The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Tuesday that Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill was passed constitutionally by the Senate, March 9, overruling Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi's permanent injunction against the bill's implementation, ordering it into effect.
Walker applauded the Supreme Court's ruling, saying it ""provides our state the opportunity to move forward together and focus on getting Wisconsin working again.""
Walker and other supporters of the budget repair bill, which was introduced into the state legislature in the middle of February, argued the bill would help balance the state budget and reduce the $3.6 billion deficit.
However, many labor rights supporters consisting largely of state workers, students and unions like the Teaching Assistants Association, interpreted the move as an attack on collective bargaining rights.
The 14 Democrat Senators who had fled to Illinois did so because 20 members of the Senate needed to be present to pass measures relating to the budget, and the 19 remaining Republican senators would not be allowed to hold a vote.
However, when the Senate passed the bill March 9 without the 14 Democrat Senators after the Joint Conference Committee took all budgetary matters out of the vote, demonstrators argued the way in which they passed the legislation was illegal and in violation of Open Meetings Law.
Sumi issued an injunction following the bill's passage deciding it violated Open Meetings Law. The decision was based on the findings that the Joint Conference Committee did not notify the public of the meeting 24 hours in advance, but rather around two hours beforehand.
In addition, Sumi found 20 seats were reserved for the public in the Senate Parlor insufficient for the amount of public interest in the matter.
However Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling voided Sumi's decision and supported the conclusion that the budget repair bill and the curbing of collective bargaining rights were passed constitutionally.
In a 70 page document, the Supreme Court, which voted 4-3 in favor of overriding Sumi's decision, justifies its position.
They found the Dane County Circuit Court did not consider the idea that thousands of protestors in the Capitol building could have impeded the members of the legislature from being able to carry out their duties. ""In the posting of notice that was done, the legislature relied on its interpretation of its own rules of proceeding,"" the Supreme Court's document read.
They also noted even though there were only 20 public seats available. WisconsinEye broadcasted every meeting live.
Justice David Prosser voted in favor of overruling the prior decision. He said the only purpose of the Open Meetings Law is to ""prevent state legislative business from being conducted in secret except in extremely limited circumstances.""
According to his interpretation, Open Meetings Law is not meant to establish requirements for governmental meetings-it should not dictate size or location of meeting rooms, apply to the executive or judicial branches, or allow Capitol access during non-business hours.
Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, lamented that Wisconsin's tradition of open government has gone backward because of the ruling.
""The majority of the Supreme Court is essentially saying that the legislature is above the law. It's now clear that unless the constitution is amended the legislature is free to ignore any laws on the books,"" Barca said in a statement.
