Behind closed doors, Republican legislators voted Thursday to hire two law firms that will aid the state government’s appeal to a recent federal ruling that said current GOP-drawn legislative districts are unconstitutional.
The Assembly and Senate Organization Committee voted to hire Kirkland and Ellis, based in Chicago, and Bell Giftos St. John, based in Madison.
Last week, a three-panel judge ruled that Republican lawmakers must redraw district boundaries, first implemented when the GOP took control of both chambers in 2011, that suppress Democratic votes in time for the 2018 election.
The two law firms are expected to issue friends-of-the-court briefs and give Republican legislators a voice in the appeal. State Attorney General Brad Schimel will represent the state Election Commission.
It is still unknown how much the law firms will charge but partners at Kirkland and Ellis charge around $825 an hour, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Representatives didn't know how much it would cost to hire the firms at the time they vote or how much it will cost taxpayers to pay their fees. The those details will be worked out after the plan is ratified, Myranda Tanck, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Thursday.
The state has already spent over $2 million fighting a federal court ruling which was first issued in 2015.
Not all Republican lawmakers support this plan, however. Some see it as a waste of taxpayer money.
"As somebody who's argued for taxpayers over the years, I'd like to see a limitation," Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Allouez, said.
Democrats were also upset with the proposed votes. Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, who sits on the senate organization committee, released a statement, saying in part that “Republicans have already wasted too much time and taxpayer money trying to justify their unconstitutional election rigging efforts.”
The vote will occur behind closed doors since no notice of the meetings of committee meetings in either chambers was posted on the Legislature’s website. The only public notice of the Senate committee vote was on a bulletin board in a secluded Capitol hallway, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Assembly Minority Leader Representative Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, also released a statement decrying the Assembly committee’s lack of transparency.
“The Assembly Republicans have decided that instead of complying with the court’s decision and undergoing an honest, open process to redraw legislative maps, they are attempting to hire private attorneys to keep unconstitutional maps in place at the expense of taxpayers.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that partisan gerrymandering violates the Constitution, but no precise standard has been set for determining whether it has occurred. If heard by the Court, the Wisconsin case could set a precedent for state redistricting rules.
UPDATE: This story was updated to include additional information.
