Mayor Johnson, Speaker Vos react to Milwaukee looking into pursuing legal action against shared revenue provisions

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Assembly Speaker Robin Vos expressed concern Wednesday after the Milwaukee Common Council discussed plans to file a legal challenge against the newly-signed shared revenue law.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson was cautious in his response the day after the historic bill was signed into law.

Vos said a lawsuit will likely impact the relationship between the legislature and the city, a relationship that is already strained.

Milwaukee alders made two things clear: they're grateful for the historic increase in funding, but they also plan to take legal action to secure more control of that revenue.

Speaking in Madison Wednesday, Vos said, "To now say there are going to use the very dollars the state of Wisconsin gave them to sue the state is a really bad sign for our future relations."

But that's a risk the city of Milwaukee is apparently willing to take when Common Council President Jose Perez announced the city will pursue a legal challenge against the state over the new shared revenue law.

Governor Evers signed the bill into law Tuesday, triggering the first increase in shared revenue in decades, and allowing the city of Milwaukee to institute a sales tax for the first time.

But there are several conditions tied to the law, solely for Milwaukee.

Among them: the independent Fire and Police Commission can no longer set MPD policy, 25 school resource officers must be reinstated to MPS schools, and no tax revenue can be used for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.

In Milwaukee Wednesday, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, "I have spoken out from the beginning about my displeasure with those items."

Johnson did not explicitly support a lawsuit Wednesday, but he did not oppose it, saying, "If there's an opportunity not to have those things take place in Milwaukee, then I would like not to have those in Milwaukee."

Earlier this week, Milwaukee alders showed a united front against the provisions.

After Tuesday's meeting, Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr. said of the shared revenue provisions, "I don't think it was a negotiation. I think it was a hostile takeover."

And Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said, "We're taking it into our own hands as we move forward. No one's picking a fight or anything like that."

But at the statehouse Wednesday, Vos hit back, saying, "It's really disappointing because we have literally spent months negotiating in good faith, saying that we were willing to flex on some of the things that were core priorities for us as conservatives. And it seemed like, at the time, they were willing to flex on things they thought were important for them, to find that common sense consensus."

Alders say the stipulations from Madison are an attack on Milwaukee's local control, and Council President Perez said they "will continue to have these provisions reversed".

Vos said, "I certainly hope they rethink their decision as they try to focus on the good that was in the bill, rather than try to micromanage some of the things they have challenges with. Which, frankly, every single one of which helps to improve their financial position. Which was the whole goal of the bill originally."

There are two dates to watch:

First: the Common Council is expected to vote July 11 on a new 2% sales tax that would generate an estimated $193 million a year for the city.

But first, this coming Monday, June 26, the Steering and Rules committee will discuss how to move forward on the legal challenge to the shared revenue provisions.