Currently viewing the tag: “Bargaining”
(Jonathan H. Adler)
Yesterday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi held that the controversial state legislation curbing public employee collective bargaining rights has not taken effect despite its publication by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Journal-Sentinel reports. In a brief order, Judge Sumi declared:
Based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29, 2011, evidentiary hearing, it is hereby DECLARED that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published within the meaning of (state statutes), and is therefore not in effect.
According to the Journal-Sentinel report, the Governor’s office opposes the decision but will comply.
Walker and his aides said the administration had put the law on hold for now.“The bottom line is we’re going to comply with the court order with our hope that once this is all sorted out we’ll see the law is in effect,” Walker told reporters during a stop at HOPE Christian School: Prima in Milwaukee.
He said Thursday’s decision was the first time the judge had clearly put in writing that the law applied to the administration.
The state Department of Justice expects issues raised in the case will ultimately be decided by a higher court, said a statement from department spokesman Bill Cosh.
“Today’s order is issued over our objections, and we do not believe that it is proper,” he said.
Marquette law professor Rick Esenberg has further comments here.
There is another hearing this morning to consider an injunction against the law.
(Jonathan H. Adler)
Yesterday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi held that the controversial state legislation curbing public employee collective bargaining rights has not taken effect despite its publication by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Journal-Sentinel reports. In a brief order, Judge Sumi declared:
Based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29, 2011, evidentiary hearing, it is hereby DECLARED that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published within the meaning of (state statutes), and is therefore not in effect.
According to the Journal-Sentinel report, the Governor’s office opposes the decision but will comply.
Walker and his aides said the administration had put the law on hold for now.“The bottom line is we’re going to comply with the court order with our hope that once this is all sorted out we’ll see the law is in effect,” Walker told reporters during a stop at HOPE Christian School: Prima in Milwaukee.
He said Thursday’s decision was the first time the judge had clearly put in writing that the law applied to the administration.
The state Department of Justice expects issues raised in the case will ultimately be decided by a higher court, said a statement from department spokesman Bill Cosh.
“Today’s order is issued over our objections, and we do not believe that it is proper,” he said.
Marquette law professor Rick Esenberg has further comments here.
There is another hearing this morning to consider an injunction against the law.
Governor John Kasich is one who is not afraid to tackle on the issues to turn his state around.
After revising the original ruling for the third time, a Wisconsin Judge ruled that Governor Scott Walker’s law should
This time, the judge warned that any officials who violate it, will face sanctions.
Wisconsin state judge Maryann Sumi has ruled that the state’s hotly contested collective bargaining law is not in effect and cannot be implemented:
Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law has not been published and is not in effect, a judge has ordered.
Judge Maryann Sumi ordered Thursday morning that the law “has not been published within the meaning” of Wisconsin law and “is therefore not in effect.”
A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker had no immediate comment, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, could not be reached immediately for comment.
But Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, repeated his previous statements that the judge “wants to keep interjecting herself into the legislative process with no regard to the state constitution.”
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Administration could not be reached immediately for comment.
Something tells me this isn’t quite over yet.
Wisconsin state judge Maryann Sumi has ruled that the state’s hotly contested collective bargaining law is not in effect and cannot be implemented:
Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law has not been published and is not in effect, a judge has ordered.
Judge Maryann Sumi ordered Thursday morning that the law “has not been published within the meaning” of Wisconsin law and “is therefore not in effect.”
A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker had no immediate comment, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, could not be reached immediately for comment.
But Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, repeated his previous statements that the judge “wants to keep interjecting herself into the legislative process with no regard to the state constitution.”
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Administration could not be reached immediately for comment.
Something tells me this isn’t quite over yet.
Governor John Kasich received a huge win for his government union reform bill last night.
Governor John Kasich received a huge win for his government union reform bill last night.
There’s an election in Wisconsin on Tuesday that could end up deciding the fate of the state’s controversial collective bargaining law:
Scott Walker’s anti-union team could suffer a big defeat in Wisconsin’s April 5 Supreme Court election. If Dem-backed JoAnne Kloppenburg defeats Republican David Prosser, she could lead a 4-3 majority to overturn Walker’s anti-union law. (Kloppenburg has telegraphed as much, saying ”The events of the last few weeks have put into sharp relief how important the Supreme Court is as a check on overreach in the other branches of government.”) Worse, a Prosser loss will be played up in the national press as a voter repudiation of Walker and his agenda-a turning of the tide, second Tunisia, Spring Awakening, etc. The left is already gloating over private polls that show the race close-not good news for an incumbent in a low-turnout election. … What’s more, it looks as if the left has the money advantage, in part because Prosser opted for public financing.
