>> All right. We leave it there. Thanks very much.
>> Thank you for hosting me today.
>> In state election news, conservative Wisconsin
Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley announced
today she will not seek reelection in 2026, saying
her work to rebuild the conservative movement is
not as a minority member of the court. Conservatives
have lost the last two state Supreme Court
elections by double digit margins. Giving the court a
Liberal majority until at least 2028. In other news,
on September 1st, new commercial building codes
will go into effect, nearly two years after a
legislative committee blocked a rule that would
have brought Wisconsin building codes into
compliance with international standards.
The rule update was at the center of a Wisconsin
Supreme Court case that did more than just change
building codes. Here and now, senior political
reporter Zach Schultz explains how this case is
part of a series of court decisions that have
dramatically shifted the balance of power at the
Capitol. >> Any discussion? Hearing?
None. Clerk will call the roll.
>> The Joint Committee for the Review of
Administrative Rules is probably not well known by
most people outside the Capitol.
>> I've been on the committee the entire time
I've been on the legislature.
Adam Neylon, it's one of the most important
been the place where Republicans can stop what
they view as executive overreach by the
administration of Governor Tony Evers.
because the real world impact of administrative
rules, people don't necessarily understand that
rules have the same impact as law.
>> Administrative rules are proposed by state agencies.
So when the DNR wants to update the standards on how
to clean up a hazardous waste spill, or the
Department of Safety and Professional Services wants
building codes, they have to go through a series of
steps, including scope statements and public
hearings, and eventually the proposed rule will end
up in front of the Joint Committee for the Review of
Administrative Rules. >> On behalf of the
Department, I respectfully request that this committee
extend the expiration date for emergency rule 2502 by
60 days. >> The committee can
request changes, but one of the laws passed during the
lame duck session at the end of Governor Scott
Walker's term gave JCR the ability to indefinitely
block rules. Both new rules and old rules that have
already been in effect for years. In 2023, the
committee blocked an update to the building codes.
>> When they proposed the building code, it went what
we believe far above and beyond legislative intent.
>> The committee also blocked a proposed rule
that would have banned gay conversion therapy.
>> We're not here specifically to discuss the
merits of any conversion therapy or any other type
of therapy. >> Governor Evers filed a
lawsuit claiming Jkr's ability to indefinitely
veto and unconstitutional. >> This case is as
consequential for the operation of government is.
Maybe I've seen in my time on the court.
>> At oral arguments, conservative Justice Brian
Hagedorn seemed to acknowledge the decades old
arrangement may not be legal, but so many laws
have been passed giving state agencies the power to
make new rules. With the understanding the
to make sure they didn't go too far.
Constitution says, but hey, this is how we've been
operating for a long time, and the legislature has
passed a lot of laws accepting the framework
that's been given. >> Maybe it's not what the
Constitution says was the key phrase from Hagedorn.
In a split decision, the Liberal majority struck
down Jkr's ability to object and suspend rules.
>> Sanity will reign. That's what I think. We've
been dealing with this for all the time I've been in
office, and that is this committee, mainly the
leadership. We're able to stop everything dead in
their tracks and then it things just don't happen.
>> Governor Tony Evers celebrated the decision.
While Republicans like Neylon fear what rules may
be coming now that they can't object.
>> What we're seeing now is how much this has expanded
executive authority and how The ability to sidestep the
legislature and potentially have agency heads create a
super legislature where they're able to implement
rules with no oversight from the legislature.
>> This isn't the only case in the last term where the
Wisconsin Supreme Court has eliminated legislative
oversight. In Evers v Marklein 1, the court ruled
6 to 1. The Joint Finance Committee couldn't hold up
purchases by the Noles. Nelson Stewardship Fund in
Kohl versus legislature, the court ruled seven zero.
The attorney general didn't need JFC approval to settle
civil lawsuits. >> Both at the national
level and particularly at Wisconsin. There is a
redefining and shifting of what people thought was the
balance of power and what the court is saying is now
the balance of power. >> Former Wisconsin Supreme
Court Justice Jeanine Gajewski says as the
partizan divides grow, the court is being asked to
look at the constitutionality of old
agreements on how government works.
there's a justification for it, not just the
gentleman's agreement or party's agreement. There
has to be a constitutional legal justification, or if
not, we're going to redefine it.
>> I think there's been a travesty of justice,
honestly, because there has been absolute weakening of
legislative oversight. >> Neylon may not like it,
but Democrats say the case was only filed because of
what they call the excessive abuse of
authority to shut down rules ranging from the DNR,
setting safe levels for PFAS contamination,
election rules on absentee ballots or the conversion
therapy ban. >> But I don't think the
headline should be about conversion therapy. I think
the headline should be we lost legislative oversight
because that's what really happened.
>> Gajewski says she was happy so many of the cases
cut across the partisan labels on the bench, with
conservatives joining with liberals, at least in part
an all these cases. >> I think that's healthy.
I really was glad to see that because I think a
court that is totally predictable is really a
court that looks like a legislature.
>> The decisions by the court are already having an
impact. Governor Evers cited the stewardship
decision when he recently approved raises for state
employees passed in the last budget without sending
them to the Joint Committee on Employee Relations, as
is required by law. Republicans refused to fund
the stewardship Fund in the last budget and are working
on a new bill to give them some level of oversight.
Neylon says they were already drafting
legislation in a more narrow fashion, to reduce
the need for agencies to draft rules.
>> You're already seeing bills be much more
prescriptive and not granting rulemaking
authority explicitly through legislation.
>> Well, I think that's what happens on decisions
that particularly upend what people have been doing.
And I think that what happens is that the the
branches get more creative. >> Neylon says his next
bill will attempt to restore some oversight for
Jcra in a way both sides can agree on.
>> I think there needs to be some sort of bipartisan
agreement, some sort of working together to make
sure that we put checks and balances back into our