crossed out letters within words to create new ones.

Tuesday marks the 142nd time voters have agreed to amend the state constitution since its adoption in 1848. The last amendment, approved in November 2006, banned gay marriage and civil unions.

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