Wisconsin taxpayers to pay half the cost of redistricting consultants hired by Supreme Court

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin taxpayers will pay half of the $128,000 bill submitted by redistricting consultants hired by the state’s Supreme Court for the work they did reviewing proposed legislative maps, the liberal majority of the court ordered Monday.

Conservative justices dissented, sharply criticizing the majority for hiring the consultants and not divulging more information about the work they did and details of the charges. They called the court’s order a “brazen imposition of judicial will.”

The court hired a pair of redistricting consultants to review maps submitted by Republicans and Democrats after it tossed out Republican-drawn maps as unconstitutional. After the consultants determined that the Republican submissions were partisan gerrymanders, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

He signed them into law in February, giving Democrats a path to possibly gaining majority control of the Legislature after more than a decade in the minority.

The Supreme Court in its order Monday ruled that the costs will be evenly shared by the parties in the case, which included six groups that submitted proposed maps. The parties on the hook for the money include Evers, Republican and Democratic legislators — all funded by taxpayers — as well as three groups of voters, which were represented by private attorneys.

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