Gov. Tony Evers sues GOP lawmakers over blocking UW System pay raises and conservation projects

MADISON – In a lawsuit that could upend how the state Legislature operates, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is suing Republican lawmakers over decisions to withhold pay raises for University of Wisconsin System employees and to block conservation projects, arguing such actions made by legislative committees rather than the full Legislature violate the state Constitution's separation of powers requirements.

The governor is asking the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up the legal challenge directly, bypassing lower courts, "due to its significant statewide importance as well as the 'exigent harms' caused by Republicans’ unconstitutional obstruction," according to the governor's office.

The petition, filed Tuesday by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, asks the state Supreme Court to invalidate state laws that empower legislative committees to effectively veto measures passed in state laws or budget plans.

A ruling in Evers' favor could have far-reaching impact, upending rules that have governed legislative committees for decades in some cases.

"When the Republicans decided that 35,000 people that work for UW System shouldn't get a raise, without having any legislation that gives them that authority, that's just bullshit," Evers told reporters on Tuesday at an event in Madison. "That was the defining vote right there."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican from Rochester who is named in the lawsuit, said if successful, Evers' lawsuit "is an attempt to eliminate the 4% raises given to all state employees by the legislature."

"In a time of unprecedented inflation brought on by reckless Democrat spending, we think it is abhorrent that the Governor would try and take away lawfully approved money for hardworking state employees," Vos said.

Evers told reporters he expects the lawsuit, if successful, to invalidate other decisions made by the committees targeted in the lawsuit — some of which have been controversial.

For example, the six Republican members of the Legislature's rules committee in March blocked Evers' administration from requiring seventh graders to get vaccinated against meningitis. In January, the same members voted to suspend a state rule that banned licensed Wisconsin counselors from engaging in a discredited practice of advising gay patients to change their sexual orientation.

In both cases, Evers was unable to approve or veto such action under state laws.

"Our state’s founders recognized the great danger of placing in the same hands the power both to create law and to execute it. So, our constitution — like all others nationwide — separated those powers between the legislative and executive branches," the petition to the court says. "But Wisconsin’s state government has wandered far astray from that foundational division of authority."

Evers said he decided to launch the lawsuit after Republican lawmakers in mid-October approved pay raises for all state employees except those working for public universities.

That was despite the GOP-controlled Legislature and Evers already passing in the state budget 6% pay raises for about 35,000 University of Wisconsin System employees over the next two years.

The salary changes required approval from a state legislative committee on employee relations, of which Vos is the co-leader. Vos has refused to approve the raises until UW campuses dismantle diversity initiatives on campus.

UW System President Jay Rothman said the withholding of raises was "unprecedented." Employees have received small raises in recent years that haven't kept up with rising inflation.

"That's illegal. You can't do that," Evers said of the decision by Vos and other leaders to punt on implementing the salary increases.

Aides to Republican chairmen of committees targeted by Evers' lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is filed against Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Mark Born, who oversee the Joint Committee on Finance, Sen. Chris Kapenga and Vos, who lead the Joint Committee on Employee Relations, and Sen. Steve Nass and Rep. Adam Neylon, who are chairs of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules.

Born and Marklein declined to comment when asked for their thoughts by reporters following a Joint Committee on Finance meeting.

Marklein is opposed to withholding raises for UW staff. On Tuesday, he told reporters he still wants those pay increases to go through.

Lawsuit also cites blocking Knowles-Nelson Stewardship projects

The lawsuit also aims to prevent the Legislature from outright blocking projects proposed under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship land conservation program.

Over the last several years, Republican members of the powerful Joint Finance Committee have blocked a number of popular projects, then refused to hold public meetings informing applicants why funding was denied. Members of the committee are permitted to anonymously object to a project, without any requirements for public disclosure.

Some of the projects rejected in recent years include the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs outside Port Washington, on the shores of Lake Michigan. The project was ultimately funded Evers, using $2.3 million of federal COVID money, eliminating the need for stewardship money.

More recently, the committee objected to the purchase of conservation easements on tens of thousands of acres in northern Wisconsin that would have ensured public access to the Pelican River Forest in perpetuity. The Department of Natural Resources sought about $15.5 million for the purchase. The project was objected to last year due to concerns by some local municipalities, but despite ongoing negotiations, the finance committee has refused to take up the project during an open meeting.

The program is named after former Govs. Warren Knowles, a Republican, and Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat, who had strong conservation records when Wisconsin emerged as a leader in environmentalism during the 1960s. It has aided the state in conserving thousands of acres. It’s been largely popular with Wisconsinites, conserving thousands of acres across the state.

The lawsuit argues the committees' veto actions "evade the constitutional lawmaking procedures of bicameralism — passage of a bill through both houses — and presentment to the Governor for signature or veto."

Laura Schulte and Kelly Meyerhofer of the Journal Sentinel contributed.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Tony Evers sues GOP lawmakers over blocking UW pay raises