http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/assembly-wi-robin-vos-s450.jpgGovernor asks a court to intervene after Wisconsin State Legislature tries to defy Wisconsin’s highest court.

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced he is formally seeking a court order to require the Republican-led Wisconsin State Legislature to follow Wisconsin state law and comply with recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions regarding the administrative rulemaking process.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a landmark decision earlier this year in Evers v. Marklein (“Evers II”), held that the Wisconsin State Legislature had unconstitutionally overstepped its power by attempting to legislatively veto the administrative rulemaking process and indefinitely obstructing rules from going into effect. The Wisconsin Supreme Court deemed several statutes to be unconstitutional for allowing legislative committees to block state executive agencies from promulgating final administrative rules approved by the governor.

Consistent with the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Evers II, Gov. Evers last month directed Wisconsin state agencies to submit rules that had made it through the relevant part of the process to the Legislative Reference Bureau for finalization and publication. In total, the Evers Administration submitted 12 administrative rules for publication that had received the governor’s approval. However, despite Evers II, the Republican majority on the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization directed the Legislative Reference Bureau not to publish nine of those rules, again essentially blocking the rules from taking effect even though the governor has approved them.

Gov. Evers’ lawsuit argues the Wisconsin State Legislature—which was already determined by the state’s highest court in Evers II to have unconstitutionally obstructed the Evers Administration from promulgating rules—is continuing its attempts to legislatively veto administrative rules. The governor’s lawsuit seeks both a declaration confirming and an injunction ordering that the Legislative Reference Bureau must publish the nine rules the Evers Administration has already submitted and all administrative rules that have completed all preceding rulemaking procedures and been approved by the governor. A copy of the governor’s lawsuit filing is available here.

“The Legislature cannot continue to indefinitely obstruct my administration from doing the people’s work—and the Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees, but Republican lawmakers are continuing their unlawful behavior anyway. At the end of the day, this lawsuit is about following the law and making sure there’s accountability for elected officials if they fail to do so. It shouldn’t take going to court to get Republican lawmakers to comply with state law and Supreme Court decisions, but it seems like that’s what it’s going to take, unfortunately,” said Gov. Evers. “Elected officials have to follow the law just like everyone else, folks. It’s pretty simple stuff.”