It’s been almost two years since Governor Jim Doyle brought the “Frankenstein veto” to life, but it might only be a matter of months before we can put this monster to rest once and for all.

The governor’s veto power has been an unlikely (and I’m sure unwelcome) spotlight this year for Doyle, garnering significant attention from citizens and the media alike. At issue is the most powerful veto pen in the nation, one that allows the governor to cross out words, phrases and numbers to create completely new sentences, even if the parts themselves have no relation to each other.

The governor basically has the ability to piece together whatever sentence he chooses, as long as the parts he needs are somewhere in the bill. Frankenstein, indeed.

In years past, the veto has been used by Wisconsin governors to hold the line on state spending and protect the public from new taxes. Unfortunately, the opposite has been the case in the past two budgets.

In the 2005-07 budget, Doyle used the veto pen to erase 752 words to create a single 20-word sentence, taking more than $400 million of registration fees and gas taxes from the transportation fund and directing his top appointee to spend it on his priorities instead.

This year, the governor “frankenstein’ed” the Property Tax Freeze, changing the cap on local government spending from 2 percent to 3.86 percent.

Since the 2005 veto, members of both sides of the aisle set out to put an end to this excessive power. However, because it was granted with a constitutional amendment in 1930, it will require another amendment to make a change.

That process takes time, but thankfully we’re nearing the finish line. A constitutional amendment in Wisconsin requires passage in both houses in two consecutive sessions, which was recently fulfilled with a unanimous vote in the state Senate. The final step will be on April 1, 2008, when the measure goes on a statewide ballot to get a final yes-or-no from Wisconsin voters.

Many of you will remember a similar vote in 1990, when voters approved an amendment to prohibit the governor from vetoing individual letters to create new words, known at the time as the “Vanna White veto.”

But the issue is much deeper than clever names and slogans. The fact that Doyle has taken the veto into uncharted territory — 2005’s action was the first time in state history that the veto was used to increase spending — puts our state at a real risk of the governor having a clear way to put his own special interests above the will of the Legislature with nothing more than the stroke of a pen.

But on April 1, Wisconsin voters have the opportunity to set things right. By voting down this veto power, we can make it clear that “Frankenstein” has no business in our state, and that the governor won’t be able to make last-minute, one-person changes to how our tax dollars are spent.

The pen in the governor’s pocket might be the most powerful in the country, but it’s got nothing on the one in the voting booth.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, represents the 94th District.