Why repeal of Act 10 would be disastrous for Wisconsin

Before Governor Scott Walker even introduced Act 10 in 2011, I was writing about the urgent need for that reform. When the state Capitol was swallowed by weeks of historic protests, I was on the ground covering the chaos. In the years that followed, I explained that, “It’s working!”

Now, fifteen years later, Wisconsin’s landmark fiscal firewall is under siege. Between an activist state Supreme Court and political candidates lurching steadily to the left, the guardrails that saved our local governments are facing an expiration date. Dismantling this law would not be a simple policy tweak; it would be an absolute fiscal disaster for property taxpayers, public services, and the long-term stability of our communities.

I have lived this reality from both sides. For most of my adult life, either myself or my wife worked in the public sector. So, back when Act 10 passed, we felt the immediate financial pinch of contributing more toward our own healthcare, a reality that continues to this day. But we also looked at the math. The path Wisconsin was on was completely unsustainable. Structural deficits were a permanent fixture, costs were exploding, and local governments were facing deep service cuts just to keep the lights on.

Act 10 changed that trajectory by introducing basic common sense. It limited collective bargaining primarily to base wages, required reasonable benefit contributions, and gave local officials the flexibility to manage their own workforces.

The results are not a matter of opinion; they are baked into fifteen years of state history. According to the latest data tracked by the MacIver Institute, Act 10 has delivered more than $35 billion in cumulative taxpayer savings. That translates directly into hundreds of dollars of annual property tax relief for the average homeowner. Just as importantly, it protected public sector jobs. Instead of balancing school budgets through mass layoffs based on pure seniority, districts spread modest benefit contributions across the board. Younger, high-performing educators kept their jobs, and vital services like local policing were preserved.

Independent research bears this out. Studies have shown actual improvements in student test scores, particularly in lower-income districts alongside a dynamic marketplace for teachers where school boards can reward merit rather than rigid calendars. Meanwhile, Wisconsin successfully avoided the pension death spirals that continue to crush taxpayers in neighboring states.

Yet, the mainstream press corps botched this story from the very beginning. Back in 2011, reporters lazily framed the budget repair bill solely as an all-out assault on workers rather than a necessary structural fix for a massive deficit. The positive outcomes, including stabilized local budgets and property tax moderation, have been chronically underreported ever since.

Now the bill is coming due for that media blindness. The threat is no longer a distant hypothetical. Demands to repeal Act 10 have become a partisan litmus test for state Democrats whose political machinery far outclasses their opposition here.

With the high court’s liberal majority cemented by recent judicial elections, the law’s demise appears pre-engineered. Justice Janet Protasiewicz declined to recuse herself despite participating in the original 2011 Capitol protests, and the recently elected Justice Susan Crawford explicitly highlighted her past legal work representing teachers’ unions against Act 10 during her campaign. Compounding the math, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn has recused himself due to his historical role in drafting the legislation as Walker’s legal counsel. The firewall may very well be dismantled from the bench.

There is a chance, I suppose, that the Court doesn’t repeal Act 10 in its entirety. In that case the stakes this fall have never been more concrete.

If Act 10 is repealed, local officials will instantly be forced into a brutal binary. They will have only two choices: slash essential public safety services or jack up property taxes. Efforts in Madison to pay down those hikes will just be offset by higher taxes elsewhere. Spending will skyrocket. Recent fiscal analyses from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) warn that a repeal would inject up to $1.8 billion in new annual costs for schools alone, plus hundreds of millions more for counties and municipalities. For a family living in an average $300,000 home, WILL’s non-partisan budgeting models show that means an immediate $624 hike on their local property tax bill every single year.

The old era of structural deficits and pink slips for young workers will roar back.

This is not an abstract policy debate for an academic journal. This hits our kitchens and our communities. Like many, my family has paid a little more post Act 10, but it was fair and manageable. The alternative was a system built on unsustainable promises that would eventually break the state.

After Act 10 was passed, Wisconsinites rejected the special interest fueled recalls for a reason. They also re-elected the original reformers for a reason. Act 10 rescued local governments and Wisconsin taxpayers from incredible hardship.

As the courts and politicians eye its demise, we should demand an honest debate about the real numbers. Reporters should stop being stenographers for the candidates they like and instead ask follow-up questions. (Even a lame “What would you say to critics who say this will cause massive property tax hikes?” would be a step up from the coverage of the Governor’s race to date.)

The quality of our kids’ classrooms, the safety of our neighborhoods, and the stability of our wallets depend entirely on defending the Act 10 firewall.

Candidates who call for its repeal must be compelled to explain how they would spare local governments and taxpayers the burden of paying the price for their policy.