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The state Supreme Court has issued a preliminary injunction blocking immediate implementation of the biggest public employee pension improvement in state history.
The action, which came just two weeks after the governor signed the bill into law, was not unexpected. The Department of Employee Trust Funds and the Employee Trust Funds Board are challenging the constitutionality of the law.
When Governor Thompson signed the law in December, he said he expected the legal challenges and hoped the Supreme Court would take original jurisdiction and make a final ruling by spring. The high court, however, delayed a decision on whether to take original jurisdiction. It set a January 21 deadline for respondents to file briefs.
WEAC has filed a motion to intervene in the case. It has also filed a position statement arguing the court should not enjoin provisions that are not being challenged in the lawsuit. For example, the lawsuit does not challenge provisions to reopen the variable fund to participants or to allow a participant to name a beneficiary other than a spouse or child.
Posted January 3, 2000