(The Center Square) – Federal bureaucrats are influencing Wisconsin policy through guidance and federal requirements, with 14 specific examples of this taking place since 2011, according to a new report.
Those findings from the Institute for Reforming Government will be reported by IRG General Counsel Jake Curtis at 10 a.m. on Thursday in front of a joint meeting of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs and Assembly Committee on Government Operations, Accountability, and Transparency.
“In many respects, Wisconsin has been the gold standard for enacting common sense regulatory reforms,” Curtis told The Center Square. “Unfortunately, the current progressive administration combined with a Supreme Court intent on eliminating key legislative tools to review proposed rules has had a direct impact on the rulemaking process.”
The report pointed out that sometimes, the alignment of federal and state policy can be helpful. But it is crucial that state lawmakers are made aware of when federal policy is influencing state rulemaking and policy in order to have oversight over when that occurs.
“The reforms being considered by the legislature, in particular the proposals to establish a regulatory budget and sunset review process, represent bold proposals to re-establish Wisconsin’s rightful position as a leader in the administrative reform movement,” Curtis said.
The 14 examples include federal guidance on drop boxes before and after the 2020 election. The drop boxes were determined to be unconstitutional in Wisconsin after the 2020 election, but that ruling was later reversed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court after its political makeup changed before the 2024 election.
“Unelected federal bureaucrats often set policy for Wisconsin from behind the scenes, often unbeknownst to the people’s duly elected representatives,” Curtis said in a statement. “Our elected officials, not bureaucrats in Washington, should be calling the shots. Wisconsin must lead the way in reminding Washington and state leaders that our Constitution starts with the states, not the other way around.”
The report highlights IRG polling from earlier this year which showed that 32% saying that the Legislature should be making the state’s policy decisions while 8% favored bureaucrats at state agencies make those decisions. The poll showed that 76% of Wisconsin voters believe vote4rs and elected officials should be able to overturn burdensome regulations.
The examples of federal influence on state policy included Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources climate-related policy including pollution guidance, air permits and audit thresholds along with groundwater standards.
Medicaid renewals and standards along with standards on items such as raw milk, public pools, camps and even bridge funding came from federal guidance and requirements.
“Crafting a mechanism for legislative oversight of federal guidance documents must be done carefully so as not to raise separation of powers issues,” the report said. “In Wisconsin, courts have struck down laws which sought to control how state agencies publish guidance documents, and legislation seeking to control how state agencies interact with federal guidance documents received by the agency could likely suffer the same fate.”
