After a Wisconsin state agency, the Legislative Reference Bureau published a bill that would restrict union rights on Friday, Republicans said that the bill had gone into effect. Opponents of the bill say that by publishing the law, the LRB violated a temporary restraining order issued by a judge. On Tuesday, the judge said that she had ordered the bill not be published while accusations that the Republicans violated open meeting laws were examined. She said that if any further action was taken to put the law into effect, there would be sanctions against those parties. The judge refused to rule on who is allowed to publish a bill before it goes into effect, saying she needed more testimony. Opponents of the bill said that they hoped Republicans would respect the judicial process, while the Assembly Speaker said that the judge was violating separation of powers.
See "Wis. Republicans face new hurdle in union battle", March 29, 2011