In 2011, as assistant attorney general, Lazar defended Wisconsin’s Act 10, which took negotiation powers away from public employees’ unions, and made it more difficult for the unions to even exist.
During Susan Crawford’s 2025 run for Wisconsin Supreme Court, Lazar expressed concern that, since Crawford argued on the “other side” of Act 10, she would “decide what’s right for Wisconsin, not what’s legal.” However, Lazar said she would not recuse herself from a case regarding the constitutionality of Act 10 should she be elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Lazar claimed she only defended whether Act 10 had been “properly enacted” and was not involved in defending the “merits” of the law.
2011: Lazar Defended Governor Walker’s Measure Limiting Collective Bargaining For Public Employees. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, “A hearing to bar implementation of Gov. Scott Walker's measure limiting collective bargaining for public employees will go ahead Friday with or without state legislators named in an open meetings lawsuit filed Wednesday by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. […] Assistant Attorney General Steven Kilpatrick, who is representing the state in the case along with Assistant Attorney General Maria Lazar, said he has not heard from any of the legislators that they plan to waive their immunity privilege.” [Wisconsin State Journal, 3/17/11]
Wisconsin’s Act 10 Took Away Unions’ Powers To Negotiate Anything Other Than Wages, Including Health Care, Pension Benefits, Or Working Conditions. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, “For unions covered by Act 10, the changes were massive. For one, it took away their power to negotiate over anything but wages, and it limited any raises to the rate of inflation. No longer could unions covered by the law negotiate changes over things like health care, pension benefits or working conditions.” [Wisconsin Public Radio, 12/4/24]
Wisconsin’s Act 10 Made It More Difficult For Unions To Organize And Even Exist, As It Banned Unions From Deducting Dues From Employees’ Paychecks And Increased The Majority Vote Threshold To Establish A Union. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, “The law also banned unions from deducting dues from employees’ paychecks. This undercut their funding and their ability to organize. And it made it more difficult for unions to even exist. Previously, a union could be established by receiving a majority vote in a certification election. Act 10 changed that threshold to a majority vote of all the members who would be covered by the union. ‘That turns out to be very hard to get a majority that way because even if everyone says yes, a lot of people don’t vote,’ said Jason Stein, who covered Act 10 as a journalist and cowrote a book on the law.” [Wisconsin Public Radio, 12/4/24]
November 2025: Lazar Claimed She Did Not Defend The Merits Of Act 10 As Assistant Attorney General, But Only Defended Whether Or Not The Law “Had Been Properly Enacted.” According to WMTV15 News, “VK: You previously served as an Assistant Attorney General... One of the biggest cases that you worked on was defending parts of Act 10. ML: And I can correct that. VK: Sure. ML: So it wasn’t really defending Act 10, it was defending whether or not it was a law... So when I was assigned to the case about Act 10, it was representing Doug LaFollette, secretary of state, and whether or not the law had been properly enacted. And then once it got to the merits of Act 10, it went to that other assistant attorney general.” [WMTV15 News, 11/11/25]
2025: Lazar Said She Was Concerned With Susan Crawford Joining The Wisconsin Supreme Court Due To Her Involvement Against Act 10, Claiming Crawford Would “Decide What's Right For Wisconsin, Not What's Legal” Which Was “Turning The Independent Judiciary On Its Head.” According to Maria Lazar on The Meg Ellefson Show, “Well, the interesting thing about Susan Crawford is when I was at the attorney general's office, one of the cases I worked on was Act 10 and Susan Crawford was on the other side, which I was. And that, to make it clear, was just the first Act 10. And there are about four of them. And I dealt with whether or not it was properly published as a law, and she was on the other side and then continued on to challenge those, challenge what is what Act 10 stood for and where it stands for the state of Wisconsin. So her positions have been a little bit well, we'll say to the Left. Watching her now. My concerns are that she, even in her own words, in her own ads, she says that she is going to decide what's right for Wisconsin, not what's legal, and that what's the rule of law, what's right for Wisconsin, which is turning the independent judiciary on its head.” [Maria Lazar Interview – The Meg Ellefson Show, 2/25/25] (AUDIO)