MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill Monday, that would have required Wisconsin to sign onto a nationwide expansion of private school vouchers that was passed as part of the "Big Beautiful Bill."

The governor said it would divert billions in funding from public schools. His veto message said, in part:

"The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ created the first major federal program to effectively redirect public funds to private school tuition through tax incentives. It is the first-ever federal effort to fund private school scholarships through vouchers the federal government will pay individuals in exchange for donating to organizations that award scholarships to attend private schools. The voucher program is designed to function similarly to how public funds are essentially being used to support private schools in more than a dozen states across the country. More specifically, this nationwide voucher program incentivizes individuals to donate as much as $1,700 toward organizations providing private school tuition scholarships in order to receive a generous tax benefit: deducting as much as $1,700 from their tax bill.

Put another way, the federal government is now going to use public funds that should be used for public schools to essentially reimburse donors for helping fund private schools instead."

Republican Representative Jessie Rodriguez slammed the move, calling it a "missed opportunity."  She said, in part:

"It was a rare chance to align fiscal responsibility and tax relief with better outcomes for kids."