A Dane County Circuit Court judge Tuesday reinforced her previous order prohibiting the publication of the governor’s bill that would curtail collective bargaining rights for public unions and said those who continue to implement the law could face sanctions.
Judge Maryann Sumi heard testimony in a case filed last week by the Dane County district attorney alleging Republicans violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law by providing less than one hour of notification of a conference committee meeting wherein fiscal items were taken out of the budget repair bill so the Senate could pass the legislation without quorum.
Sumi placed a temporary restraining order on the secretary of state last week that made it illegal for him to publish the law and said after a hearing Tuesday the order was still in effect. However, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration believed the bill had become law after the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau published the bill online Friday after being encouraged by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.
Sumi chose not to rule whether the LRB’s actions made the bill law but said she wanted to make her original order “crystal clear” to avoid any further confusion.
“[The order] languge was misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was that the further implementation of 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 was enjoined,” Sumi said, adding later, “those who act in willful and open defiance of a court order place not only themselves at peril of sanctions but jeopardize the financial and governmental stability of the state of Wisconsin.”
Although she did not mention who her comments were directed at, the Department of Administration’s payroll office began preparing to implement the changes to contributions in health insurance and pensions, as well as dues public employees pay to unions, since the LRB published the bill, DOA spokesperson Carla Vigue said in an email. The changes would go into effect beginning with the March 27 to April 10 pay period.
DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch said in a statement released after Sumi’s Tuesday ruling that the DOA would continue to confer with its legal counsel about how to proceed but did not comment further.
None of the four original Republican defendants named in the lawsuit appeared in court, but their Department of Justice appointed legal counsel said the defendants had legislative immunity. Defendant Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said he thought the judge was overstepping her limits.
“It’s disappointing that a Dane County judge wants to keep interjecting herself into the legislative process with no regard to the state constitution,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Her action today again flies in the face of the separation of powers between the three branches of the government.”
Sumi’s ruling came after a full day of testimony from staff within the Legislative Reference Bureau who testified about their agencies’ publication of the bill. Legislative Fiscal Bureau Director Robert Lang detailed for the court his actions in the days before the conference committee was held March 9.
Because of conflicting interests between Secretary of State Doug La Follette and the Department of Justice lawyers appointed to represent him, La Follette was provided special counsel, first by Walker-recommended lawyers from Michael Best and Friedrich, before switching again to his personal lawyer Roger Sage.
