Flynn v. Dep't of Admin

In Flynn v. Dep't of Admin., 216 Wis. 2d 521, 576 N.W.2d 245, 257 (Wis. 1998), a continuing appropriation was made by the legislature to the judiciary to fund a program that involved the automation of court's information system. Id. at 248. Any unused funds were carried over into the following year and combined with any additional appropriation. Id. at 249. The legislature subsequently passed a statute that lapsed a portion of the judiciary's excess appropriation back into the general fund. Id. The court upheld the statute, finding that "the legislature may lapse . . . funds to the general purpose revenue fund only if such lapse does not unduly burden or substantially interfere with the judiciary." Id. at 257. The burden rests with the challenger to prove that the lapsing creates an undue burden or substantial interference in the functioning of another branch. Id. at 257-58.