Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker spoke out after a county judge in Madison struck down major parts of a 2011 law geared toward public employee unions.
Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled that the provisions of a law known as Act 10, which selectively exempt certain public workers from its restrictions on unionization and collective bargaining, are unconstitutional. The controversial law sought to close a budget deficit by limiting collective bargaining, thereby moderating public workers' benefits that Walker said at the time helped solve a fiscal situation he was required to address.
The original passage in 2011 led to weekslong protests inside the state Capitol, and even saw legislative Democrats flee to neighboring Illinois to prevent Republicans from reaching a quorum to vote on it. Walker later survived a 2012 recall election over the law's passage and rode his success into a decent showing in the 2016 presidential race, where he eventually bowed out of the primary that ultimately went to Donald Trump.
"And what this court decision did as brazen political action was to throw that out and put power back in the hands of those union bosses,"
he said in an interview, calling collective bargaining not a right but an "expensive entitlement."
Asked about Frost's assertion that disparate treatment of collective bargaining rights of certain "public safety" workers and other public workers was unconstitutional, Walker said it was a "bogus political argument."
Frost stripped more than 60 sections of the law from the books.
"It's all the more reason why the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin this spring (2025) is more important than ever,"
he said.
Walker went on to discuss the roots of Act 10, and how it was his way of abiding by Wisconsin's balanced-budget requirement. He noted the original name was the "Budget Repair Act" and that a prior Democratic administration instead chose to cut funding for municipalities, which instead resulted in layoffs.
"Instead of risking job loss or Medicare cuts,"Walker opted to require public workers to contribute more to their entitlements in return for keeping their pensions solvent.
In addition, Wisconsin Senate President Chris Kapenga echoed Walker's claim that partisan politics played a role in the ruling:
"[I]t's proof there is very little justice left in our justice system. Wisconsin's legislature should be discussing impeachment, as we are the only check on their power,"
said Kapenga, R-Oconomowoc.
"Believing Dane County judges and the liberal majority in our state Supreme Court are independent jurists is almost as far-fetched as believing the border is secure, inflation's not a problem..."
The left keeps telling us...
"Four years ago...