Evers vetoes bills banning critical race theory, extending teen work hours

(AP) - Gov. Tony Evers signed fourteen bills into law Friday, including one that would make vaccine tampering a felony, but also reached for his veto pen for four others, including one targeting the teaching of critical race theory and another that would have let teens work later hours.

That bill, AB411, would prohibit Wisconsin public schools from teaching students and training employees about concepts such as systemic racism and implicit bias. Evers, a former state superintendent, described the bill as “creating new censorship rules” preventing schools from including important facts about subjects such as the Civil War and civil rights.

“Our kids deserve to learn in an atmosphere conducive to learning without being subjected to state legislative encroachment that is neither needed or warranted,” he continued.

The measure passed the Assembly in September on a party line vote and nearly the same way in the Senate last week, with only Sen. Howard Marklein voting against it. The proposal follows a national trend of Republican-controlled legislatures moving to thwart certain ideas they associate with “critical race theory.”

Neither bill passed by enough votes to override Evers’ veto.

Another bill that met Evers veto pen would have allowed teenagers to work longer hours during the busy summer tourism months.

The measure, which was opposed by unions, had the support of Republicans and the state’s hotel, restaurant, and grocery industries. Democrats and the Wisconsin AFL-CIO opposed it.

Current law does not allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work later than 7 p.m. from after Labor Day until May 31 and no later than 9 p.m. over the summer.

The bill would have permitted employees under age 16 to work until 11 p.m. when they don’t have school the next day.

Evers did sign into law a bill making it a felony to intentionally damage vaccines.

The Legislature passed the measure last month and Evers signed it Friday. The new law came in response to a pharmacist in a Milwaukee suburb spoiling more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in January 2021.

The new law makes it a Class I felony to intentionally make a vaccine unsafe, tainted, spoiled, ineffective, or otherwise unusable.

That is punishable by up to 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

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