Is it a law or isn’t it a law?
The chaos continues in Madison today after Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi extended a temporary restraining order on Gov. Scott Walker’s bill to revoke collective bargaining rights on public employees Tuesday, declaring that the bill has not become law.
Sumi warned any state officials who proceed as if the law has been enacted risk legal sanctions and risk harming the state.
However, that warning from the judicial branch appears to be falling on deaf ears in the governor’s mansion and the legislature.
Walker, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon), Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch have all contended the bill became law after it was published by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
In doing so, Sumi, who was appointed to the bench by former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, said the Republicans either “ignored or misunderstood” her original restraining order, which prohibited Democratic Secretary of State Douglas La Follette from publishing the law. According to statutes, the Secretary of State must publish a bill in the newspaper of record (Wisconsin State Journal) before it becomes a law.
"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear," Sumi said.
Sumi also noted that the Republicans could avoid the costly delays and legal proceedings by reconvening the legislature and properly approving the bill. Republican sources said they will not re-introduce the bill, because they believe it was properly enacted the first time.
Other Republican sources fear that because of the pressures of the recall campaigns, they might not have the legislative support to approve the bill again, and they do not want to rile up the Democratic base again before the April 5 election.
The bill was pushed through abruptly on March 9 with a conference committee vote on a resolution after less than two hours of public notice.
The video of the conference committee’s vote was viewed as part of today’s testimony.
Walker contends the bill does not include items of fiscal impact. Lawsuits have been filed by labor unions that say the bill would have fiscal impact.
The political reactions about Sumi’s temporary restraining order range from defiance or deferral to support.
Jeff Fitzgerald said, “It’s disappointing that a Dane County judge wants to keep interjecting herself into the legislative process with no regard to the state constitution. Her action today again flies in the face of the separation of powers between the three branches of government. Despite this, we will continue to move forward in the legislature and do what the people elected us to do – put Wisconsin back to work. The Assembly will be back in session in early April and we will bring forward legislation to create jobs and reform state government.”
The Dane County Republican Party said, “For those people that don’t know, the state of Wisconsin has an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The executive branch has the job of carrying out the laws and setting the agenda for his administration. The legislative branch has the job of passing laws. And the judicial branch has the job of interpreting and applying the laws and ensuring their constitutionality. By Judge Sumi’s action today, it is apparent that she has forgotten those roles and she thinks that her job is to be a member of all three branches. The Republican Party of Dane County believes it is time for the judicial branch to stop being judicial activists. If they want to legislate the laws, they need to run for political office not judicial office.”
The Dane County Republican Party followed up today with this statement, saying it wanted to "apologize" for not understanding Sumi’s point of view:
The Republican Party of Dane County sent out a press release on March 29th criticizing “Judge Maryann Sumi for holding up the publication of Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining reform bill. Upon further reflection we’d like to apologize for not understanding her point of view. Sure, Governor Walker’s bill is unquestionably constitutional, increases worker’s rights and helps local government balance budgets without having to fire public workers. The Wisconsin state legislature consulted with their non-partisan parliamentarian to make sure that the passage of the bill followed the rules of the Senate and Assembly. But this isn’t about the law, is it? The Republican Party of Dane County recognizes that Judge Sumi is a leftist living in Dane County. Her friends are leftists living in Dane County. Her son is a left wing activist in Dane County. She goes to cocktail parties held by leftists in Dane County. She shops at organic gourmet food shops run by leftists living in Dane County. If she were to enforce the law of Wisconsin and do what was in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin, she’d be exiled from her lifestyle. She’d lose her friends! The leadership of the Republican Party of Dane County have all made the choice to stand against the Dane County elite. We accept that Left feels righteous vandalizing our homes and keying our cars. It’s only fair. We disagree based upon logic and principle. That is intolerable! We prioritize the Constitution and the well being of the people of Wisconsin over foie gras at cocktail parties. That’s the choice we made. We respect Judge Sumi’s decision to live her life with the rich diversity that liberals cherish.”
Huebsch said, "The Department of Administration is still evaluating the judge’s order. We will continue to confer with our legal counsel and have more information about how to move forward in the near future."
The Department of Justice said, "As we told the Court, we have serious concerns about the court’s decision to continue these proceedings under the current set of circumstances. We’ll take the time between now and the next scheduled hearing to decide what our best options are to protect the State’s interests, as is the Department of Justice’s statutory duty."
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said, “Judge Sumi’s order is a clear rebuke of the lawless reign of Scott Walker. He and his Republican lapdogs have behaved as laws unto themselves in their union-busting state-rending power grab. At the end of the day, the law will prevail and the Constitution will endure against all the insult this crew has committed to the rule of law.”
Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, said, “Gov. Walker seems to think he’s a dictator who can ignore the laws of Wisconsin or trample of the rights of our workers in pursuit of his extreme overreach for absolute power. By attempting to unilaterally publish a bill and implement it as law in the face of a court order to the contrary shows Walker and his cronies completely unfit to govern the state of Wisconsin.”
Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, said, “Wisconsin working families hope that Scott Walker and his Republican allies in the legislature will finally begin to respect our state’s judicial process and reverse any damage they’ve done to the working families of our state. Wisconsinites expect their Governor and his administration to follow the law, and the fact that’s even up for debate shows their actions to be completely reprehensible.”
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.
