Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Walker budget repair bill unconstitutional, Milwaukee city attorney says

Steve Schultze of the Journal Sentinel

Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill provisions requiring workers to pay 5.8% of their salary toward pension costs is unconstitutional, according to Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley.

Langley states in a 15-page opinion released Monday that the bill doesn't pass constitutional muster for three reasons.

It interferes with the city's home-rule authority over its pension plan; it violates employees' contractual rights and the bill would violate workers' due process rights because it would violate terms of the city's global pension settlement with city workers from a decade ago.

Langley writes that because of a large body of case law striking down pay cuts that violate union contracts, "it is highly unlikely that the courts would uphold proposed (budget repair law) on this ground."...........

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