Extraordinary Session Update: Legislature Approves Critical Reforms
Legislature approves administrative rulemaking reforms, tax reform; maintains DPI oversight
The extraordinary session began in both the Assembly and Senate yesterday and was still going on while most Wisconsinites were eating breakfast this morning. A lot of changes were made, and in the end a grand total of three bills were passed. Yesterday, WILL released an analysis of some of the good and some of the bad things in the original bills. Here’s where those matters stand today:
First, much of the administrative rulemaking reforms were approved, including all the key parts of the proposals that we wrote about yesterday: limits to agency deference, shining light upon guidance documents, and ending sue and settle. That’s great news, and those provisions will help ensure that government remains both transparent and accountable.
Second, the legislature kept in provisions to make sure all settlement money obtained by DOJ are deposited into the general fund, and maintained provisions that would put certain waivers into statute to ensure their effectiveness going forward. Although they did limit some legislative oversight requirements that were put in place, what ultimately passed still includes some significant checks on executive power.
Third, voter I.D. regulations were put in statute, ensuring that those provisions will continue to be enforced during future elections.
Fourth, the legislature maintained key provisions that corrected the legal authority issues for implementing the online sales tax regulations. As we wrote yesterday, the original regulations were on shaky legal ground – and the legislature decisively fixed those legal issues yesterday. Kudos to those legislators for heeding our advice and including that fix as one of the very few tax reform provisions in the extraordinary session.
With regard to some of the “bad” provisions that we pointed out – the legislature took note and fixed some of those issues as well. The provisions exempting the Department of Public Instruction from certain rulemaking oversight and transparency requirements were removed, which is great news and helps ensure that all agencies in state government play by the same rules. Also, the provisions allowing a single scope statement for emergency and permanent rules were removed.
All-in-all, the vast majority of the “good” provisions we wrote on made it through and most of the “bad” provisions were taken care of. This is welcome news and these reforms will prove beneficial as we continue our work to hold government accountable in the years to come.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Lame Duck Laws
- Four Years Later, State’s Lame Duck Law Still Faces Court Challenge - Shawn Johnson - Jan 17th, 2023
- Judge Rules Against Law Giving Legislators Power Over Attorney General Settlements - Shawn Johnson - May 11th, 2022
- State Supreme Court Dismisses AG’s Lame-Duck Lawsuit - Ruth Conniff - Mar 25th, 2021
- Kaul Sues Legislature Over Lame Duck Laws - Melanie Conklin - Nov 24th, 2020
- AG Kaul Announces Legal Action to Allow DOJ to Again Enforce Wisconsin Laws Without Unconstitutional Legislative Interference - Josh Kaul - Nov 23rd, 2020
- Vos Thinks Lame-Duck Session Didn’t Go Far Enough - Melanie Conklin - Jul 31st, 2020
- The State of Politics: Court Rulings Against Evers Sow Confusion - Steven Walters - Jul 20th, 2020
- Court Tosses Dems’ Lame-Duck Suit - Laurel White - Jul 16th, 2020
- Op Ed: State High Court Nullifies 2018 Election - James Rowen - Jul 12th, 2020
- WI Supreme Court Upholds GOP Lame-Duck Laws - Laurel White - Jul 9th, 2020
Read more about Lame Duck Laws here
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
WILL Wins Preliminary Injunction in Defense of 1st Amendment
Apr 7th, 2023 by Wisconsin Institute for Law & LibertyLawsuit is a part of WILL’s Preserving Democracy Project
WILL is supporting this effort to curb the will of the people. What’s left out above is incredible – that means un believable!
So WILL wants to go down with the Republican Party. The undermining of unions has limited the Democrats, now the Republican seem to want to destroy their future. Well, perhaps its time for a new party to rise from the ashes of our dysfunctional democracy.
Apparently law and liberty means we change the laws to make the voters irrelevant. So the aim is to convert Wisconsin into Hungary? Or Poland? Or Russia? Great work, fellows.