Republicans are asking an appellate court to issue a stay on a judge’s ruling striking down last year’s lame duck laws.
Legislative Republican leaders want to keep laws stripping power from the Governor and Attorney General in place while appeals are being handled. That request was filed in the Third District, which is in Wausau, and the groups fighting laws say that the case should be heard in Madison, where the ruling was made.
Governor Evers is asking to be heard in court before a decision is made. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul also says he wants to be involved in that case. Since the laws are technically the laws of the state, he’s arguing that the Attorney General’s office is required to step in when laws are declared to be unconstitutional.
Everns has also withdrawn over 80 appointments that were made during the extraordinary session. In a statement, an Evers spokeswoman says “These seats are now considered vacant, but we are committed to working as quickly as possible to fill them and minimize the disruption to the important work done by these boards, committees, and councils.”
AG Kaul also says he’ll be defending the state in a series of filings from Planned Parenthood, which is challenging state laws that restrict access to abortion drugs and which prevent nurses from carrying out abortions.
Under the laws that were struck down this week, Republicans were allowed to hire their own attorneys to represent them in cases, and they still plan to do so. They say Kaul can’t be impartial, because he received money from Planned Parenthood during his campaign.