Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill

The 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, was legislation proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker and passed by the Wisconsin Legislature to address a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit. The legislation primarily affected the following areas: collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public sector employees. In response, unions and other groups organized protests inside and around the state capitol. The bill was passed into law and became effective as of June 29, 2011. Public employees exempted from the changes to the collective bargaining law include firefighters and most law enforcement workers. The bill was ruled to be constitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2014, after three years of litigation.

On February 14, 2011, Republican Governor Scott Walker introduced the legislation to the state legislature. Initially, legislative Democrats and union leaders offered to accept the increased cost of benefits but not the limited bargaining rights, which was subsequently rejected by Walker. A couple days later, as a tactic to prevent passage of the bill, all 14 Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Senate fled Wisconsin and traveled to Illinois in order to delay a vote on the bill. With only 19 Republican members, the Senate would not have the 20 Senators required for a quorum in order to vote on the bill, since it was a fiscal bill.

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