More good news from the Great White North
On Thursday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law by calling the meeting without a 24-hour notice. She said that renders the law void. She had put the law on hold while she considered the case.
Sumi said violating the open-meetings law betrays the public’s trust.
“The court must consider the potential damage to public trust and confidence in government if the Legislature is not held to the same rules of transparency that it has created for other governmental bodies,” she wrote in a 33-page decision. “Our form of government depends on citizens’ trust and confidence in the process by which our elected officials make laws, at all levels of government.”
As you may recall, Wisconsin Republicans violated the open-meetings law by springing a vote on Scott Walker's union-busting bill without allowing the required amount of time to pass between the announcement of the vote, and actually voting on it. The threat of having the law voided because of the violation has loomed for several months, and now that threat has come to fruition.
Wisconsin Republicans have claimed that they can simply vote on the bill again to pass it, but so far they haven't done so, leaving some to question whether or not they even have the votes to pass it again.
Three Wisconsin State Senate Republicans are currently facing recall elections, with another three set to follow in the coming weeks. Senators who are facing a potential recall may feel reluctant to vote on the bill again, and if the bill is not passed again before the senators facing recall are replaced, there won't be another chance for Scott Walker and his vile henchman, Scott Fitzgerald to see the realization of their union-busting fantasy.