UPDATE: 9:07 pm-jsonline:
UPdate: 7:14-From Rep. Peter Barca:
“In conversations this evening with Legislative Council attorneys, I was informed that it is their opinion, as well as the opinion of the Legislative Reference Bureau director, that Act 10 will not take effect based on the actions taken by the Legislative Reference Bureau late this afternoon.
“This bill has been under a cloud of suspicion since day one. Today’s actions and statements are only perpetuating the problem. The people of Wisconsin expected that because of the court injunction, Act 10 will not be able to take effect.
“Official publication by the Secretary of State is required for this act to go into effect. The Secretary of State, the only Constitutional officer with the power to publish law, is prohibited by court order from publishing this Act.
“I can only hope that the confusion resulting from today’s actions and comments does not harm the many communities and people who will be impacted if this does becomes law. The statements by the administration and legislative leaders only add to the confusion. We can only hope that their misstatements were not intentional or malicious.”
UPDATE: From the "Dept. of Justice:"
JSOnline: A controversial bill limiting collective bargaining for public workers has been officially published despite a temporary restraining order barring its publication by one state official.
Laws normally take effect a day after they are published, and a top GOP lawmaker said that meant it will become law Saturday. But the nonpartisan legislative official who published the law disagreed.
"I think this is a ministerial act that forwards it to the secretary of state," said Stephen Miller, director of the Legislative Reference Bureau. "I don't think this act makes it become effective. My understanding is that the secretary of state has to publish it in the (official state) newspaper for it to become effective."
The law has not been printed in the Wisconsin State Journal, the official state newspaper, as other laws are. Late Friday, State Journal publisher Bill Johnston said in an email that the notice for the law had been scheduled to run but had been canceled. He did not elaborate.
But here's what loose cannon Scott Fitzgerald thought about all these silly laws:
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) claimed it didn't matter that it hasn't appeared in the paper.
"It's published," Fitzgerald said. "It's law. That's what I contend."
UPdate: 7:14-From Rep. Peter Barca:
“In conversations this evening with Legislative Council attorneys, I was informed that it is their opinion, as well as the opinion of the Legislative Reference Bureau director, that Act 10 will not take effect based on the actions taken by the Legislative Reference Bureau late this afternoon.
“This bill has been under a cloud of suspicion since day one. Today’s actions and statements are only perpetuating the problem. The people of Wisconsin expected that because of the court injunction, Act 10 will not be able to take effect.
“Official publication by the Secretary of State is required for this act to go into effect. The Secretary of State, the only Constitutional officer with the power to publish law, is prohibited by court order from publishing this Act.
“I can only hope that the confusion resulting from today’s actions and comments does not harm the many communities and people who will be impacted if this does becomes law. The statements by the administration and legislative leaders only add to the confusion. We can only hope that their misstatements were not intentional or malicious.”
UPDATE: From the "Dept. of Justice:"
The Wisconsin Department of Justice has received a number of inquiries relating to the publication of Act 10.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice learned this afternoon that the Legislative Reference Bureau published Act 10. As noted in the published act, section 35.095 imposes a mandatory, ministerial duty on the legislative reference bureau to "publish every act ... Within 10 working days of enactment." In the same statute, the date of enactment is defined as the approval of a bill by the governor. No action by the Secretary of State is required by this section for the legislative reference bureau to publish an Act. The Secretary of State did not direct the publication of Act 10 by the legislative reference bureau and he is not in violation of the TRO issued by the Dane County Circuit Court.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice will evaluate how the lawful publication of Act 10 affects pending litigation. We have no further comment at this time. We will keep you apprised of any further developments in the pending litigation.
JSOnline: A controversial bill limiting collective bargaining for public workers has been officially published despite a temporary restraining order barring its publication by one state official.
The legislation was published Friday with a footnote that acknowledges the restraining order, but says state law "requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to publish every act within 10 working days after its date of enactment."
Here's the TMJ4 TV coverage:
Here's the TMJ4 TV coverage:
The restraining order was issued against Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette, but the bill was published by the reference bureau. The reference bureau was not included in the temporary restraining order.
OK, I moved here from another state so I admit I am ignorant of the WI legislative process-and as far as I can tell so is everyone else, including the courts, the Secretary of State, a whole bunch of legislators, etc., although the GOP cabal seem to understand it well. How does a court say "no law", the Sec'y of State says "no law" and suddenly, without warning, there's the law??
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