Dane County Judge Declares Act 10 Unconstitutional

Judge Frost 'Freezes' Act 10

Act 10 is, essentially, heading back to the ballot in Wisconsin.

Dane County Judge Jacob Frost on Monday struck down the now 13-year-old law that limited what Wisconsin’s public sector unions could bargain for as unconstitutional.

"I cannot solve Act 10's constitutional problems by striking the definition of 'public safety employee,' leaving the term undefined and leaving the remainder of the law in place," Frost wrote in his ruling. "Act 10 as written by the Legislature specifically and narrowly defines 'public safety employee.' It is that definition which is unconstitutional. The Legislature cites no precedent for this bold argument that I should simply strike the unlawful definition but leave it to an agency and the courts to later define as they see fit."

Frost’s ruling is the first against SAct 10 since it was passed back in 2011, and signed into law by former Gov. Scott Walker.

Walker on Monday took to Twitter to call the ruling “brazen political activism.”

“This makes the April 2025 WI Supreme Court race that much more important,” Walker added. “We want a state where legislators and the Governor make the laws, not the courts!”

Labor unions in Wisconsin challenged Act 10 from the beginning, but until this week those challenges were unsuccessful.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos made a note of that on Monday.

“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Vos said. “Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion. We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal.”

Judge Frost said it will be up to someone else to decide the future of Act 10.

"Interpreting 'public safety employee' after striking the legislated definition would be an exercise in the absurd," he added in his ruling.

That means the legislature would need to pass the law again. But that would set-up a showdown with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers who has long hated Act 10.

Or a new Wisconsin Supreme Court will have to take-up the case in the future. There is an election for the Supreme Court in April, and Act 10 is expected to be one of the decisions at the center of that race.

In the meantime, public sector labor unions in Wisconsin can now make demands in their contracts for more than just pay raises.

Act 10 specifically banned other bargaining topics, as well as allowed union members to opt-out of their unions, and had school districts in particular require union members to pay more for their healthcare benefits.

“Collective bargaining is not a right. It is an expensive entitlement," Walker added on Twitter.