WI Supreme Court Ruling on JCRAR
Wisconsin's Green Fire, July 16, 2025
View of the East Gallery and Supreme Court wing of the WI Capitol, photo by Carolyn Pralle, November 2024
Supreme Court rules that JCRAR powers are unconstitutional
Last week on July 8, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on the case Evers v. Marklein. This case focused on the administrative rulemaking process in Wisconsin, specifically the power held by the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR).
The case challenged the constitutionality of five statutes that allowed JCRAR to:
“pause, object to, or suspend administrative rules for varying lengths of time, both before and after promulgation, under WIS. STAT. §§ 227.19(5)(c), (d), (dm), and 227.26(2)(d), (im),” according to the case original action document (2025 WI 36).
In a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled that the five statutes are unconstitutional. (You can read the Wisconsin Constitution here.) The Court’s majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Karofsky, describes the decision:
“We resolve these challenges under the bicameralism and presentment requirements of the Wisconsin Constitution, WIS. CONST. ART. IV, §§ 1, 17, 19 & ART. V, § 10, which require any law to pass both houses of the Legislature and be presented to the Governor…Therefore, we hold that each of the challenged statutes, WIS. STAT. §§ 227.19(5)(c), (d), (dm), and 227.26(2)(d), (im), facially violates the Wisconsin Constitution’s bicameralism and presentment requirements.”
In response to the ruling, WGF Executive Director Meleesa Johnson said:
“On behalf of Wisconsin’s Green Fire, I would like to express my gratitude and respect for the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to overturn the powers of the JCRAR and restore the ‘balance of power’ back to three distinct branches of government under our Wisconsin Constitution.”
Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s 2022 Opportunities Now Paper: Imbalance of Power – How Wisconsin is Failing Citizens in Conserving Natural Resources and Protecting Our Environment
Why does this case matter for conservation?
This case matters for science-based conservation because of the policy and rulemaking steps that go into managing our natural resources and funding conservation efforts around Wisconsin.
We describe the importance of that rulemaking process in our 2022 Opportunities Now publication: Imbalance of Power – How Wisconsin is Failing Citizens in Conservation Natural Resources and Protecting Our Environment.
- Read an overview of WGF’s Imbalance of Power paper here.
- Read or download the full report here.
- Also, watch our Imbalance of Power webinar here.
Over a decade of slowing or blocking conservation and environmental rules
Our Imbalance of Power paper notes that this imbalance began with the passage of several bills and legislative actions. From 2011 through 2018, those bills and actions shifted “power from the executive branch to the legislative branch. Outcomes of this shift include failure to conserve natural resources in a range of areas including management of fish, wildlife, and forests, protection of public lands, and protection of clean air and water.” The 2011 Wisconsin Act 21 played an important role in that shift of power from the executive to the legislative branch.
Prior to this Supreme Court ruling, the JCRAR slowed or blocked the implementation of important conservation and environmental rules. Many of these rules are or were critical to the protection of human health. A few examples of water-focused issues affected by this process include:
- Nitrate contamination in drinking water
- PFAS contamination in drinking water
- Toxic algae blooms and impaired surface waters
“The 2011 Act 21 and subsequent changes in state law made it impossible for state agencies to address some of our most important environmental challenges. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling will help restore a critical balance of power in Wisconsin government. It will also help assure that state agencies can address important needs like clean water and clean air with a rule making process that is transparent and open to meaningful public participation.”
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Trumpeter Swans, Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area, photo by Jeff Henry