Earlier this week, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a restraining order to stop publication of the Wisconsin law eliminating collective bargaining rights for public workers. Publication in the Wisconsin State Journal is normally the next step in implementation of a law. It must be published within 10 days of signing. The Journal is the "official state newspaper" for legislative purposes
Wisconsin Republicans have now claimed that publication in the Journal is a "ministerial act" and does not put the law into effect. They have had the Legislative Reference Bureau publish the law and even that organization does not claim that such publication is sufficient to put legislation into effect. Republican legislators claim that the law goes into effect today.
The Republican Majority in Wisconsin’s legislative bodies seems to have decided that the Judicial Branch has no power over them. We will be watching today’s developments closely.
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