State Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Milwaukee Residency Requirements

Milwaukee police and firefighters are asking the state Supreme Court to force the city to abide by a 2013 law that prohibits local governments from requiring city employees to live within city limits.

In oral arguments on Wednesday, Milwaukee city attorney Miriam Horwitz told the court that the law unfairly targets the city, and that the state constitution’s Home Rule Amendment gives the city the right to set residency rules for its employees.

A state appeals court agreed with the city’s argument last year. However, attorney Jonathan Cermele, who represented the city firefighters, asked the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, saying it creates “a state within a state.”

“As a result of this decision below, the municipalities, especially the city of Milwaukee, now has co-equal powers with the state of Wisconsin,” he argued. “That has never been the law. It never should be the law.”

Union officials for the police and firefighters say they’re confident a majority of the justices will rule that state law pre-empts the city’s ordinance requiring them to live in the city.