Redistricting Consultants Hired by the State Submit $128,000 Bill

Wednesday, February 28th, 2024 -- 1:00 PM

(AP) Redistricting consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court have submitted a $128,000 bill for the work they did reviewing proposed new legislative maps, with about half of it likely to be paid by taxpayers.

The court hired a pair of redistricting consultants to review maps submitted by Republicans and Democrats after it tossed out the existing Republican-drawn maps as unconstitutional.

After the consultants determined that the Republican submissions were partisan gerrymanders, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

He signed them into law last week, seemingly ending the court fight and giving Democrats a path to possibly gaining majority control of the Legislature after more than a decade in the minority.

The consultants submitted their bill to the court on Sunday. The costs will be paid by the parties in the case, which included six groups that submitted proposed maps. Three of those groups were funded by private attorneys and three others, Republican lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers and Evers, are funded by taxpayers.

However, there were other parties involved in the litigation and the court will ultimately determine how many will share in the costs. The bulk of the charges come from the two main consultants hired at $450 an hour.

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