Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Act 10 has been overturned. Here’s what to know about the controversial law.

Published

1 year ago

December 2, 2024

Wisconsin’s Act 10 has been overturned. Here’s what to know about the controversial law.

Collective bargaining rights of public employees in Wisconsin were restored Monday in a ruling by Dane County Judge Jacob Frost.

Public employee unions largely lost their ability to collectively bargain in 2011 with the passage of Act 10.

Here’s a look back at the origins of Act 10 — and the possibility of Frost’s ruling being challenged and ending up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court:

What is Act 10?

Shortly after being elected governor in November 2010, Scott Walker introduced what would become his signature piece of legislation, essentially ending collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in Wisconsin.

Act 10 ended the ability of most public-sector unions to negotiate over any issues other than raises, and those raises were capped at the rate of inflation. In addition, unions were required to hold annual elections to maintain their ability to negotiate for those raises. For those elections, they must win a majority of all eligible members, not just those who cast votes.

The measure cut public workers’ paychecks and siphoned off most of the strength of their unions.

Public workers earning $50,000 a year saw their take-home pay shrink by about 8.5% because they had to pay more for their benefits, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau at the time.

How much money did Act 10 save taxpayers?

PolitiFact Wisconsin previously checked Walker’s claim that Act 10 has “saved the taxpayers some $3 billion.” We rated that quote, from summer 2014, Mostly True.

At that point, there had been about $2.35 billion in savings associated with retirement and about $682 million associated with health insurance — though that incomplete number leaves out municipalities.

When public employee unions launched the lawsuit last November, Republican lawmakers cited an estimate that Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $16.8 billion.

PolitiFact Wisconsin investigated that claim and found that number came from the MacIver Institute, a conservative think tank. That number fell in line with previous reports and studies from other groups, though little research has been conducted on the subject in the past two years.

And as previously noted, the costs didn’t simply disappear. Rather, they were transferred from other taxpayers to public employees, who also pay taxes and now pay a higher share of their retirement funding and health-care costs.

How did Frost justify overturning Act 10?

Act 10 immediately affected public school teachers’ unions. It also ended unions at UW Health. It didn’t, however, unilaterally apply to public safety employees, a point noted by Frost.

“Rational basis review provides a simple premise,” Frost wrote in a July ruling that denied a motion filed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to dismiss the case. “Can you explain a law’s differing treatment of different groups in a way that makes sense and supports a public policy? If not, the different treatment is irrational and violates the right to equal protection of the laws.

“Because nobody could provide this Court an explanation that reasonably showed why municipal police and fire and State Troopers are considered public safety employees, but Capitol Police, UW Police and conservation wardens, who have the same authority and do the same work, are not.”

That unequal treatment of public safety employees remained at the heart of Frost’s ruling Monday.

How did lawmakers and the public respond to Act 10?

Walker announced his plan to curb union rights in February 2011. He believed he would be able to push the legislation through the GOP-controlled Legislature in a week. Democratic lawmakers foiled his plan by heading to Illinois to delay a vote.

In their absence, tens of thousands of people protested at the Capitol daily.

In March, Democrats returned to Madison and a vote approving the legislation that would become known as Act 10 would pass the Legislature and was signed into law. Act 10 took effect in June 2011.

Consequently, Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and 13 state senators faced recalls over Act 10 — 10 Republicans and three Democrats. Most incumbents won, but Democrats managed to unseat three Republicans. That was enough to give them control of the Senate in summer 2012, but the victory came when the Legislature was out of session and was short-lived. Republicans took back the majority that fall.

Walker became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall challenge. Kleefisch became the first lieutenant governor to face one, as well as the first to survive one.

Act 10 saved taxpayers money. How was it also political?

Reining in the political power of unions was part of the plan behind Act 10, as Scott Fitzgerald, who was the majority leader of the state Senate, made clear at the time.

“If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President (Barack) Obama is going to have a much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin,” Fitzgerald, who was elected to Congress last year, told Fox News in 2011.

What does Walker think about Frost’s ruling?

While no longer in office, Walker responded to Frost’s decision on X, calling it “brazen political activism.”

“This makes the April 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race that much more important. We want a state where legislators and the governor make the laws, not the courts?” Walker said.

“Collective bargaining is not a right. It is an expensive entitlement,” Walker said in a second tweet.

What happens to Act 10 next?

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) agreed with Walker and promised an appeal.

“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Vos said. “Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion. We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal.”

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Jessica Van Egeren is a reporter and assistant breaking news editor with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@gannett.com.

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Wisconsin

Insider: Wisconsin Man Charged With Possession Of Virtual Child Pornography

Published

52 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

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Insider: Wisconsin Man Charged With Possession Of Virtual Child Pornography

POLK COUNTY (DrydenWire) – An investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, into multiple cybertips from Google about suspected child sexual abuse materials has resulted in felony charges for a Wisconsin Man.

Cody Struemke, age 27, of Amery, WI, is facing nearly a dozen charges for possessing child pornography, including Felony Possession of Virtual Child Pornography.

