Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down Collective Bargaining Law Saying Republicans Broke Open Meetings Laws
It was perhaps the most scrutinized state-level legislation in the entire nation. The floor debates on the bill, the committee hearings on it, made not just statewide news, not just national news but international news.
When Democrat legislators chose to flee the state rather than do their job in the state legislature, Republicans used perfectly legal methods to bypass them since they were choosing to obstruct the process with their lack of presence.
But now a judge has struck down the law, saying it wasn’t passed in accordance with state transparency laws.
A Wisconsin judge has struck down a law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public sector workers.
Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled Thursday that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law during the run-up to passage. She said that rendered the law void.
Ridiculous. The process, given the media scrutiny, couldn’t possibly have been more transparent. What Sumi is ruling, essentially, is that the opposition party can essentially force the state to grind to a halt simply by choosing not to show up when they know they don’t have the votes to win.
Is this really how we want the political process to work?
Tags: unions, wisconsin
