He did it again. Gov. Jim Doyle unleashed another “Frankenstein” veto before signing the state budget Friday.

The effect will be tens of millions of dollars in higher property taxes for Wisconsin citizens this year.

Doyle had suggested he wouldn’t go crazy with outlandish vetoes this budget because he had been so involved in negotiating the final $57.2 billion spending plan that cleared both houses of the Legislature last week.

Doyle was somewhat restrained. None of his vetoes approached the audacity of two years ago. Back then, he sifted through more than 800 words and figures, lining out all but a few dozen that created a new sentence boosting a state aid program by hundreds of millions of dollars.

It was that veto two years ago that gave momentum to the long and difficult effort to ban the “Frankenstein” veto. The ban is now on the home stretch. And Doyle’s latest veto tricks only reinforce the need for action.

The Democratic-controlled state Senate needs to quickly adopt Assembly Joint Resolution 1. This constitutional amendment has already cleared the Assembly twice in consecutive legislative sessions, as required. The Senate approved AJR 1 last session but still needs to give its final OK this session. Then voters can have the final say in a statewide referendum next year.

A Senate committee held a public hearing on AJR 1 in June, and members say they are prepared to advance it to the full Senate.

That means freshly-minted Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, is key to its success. If he believes the legislative branch should play a strong and equal role in state decisions, Decker needs to allow a vote and get this done.

Wisconsin governors, both Democrats and Republicans, deserve strong veto powers to remove pork and policy from state budgets. But they shouldn’t be allowed to unilaterally create laws from scratch that the Legislature never approved or even imagined.

Doyle made a couple of “Frankenstein” vetoes Friday. The most significant one nearly doubled the allowable increase in municipal property tax levies to 3.86 percent.

Doyle and his union and municipal buddies are celebrating this because they foolishly believe the ends justify the means. They want municipal governments to have more money to spend, so they’re happy.

But when you undermine the role of the Legislature and give excessive power to the state’s chief executive, you better get ready to be hurt as much as you are helped.

A future governor could just as easily punish municipalities and unions using the same cut-and-paste veto maneuver.

That’s why so many sensible lawmakers, led by Sens. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, are trying so hard to push AJR 1 through the finish line.

Doyle himself opposed the “Frankenstein” veto as a gubernatorial candidate. Then he won election and completely changed his position for short-term political advantage.

Wisconsin has suffered enough lame excuses and embarrassing hypocrisy from both major political parties on this issue. It’s time for Decker and the Democratic-run Senate to take the high road and approve this good-government reform for the benefit of all.

— Wisconsin State Journal