Wisconsin conservative talk radio host Charlie Sykes agrees:
I think it will be close: the left is engaged and enraged. We conservatives are engaged. Don’t know about the independents. This is a traditionally very low turnout election and if the unions turn out their troops, there might be enough votes to flip the court. But no one on our side is complacent about this. We understand that, as you say, it is for all the marbles.
This will turn on how the race is defined: if voters decide based on credentials: Prosser wins; if they see it as a choice between a liberal and a conservative judge, Prosser wins; if it turns on who is tough on crime, Prosser wins.
But, if it is seen as a referendum on Walker or the union bill, Kloppenburg has a very real shot.
This in a state where a sitting State Supreme Court Justice losing a re-election bid is nearly as rare as Halley’s Comet. This in a state that just 4 months ago (feels like years) voted overwhelmingly for Republican rule.
The left seems to have been paying more attention to this race than the right, and a defeat for Prosser her will undoubtedly energize them.
(CNN) – State workers and others planned to rally at the New Hampshire capitol Thursday after the state House approved a package that would make changes to collective bargaining laws.
“Rally for New Hampshire” is scheduled for noon at the State House Plaza.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his Administration are setting themselves up for a showdown with the state’s judiciary with their decision to implement the provisions of the recently passed collective bargaining law despite the fact that a state trial court judge has ordered that it not be implemented:
State officials have not stopped putting in place changes to collective bargaining rules for public employees despite a judge’s order barring the law’s implementation — and a threat of sanctions against anyone who violates it.
Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said Wednesday he has a legal obligation to implement all laws passed by the Legislature, signed by Gov. Scott Walker and published into law. Huebsch said the Department of Justice and his own legal counsel, a team of DOA attorneys, agree the measure has met those requirements “and is now effective law.”
“It is my duty to administer that law,” he said.
Huebsch’s latest comments raise questions about whether he or others could face sanctions following a hearing Tuesday, when Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi said any further implementation of the law is prohibited under a temporary court order.
“Now that I’ve made my earlier order as clear as it possibly can be, I must state that those who act in open and willful defiance of the court order place not only themselves at peril of sanctions, they also jeopardize the financial and the governmental stability of the state of Wisconsin,” Sumi said Tuesday.
(…)
Huebsch said the legal effect of Sumi’s order on his ability to implement the law is “unclear.” Changes under the law were being implemented this week, but public employees won’t see them until their April 21 paychecks, with increases in health insurance premiums and retirement contributions, as well as a stop to automatic collection of union dues, Huebsch said Monday.
Huebsch pointed out that the DOA is not a party to the lawsuit and said Sumi’s order fails to state the law is not in effect. “It is unclear how she can issue an order binding non-parties to a case who have not had their day in court,” he said.
The letter of the injunction may give Huebsch some breathing room here, but it’s quite apparent that any further implementation of the law would violate the spirit of Judge Sumi’s ruling, and that she’s likely to look unkindly on any effort to implement the law in defiance of her order. This is likely to come up when Sumi holds another hearing in the case tomorrow, at which point she could end up expanding the scope of her injunction yet again, or sanctioning the Governor’s attorneys for violating her order.
It strikes me that Walker and the GOP are playing with fire here. Rather than trying to openly defy a Court Order, with the inevitable consequences that are likely to result, it would be far more appropriate for them to challenge the TRO through the appellate process, which they are in fact already doing. Acting in this manner carries with it the risk of being held in contempt, and as Allahpundit notes, that would only serve to hand a huge strategic victory to their opponents.
Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature passed legislation that would “curb the collective bargaining rights of about 350,000 state employees, and Gov. John Kasich (R) said he will sign it into law,” according to Reuters.
“Similar measures have spurred protests in Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan and other states. Ohio Democrats hope to put the new law on the ballot for a referendum vote in November in an effort to overturn it… While Wisconsin has gained more national attention, Ohio is far more important to unions. It has the sixth largest number of public sector union members among all the 50 U.S. states, twice the number of Wisconsin. With many auto and steel and manufacturing plants, Ohio is also a union bellwether.”
Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
Hmmm.
They’re not just blindly defying the order here. The argument, as it was last week when the Legislative Reference Bureau published the law, is that the TRO only names certain parties and therefore only those parties are enjoined by it. There’s no mention of the Department of Administration in the order, so hey — the […]
Hmmm.
They’re not just blindly defying the order here. The argument, as it was last week when the Legislative Reference Bureau published the law, is that the TRO only names certain parties and therefore only those parties are enjoined by it. There’s no mention of the Department of Administration in the order, so hey — the […]
