Potential legal case against stripping Evers of power

 

Unprecedented - that's the word many Democrats used for the session Republicans used to take power away from Tony Evers before he's sworn in, but are they right?

Democrats tried to push through collective bargaining contracts just before Scott Walker took over, but UWM Professor Mordecai Lee says it's not exactly the same.

"Those collective bargaining laws would have eventually expired when Scot Walker was governor, and he could have been able to proceed with Act 10," Lee said. "In this case, these are permanent limitations on the governor."

Democrats say they could challenge the proposals in court, but do they have any grounds? Lee says Evers does.

Evers could potentially argue the new rules violate state constitution, which gives executive power to the governor.

"The state constitution gives inherent powers to a governor," Evers said. "In other words, the legislature can't pass a law that violates inherent powers. But that's not the case with the attorney general."

Wisconsin's constitution only gives the attorney general powers decided by state lawmakers. Much like the state treasurer, which is now stripped of virtually all power.