WISCONSIN — Collective bargaining powers for teachers and other public workers were restored by a Dane County judge on Monday.

Judge Jacob Frost ruled that certain sections of the 2011 Act 10 were no longer enforceable. 

Frost had ruled earlier this year that parts of that law were unconstitutional. That’s because the law applied differently to police, firefighters and public safety workers than it did other public employees.

The ruling will almost certainly be appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. And although the high court is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, an election in April will determine majority control for at least the next year.

Act 10 was Former Gov. Scott Walker’s landmark legislation, which required some public employees to pay more for pensions and health care as well as limited their ability to collectively bargain.

"Brazen political activism," Walker said in a reaction on X to Monday's ruling. "This makes the April 2025 WI Supreme Court race that much more important. We want a state where legislators and the Governor make the laws, not the courts!"

He also said, "Collective bargaining is not a right. It is an expensive entitlement," on X.

Walker wasn't the only lawmaker to react on X. Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan shared in part, "I voted against Act 10 more than 13 years ago, and am thrilled our public servants are able to once again organize and make their voices heard."

Walker first introduced his Act 10 proposal to the press on Feb. 11, 2011 as a way to address a $3.6 million budget deficit, and it was later signed into law on March 11, 2011. It took effect later that year on June 29, 2011. Upon the signing of that law, unions and organizations protested in and around the state Capitol.

But Act 10 didn’t stop there. It continued to face several recall efforts and legal challenges.

It took until 2014 for the dust to settle in the fight over collective bargaining. On July 31, 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the policy in a 5-2 decision.

In 2021 interview with Spectrum News, retired Republican state Sen. Dale Schultz — who was the only Senate Republican to vote against Act 10 — recalled the political climate when Act 10 was passed.

“Act 10 was the first instance of power politics in the state of Wisconsin and it certainly polarized people,” Schultz said.

On the law's 10th anniversary, Walker said he still stood by the legislation.

"...It wasn't just about balancing the budget. It was about empowering the people who are duly elected to run our schools and our local governments, to be able to do that. And that's what we see now, even 10 years later," he said in the 2021 interview with Spectrum News.

Then in 2023, seven unions and three union leaders brought forward a lawsuit that argued the law should be struck down because it creates unconstitutional exemptions for firefighters and other public safety workers. 

Attorneys for the Legislature and state agencies countered that the exemptions are legal, have already been upheld by other courts, and that the case should be dismissed.

But Frost sided with the unions in July, saying the law violates equal protection guarantees in the Wisconsin Constitution by dividing public employees into “general” and “public safety” employees. He ruled that general employee unions, like those representing teachers, cannot be treated differently from public safety unions that were exempt from the law.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he looked forward to appealing the ruling.

“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Vos said in a statement.

Wisconsin Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu echoed Vos' calls for an appeal.

“For over a decade, liberal activists have attacked reforms that have saved Wisconsin taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. Despite Act 10 being upheld repeatedly by state and federal courts, an activist Dane County judge decided to issue a ruling suddenly deciding Wisconsin's law is unconstitutional. We will appeal this decision immediately,” LeMahieu said in a statement.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state's largest business lobbying organization, also decried the ruling.

“Act 10 is not only constitutional, it is a critical tool for policymakers and elected officials to balance budgets and find taxpayer savings," said WMC President Kurt Bauer. “Thanks to Act 10, the state, local governments and countless school districts have saved billions and billions of dollars — protecting Wisconsinites from massive tax increases over the last decade-plus.”

The Legislature said in court filings that arguments made in the current case were rejected in 2014 by the state Supreme Court. The only change since that ruling is the makeup of Wisconsin Supreme Court, attorneys for the Legislature argued.

The Act 10 law also led to a dramatic decrease in union membership across the state. The nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum said in a 2022 analysis that since 2000, Wisconsin had the largest decline in the proportion of its workforce that is unionized.

Read the full ruling below:

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.