MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee can no longer enforce a long-standing requirement that public workers live within city limits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The court ruled 5-2 that Milwaukee’s residency rule is subject to a state law barring such restrictions. The ruling reverses a state appeals court decision that the residency requirement could not be superseded by a state law passed in 2013. Milwaukee has required its more than 7,000 employees to live within the city boundaries for more than 75 years.
The 2013 law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker, prohibits local governments from enforcing any residency requirements beyond requiring police and firefighters to live within 15 miles of the government unit.
The lawsuit challenging Milwaukee’s refusal to abide by the law was brought by unions representing police and firefighters in the city.
Justice Michael Gableman, writing for the courtap conservative majority, said state law takes precedent over the city’s residency requirement because it applied statewide.
“The Legislature has the power to legislate on matters of local affairs when its enactment uniformly affects every city or every village,” Gableman wrote.
The two dissenting justices — Ann Walsh Bradley and Shirley Abrahamson — disagreed, saying the state’s “Home Rule Amendment” gives cities like Milwaukee the power to self-govern, giving them greater autonomy over local affairs.
The Supreme Courtap decision reverses a state appeals court ruling that found there was no evidence that effect of the state law barring local residency requirements had an equal effect statewide.
The Supreme Courtap ruling is expected to affect only Milwaukee because its residency requirement was uniquely tailed to the city.
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