The criminal complaint against him alleges that Struemke saved a photo from Facebook of juveniles known to him, and digitally edited the photo to make it appear they were nude.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin health professionals share tips to protect against respiratory illnesses

Published

13 hours ago

December 15, 2025

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Wisconsin health professionals share tips to protect against respiratory illnesses

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Respiratory illness season has begun in Wisconsin, with health professionals reporting increased flu cases and higher demand for medications and vaccines.

Over-the-counter medicines are flying off the shelves at Forward Pharmacy in McFarland, according to manager Tony Peterangelo.

“We’ve had to increase like how much of some of that stuff we’ve kept on hand,” Peterangelo said. “We had to make some special orders to really bulk up on some of it too.”

Forward Pharmacy manager Tony Peterangelo filling prescriptions as the respiratory illness season begins.(WMTV/Camberyn Kelley)

Upland Hills physician Benjamin Hecht said the respiratory illness season typically begins after Thanksgiving.

“As of right now, we are just starting in the last week or two to see some Influenza A. Last year was a pretty tough flu year for us, influenza in Wisconsin. It’s still to be seen how severe of a year this is going to be in 2025-26,” he said.

Respiratory viruses are hard to avoid according to the Upland Hills physician.

“You can wear masks and wash your hands a ton, but you’re going to get exposed to these viruses at some point,” Dr. Hecht said.

RSV poses concern for young children

Dr. Hecht said another concern this season is RSV, particularly for young children with developing immune systems.

“The kids that get this, especially the really young kids, that don’t have a mature immune system, they can get pretty sick from RSV. That’s a particularly scary one. If you’re in a position where you qualify to get that vaccination or perhaps your kids do, please consider that,” Dr. Hecht said.

Forward Pharmacy is meeting demand for vaccines, which Peterangelo said can help protect against viruses.

“All of that stuff reduces the need to scramble on the back end to get antibiotics and cough suppressants. It doesn’t completely reduce your risk, but it reduces it enough that your likelihood of getting that is down,” Peterangelo said.

The pharmacy has given out dozens of flu and covid shots in a day.

“I would say maybe in the 60 to 80 range,” Peterangelo said.

Dr. Hecht said influenza B will come later in the season. He recommends people with severe respiratory symptoms like breathing troubles to see a doctor.

“The big thing is just living a healthy lifestyle, staying well hydrated, getting good sleep, doing what you can with physical activity and exercise to make sure your immune system is in tip top shape,” Dr. Hecht said.

According to new CDC data, doctor visits for flu-like symptoms rose to more than 3% in the last two weeks. The majority of flu cases are caused by a mutated strain that causes more severe illness, particularly among older adults.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

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Wisconsin

Former Trump aides appear in Wisconsin court over 2020 election fraud charges

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

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Former Trump aides appear in Wisconsin court over 2020 election fraud charges

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two attorneys and an aide who all worked on President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in Wisconsin on felony forgery charges related to a fake elector scheme.

The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.

The Wisconsin case was filed a year ago but has been tied up as the Trump aides have fought, unsuccessfully so far, to have the charges dismissed.

The hearing on Monday comes a week after Trump attorney Jim Troupis, one of the three who were charged, tried unsuccessfully to get the judge to step down in the case and have it moved to another county. Troupis, who the other two defendants joined in his motion, alleged that the judge did not write a previous order issued in August declining to dismiss the case. Instead, he accused the father of the judge’s law clerk, a retired judge, of actually writing the opinion.

Troupis, who served one year as a judge in the same county where he was charged, also alleged that all of the judges in Dane County are biased against him and he can’t get a fair trial.

Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland said he and a staff attorney alone wrote the order. Hyland also said Troupis presented no evidence to back up his claims of bias and refused to step down or delay the hearing.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the allegations.

The same judge will determine at Monday’s hearing whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with the charges against the three.

The former Trump aides face 11 felony charges each related to their roles in the 2020 fake elector scheme. In addition to Troupis, the other defendants are Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised Trump’s campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice, headed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, brought the felony forgery charges in 2024, alleging that the three defrauded the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020.

Prosecutors contend the three lied to the Republicans about how the certificate they signed would be used as part of a plan to submit paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence, falsely claiming that Trump had won the battleground state that year.

The complaint said a majority of the 10 Republicans told investigators that they were needed to sign the elector certificate indicating Trump had won only to preserve his legal options if a court changed the outcome of the election in Wisconsin.

A majority of the electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling, the complaint said. Also, a majority said they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.

Federal prosecutors who investigated Trump’s conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot said the fake electors scheme originated in Wisconsin.

The Trump associates have argued that no crime took place. But the judge in August rejected their arguments in allowing the case to proceed to Monday’s preliminary hearing.

Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 but fought to have the defeat overturned. He won the state in both 2016 and 2024.

The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them seeking damages.

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This story has been corrected to show that the attorneys who are charged formerly worked on Trump’s campaign, but are still practicing attorneys.

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