Supreme Court Decision Answers Some Questions; Raises More Questions
2011-06/15 Dean R. Dietrich                                                              Printer Friendly PDF Version

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled in a 4-3 decision that the decision of the Dane County Circuit Court is void thereby striking down the Court Order that prevented the publication of Wisconsin Act 10.  While the Court’s decision clarifies that Wisconsin Act 10 is not illegal based on the manner in which it was adopted, this decision does not answer all the questions about the changes to the Municipal Collective Bargaining Law. 

The most important question at this stage is when does Wisconsin Act 10 become effective.  The Secretary of State has stated that he will publish Wisconsin Act 10 in accordance with the normal publication procedures for making a new law effective.  We anticipate that WRS contributions will therefore become effective starting in the first full pay period after Wisconsin Act 10 is published.  There would not be any retro-active payments of retirement contributions.  The Governor’s Office/Department of Administration is looking at this question and we hope to get guidance in the next several days.  For now, the safest posture is to wait until Wisconsin Act 10 is fully published. 

There are several unanswered questions that may or may not be resolved in the Budget Bill.  They are:

• Whether the WRS contributions (and health insurance premium contributions in some cases) will apply to supervisory employees of police and fire departments?

• Whether the language of Section 111.70 will be amended again to provide Collective Bargaining rights to transit employees (and what is meant by transit employees)? 

• Whether the State Law will clarify that WRS contributions are to be made pre-tax when the contributions commence?

The above questions were intended to be addressed in the Budget Bill when the Legislature rewrote the Budget Bill to include the various provisions that were incorporated in Wisconsin Act 10.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision has resulted in the Legislature not going forward with a wholesale adoption of the changes embodied in Wisconsin Act 10.  We will have to see whether or not these additional questions will be addressed by adjustments to the Municipal Collective Bargaining Law and the Statutory language on retirement contributions.  We should know by the end of this week how these questions will be answered. 

Ruder Ware will continue to keep you advised about the developments in this area.  Please feel free to contact Dean Dietrich, the author of this article, or any of the attorneys in the Local Governments & Municipalities Focus Team, or the School Districts and Educational Institutions Focus Team of Ruder Ware: Steve Immel, Jeff Jones, Steve Lipowski, Randi Osberg, Ron Rutlin, Mary Ellen Schill, or Bryan Symes, if you have questions in regard to this update.

© 2011 Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. Accurate reproduction with acknowledgment granted. All rights reserved.
This document provides information of a general nature regarding legislative or other legal developments. None of the information contained herein is intended as legal advice or opinion relative to specific matters, facts, situations, or issues, and additional facts and information or future developments may affect the subjects addressed.