{"id":19088,"date":"2012-11-29T13:04:05","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T18:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=19088"},"modified":"2012-11-29T13:04:05","modified_gmt":"2012-11-29T18:04:05","slug":"home-rule-begins-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2012\/11\/home-rule-begins-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Rule Begins At Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In Wisconsin, the Home Rule Amendment<\/a> to the Wisconsin Constitution grants cities and villages the power to determine their local affairs and government, subject only to the constitution itself and uniform legislative enactments of statewide concern.\u00a0 The Wisconsin Supreme Court has recognized that the Home Rule Amendment serves not only to empower cities and villages, but also to curtail the power of the state legislature to act within the sphere of local affairs.\u00a0 Van Gilder v. City of Madison<\/em>, 267 N.W. 25 (1936).\u00a0 The job of defining the proper province of constitutional home rule authority (i.e., what constitutes a matter of \u201clocal affairs and government\u201d or a matter of \u201cstatewide concern\u201d) falls to the courts and, not surprisingly, it is no easy task.\u00a0 Given the concurrent interest of state and local government in many governmental functions, one<\/a> may argue that such functions cannot be so classified except by arbitrary reasoning.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the difficulty in defining its exact reach, local home rule is worth preserving and worth defending.\u00a0 Fundamentally, local home rule supports the development of a vigorous urban democracy.\u00a0 McQuillan, The Law of Municipal Corporations \u00a7 1.46 (3d ed. 2010).\u00a0 Local home rule fosters a sense of civic responsibility<\/a> by requiring citizens to become more educated and involved in community affairs.\u00a0 Furthermore, by keeping governmental power as close as possible to the people, we aim to prevent the abuse or unnecessary expansion of such power.\u00a0 This notion of a decentralized government<\/a> is, in fact, essential to our American philosophy and ideal of government.<\/p>\n

There are other, more practical reasons why it makes sense to preserve local home rule authority. First, each community possesses its own unique strengths and challenges and so each should have the freedom to choose the structures and functions that best fit the needs and circumstances of its citizens.\u00a0 Second, local control (unhampered by state interference) allows government to maximize responsiveness to its citizenry.\u00a0 Third, local home rule also promotes legislative efficiency at the state level by relieving the state of the burden of managing local affairs, thereby allowing the state to focus on matters that are truly of statewide concern.\u00a0 And finally, home rule \u201cremoves from the state legislature the temptation to interfere with [local] affairs for reasons of partisan politics, spoils or corruption.\u201d\u00a0 McQuillan, supra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Although local home rule is an often overlooked component of our urban democracy, it is nevertheless central to its efficient operation and prosperity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Wisconsin, the Home Rule Amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution grants cities and villages the power to determine their local affairs and government, subject only to the constitution itself and uniform legislative enactments of statewide concern.\u00a0 The Wisconsin Supreme Court has recognized that the Home Rule Amendment serves not only to empower cities and villages, 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