Temporary Restraining Order

This morning, Circuit Court Judge Sumi issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the publication of the union-busting budget repair bill on the grounds that it may have been passed in conditions that violated the state's Open Meetings Law. 

This is at least a temporary setback for the GOP Walker administration, as it will at the very least require that the legislature pass the law again.

This isn't genuinely surprising - the methods used to pass the law were unusual, to say the least, and the attorneys for the state could not come up with any arguments for the precipitous passing of the law that were convincing to the judge.  A law of this magnitude really needs to be passed in the light of day, and I think this ruling is a big victory for transparency in Wisconsin.

It seems very likely that the law will be passed again, but at least this time it will be done in a much more public and civil manner.  We will continue to have information on this story.  One good place to follow along is on the WisPolitics budget blog, which tends to be very up-to-date on these issues.