WCJC Ensures the Budget Will Not Include New Civil Causes of Action

As the Wisconsin Legislature continues to assemble a state budget for the 2021-2023 fiscal biennium, the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council has ensured that several concerning provisions related to civil justice were removed early in the process. As we reported in February, Governor Tony Evers’ (D) executive budget proposal included new civil causes of action for employment discrimination, unfair honesty or genetic testing, broadband service denial, and unnecessarily summoning a law enforcement officer. It also would have restored the ability of private parties to bring a qui tam action against a person for making a false claim with the state, such as Medicaid. 

On May 6, the Legislature took steps to overhaul the budget put forward by Gov. Evers, which included a two-year operating budget of more than $90 billion and a long list of changes to various state laws and programs. Voting 12-4 along party lines, the Republican-led Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) approved an omnibus motion to strip more than 380 items from the budget, including the civil justice policies of concern to WCJC and our members. The finance committee’s motion removed major priorities of the governor’s such as accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid, legalizing recreational marijuana, and creating a state-based health insurance exchange.

Following this action, JCF moved to adopt substitute amendments that reset the budget to the spending levels established in the previous budget. The committee then approved standard “cost-of-living” increases for state agencies to cover things such as the cost of employee salaries and benefits and agency leases. That motion also addressed the sum sufficient appropriations that cover principal and interest payments on state debt as well as some tax credits.

All told, these changes leave the committee with a projected $2.5 billion surplus in general purpose revenue. The co-chairs of JCF, Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Representative Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) recently told a meeting of the state’s largest business lobby that they anticipated including a tax cut in the budget.