Continued Litigation Regarding 2018 "Lame-Duck" Session Laws

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025 -- 12:00 PM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) Shortly after Wisconsin Democrats swept statewide races in 2018, Republican lawmakers stripped powers from the incoming governor and attorney general in a “lame-duck” session.

According to Rich Kremer with the Wisconsin Public Radio, six years later, a lawsuit challenging the GOP legislation continues and could soon be heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Weeks before leaving office, former Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed three fast-tracked bills into law in December 2018. One of the changes required incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul to get permission from the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee before filing civil suits on behalf of the state.

It also gave the committee the final say over how to spend funds from state settlements. The lame-duck laws have been litigated for years. Republicans have contended the law regarding settlements gave lawmakers “a seat at the table” in negotiations.

Kaul has argued the Legislature “gave itself a throne.” The ensuing standoff between Kaul and GOP lawmakers left multiple lawsuits in limbo. In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s former conservative majority sided with Republicans when it found “in at least some cases” the Legislature can give itself the power to approve or reject civil cases prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Things have changed since then. The Supreme Court now has a 4-3 liberal majority and Kaul is asking justices to decide whether the committee’s ability to approve or reject any DOJ civil cases or settlements is constitutional. 

Kaul argues a 6-1 Supreme Court decision in July finding the finance committee violated the state constitution by blocking Evers from spending conservation funds already approved by the Legislature is “not meaningfully distinguishable” from the issues in his own lame-duck case.

He further contends the court “did not bless the constitutionality” of the lame-duck law in 2020, and lower courts have erred by citing it when ruling against him.

The Legislature has also sued Kaul, arguing the DOJ has unlawfully been depositing settlement funds into an account he controls rather than the state’s general fund.

On Dec. 18, Wisconsin’s Second District Court of Appeals ruled against Kaul in a 2-1 decision. Kaul has since appealed that decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and has claimed the lame-duck laws haven’t had any positive impact on the state.

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