MILWAUKEE — A power struggle is brewing in Milwaukee over strings attached to the shared revenue law.
First and foremost, Mayor Cavalier Johnson says it has been a long road to get to a 2-percent city sales tax increase. Neglected pensions had Milwaukee facing a fiscal cliff by 2025. Now the mayor says, “We've got fiscal solvency again.”
But he tells TMJ4 News, he does not like any of the provisions put in place by the Republican-majority state legislature. This includes giving the police chief the power to set policies instead of the fire and police commission, preventing the sales tax from funding The Hop streetcar, and removing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
We asked the mayor if a lawsuit may be filed soon. He said, “I think that there are opportunities to go about that so maybe there's a lawsuit. I think right now there still are ways to get around some of those things. There are other entities in the private sector that have diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Anthony Chergosky, an assistant political science professor at UW-LaCrosse, points out the state statute called Home Rule the city could sue under which, “Refers to the ability of local governments to make decisions on their own without interference from the State government.”
The city has sued under the Home Rule statute before.
Chergosky says the case could make its way to the Supreme Court, which will be liberal-leaning for the first time in more than a decade, once Janet Protasiewicz is sworn into office Aug. 1, “We might assume that a Liberal majority on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court would view things in a manner that is more favorable to Milwaukee.”
What happens next, remains to be seen.
We reached out to Milwaukee’s Attorney Tearman Spencer for comment. He says, “The city attorney’s office will review an analyze the merits of any potential lawsuit or legal action requested by the council.”
However, he says no alderperson has approached him yet to file suit.
