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>> All right. We leave it
there. Thanks very much.

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>> Thank you for hosting me
today.

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>> In state election news,
conservative Wisconsin

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Supreme Court Justice
Rebecca Bradley announced

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today she will not seek
reelection in 2026, saying

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her work to rebuild the
conservative movement is

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not as a minority member of
the court. Conservatives

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have lost the last two
state Supreme Court

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elections by double digit
margins. Giving the court a

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Liberal majority until at
least 2028. In other news,

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on September 1st, new
commercial building codes

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will go into effect, nearly
two years after a

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legislative committee
blocked a rule that would

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have brought Wisconsin
building codes into

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compliance with
international standards.

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The rule update was at the
center of a Wisconsin

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Supreme Court case that did
more than just change

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building codes. Here and
now, senior political

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reporter Zach Schultz
explains how this case is

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part of a series of court
decisions that have

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dramatically shifted the
balance of power at the

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Capitol.
>> Any discussion? Hearing?

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None. Clerk will call the
roll.

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>> The Joint Committee for
the Review of

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Administrative Rules is
probably not well known by

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most people outside the
Capitol.

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>> I've been on the
committee the entire time

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I've been on the
legislature.

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Adam Neylon, it's one of
the most important

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been the place where
Republicans can stop what

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they view as executive
overreach by the

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administration of Governor
Tony Evers.

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because the real world
impact of administrative

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rules, people don't
necessarily understand that

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rules have the same impact
as law.

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>> Administrative rules are
proposed by state agencies.

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So when the DNR wants to
update the standards on how

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to clean up a hazardous
waste spill, or the

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Department of Safety and
Professional Services wants

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building codes, they have
to go through a series of

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steps, including scope
statements and public

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hearings, and eventually
the proposed rule will end

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up in front of the Joint
Committee for the Review of

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Administrative Rules.
>> On behalf of the

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Department, I respectfully
request that this committee

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extend the expiration date
for emergency rule 2502 by

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60 days.
>> The committee can

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request changes, but one of
the laws passed during the

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lame duck session at the
end of Governor Scott

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Walker's term gave JCR the
ability to indefinitely

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block rules. Both new rules
and old rules that have

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already been in effect for
years. In 2023, the

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committee blocked an update
to the building codes.

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>> When they proposed the
building code, it went what

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we believe far above and
beyond legislative intent.

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>> The committee also
blocked a proposed rule

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that would have banned gay
conversion therapy.

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>> We're not here
specifically to discuss the

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merits of any conversion
therapy or any other type

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of therapy.
>> Governor Evers filed a

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lawsuit claiming Jkr's
ability to indefinitely

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veto and unconstitutional.
>> This case is as

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consequential for the
operation of government is.

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Maybe I've seen in my time
on the court.

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>> At oral arguments,
conservative Justice Brian

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Hagedorn seemed to
acknowledge the decades old

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arrangement may not be
legal, but so many laws

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have been passed giving
state agencies the power to

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make new rules. With the
understanding the

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to make sure they didn't go
too far.

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Constitution says, but hey,
this is how we've been

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operating for a long time,
and the legislature has

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passed a lot of laws
accepting the framework

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that's been given.
>> Maybe it's not what the

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Constitution says was the
key phrase from Hagedorn.

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In a split decision, the
Liberal majority struck

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down Jkr's ability to
object and suspend rules.

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>> Sanity will reign.
That's what I think. We've

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been dealing with this for
all the time I've been in

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office, and that is this
committee, mainly the

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leadership. We're able to
stop everything dead in

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their tracks and then it
things just don't happen.

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>> Governor Tony Evers
celebrated the decision.

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While Republicans like
Neylon fear what rules may

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be coming now that they
can't object.

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>> What we're seeing now is
how much this has expanded

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executive authority and how
The ability to sidestep the

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legislature and potentially
have agency heads create a

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super legislature where
they're able to implement

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rules with no oversight
from the legislature.

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>> This isn't the only case
in the last term where the

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Wisconsin Supreme Court has
eliminated legislative

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oversight. In Evers v
Marklein 1, the court ruled

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6 to 1. The Joint Finance
Committee couldn't hold up

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purchases by the Noles.
Nelson Stewardship Fund in

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Kohl versus legislature,
the court ruled seven zero.

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The attorney general didn't
need JFC approval to settle

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civil lawsuits.
>> Both at the national

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level and particularly at
Wisconsin. There is a

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redefining and shifting of
what people thought was the

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balance of power and what
the court is saying is now

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the balance of power.
>> Former Wisconsin Supreme

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Court Justice Jeanine
Gajewski says as the

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partizan divides grow, the
court is being asked to

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look at the
constitutionality of old

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agreements on how
government works.

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there's a justification for
it, not just the

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gentleman's agreement or
party's agreement. There

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has to be a constitutional
legal justification, or if

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not, we're going to
redefine it.

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>> I think there's been a
travesty of justice,

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honestly, because there has
been absolute weakening of

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legislative oversight.
>> Neylon may not like it,

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but Democrats say the case
was only filed because of

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what they call the
excessive abuse of

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authority to shut down
rules ranging from the DNR,

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setting safe levels for
PFAS contamination,

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election rules on absentee
ballots or the conversion

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therapy ban.
>> But I don't think the

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headline should be about
conversion therapy. I think

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the headline should be we
lost legislative oversight

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because that's what really
happened.

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>> Gajewski says she was
happy so many of the cases

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cut across the partisan
labels on the bench, with

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conservatives joining with
liberals, at least in part

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an all these cases.
>> I think that's healthy.

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I really was glad to see
that because I think a

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court that is totally
predictable is really a

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court that looks like a
legislature.

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>> The decisions by the
court are already having an

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impact. Governor Evers
cited the stewardship

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decision when he recently
approved raises for state

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employees passed in the
last budget without sending

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them to the Joint Committee
on Employee Relations, as

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is required by law.
Republicans refused to fund

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the stewardship Fund in the
last budget and are working

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on a new bill to give them
some level of oversight.

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Neylon says they were
already drafting

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legislation in a more
narrow fashion, to reduce

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the need for agencies to
draft rules.

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>> You're already seeing
bills be much more

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prescriptive and not
granting rulemaking

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authority explicitly
through legislation.

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>> Well, I think that's
what happens on decisions

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that particularly upend
what people have been doing.

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And I think that what
happens is that the the

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branches get more creative.
>> Neylon says his next

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bill will attempt to
restore some oversight for

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Jcra in a way both sides
can agree on.

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>> I think there needs to
be some sort of bipartisan

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agreement, some sort of
working together to make

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sure that we put checks and
balances back into our