Will Democrats quickly repeal Act 10? Answers among the party’s leaders vary
On the campaign trail, Wisconsin Democrats broadly voiced support for repealing Act 10, the 2011 law that largely stripped public workers of collective bargaining rights. Now that they’re about to actually take control of state government, the soon-to-be top elected officials have offered different answers in recent days when asked about erasing the controversial labor law.
At the state Capitol Tuesday, incoming Assembly Speaker Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) offered clear support for moving ahead with a repeal of Act 10.
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The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a right-wing think tank, published a study in 2025 estimatingschool districts and local governments would be paying $2 billion more statewide if Act 10 were never implemented.
The estimates are based off salaries, retirement pay and additional benefits that were in place prior to the law’s adoption. Will Flanders, WILL’s research director, said repealing Act 10 would gradually drive up costs for school districts and local governments.
“That wouldn’t come into play immediately,” Flanders told CBS 58 Tuesday. “It would require these new negotiation processes with re-empowered unions to take place, but we think, over time, that’s likely where we’d end up.”
WILL’s estimates find that if Act 10 never happened, property taxes in Milwaukee would be $1,310 more for a home valued at $300,000. For Waukesha, there’s be an $865 increase, and it’d be $650 more in Racine. However, those numbers don’t tell the entire story.
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Notes and links on Act 10.
Milwaukee County pension scandal trial primer.
