219 Wis. 31 | Wis. | 1935
Under ch. 459, Laws of 1921, a contract relation exists between the state and the teachers in the edu
Mr. Stafford did not belong to that group. He had an interest in the teachers’ retirement fund provided for in ch. 323, Laws of 1911. Under that chapter, his right to participate matured upon his retirement. There was no provision for a death benefit, nor was there any provision made whereby amounts paid into the fund by Stafford ($37.94) could be returned to his estate. Had Mr. Stafford retired from teaching, he would have been entitled to receive an annuity for life. He continued teaching, and therefore his interest never matured into an established claim. The fund was discharged of any liability to him at the time of his death. The provisions of ch. 459, Laws of 1921, are limited to those teachers
Ch. 417, Laws of 1933, is an invalid enactment. It is an attempt by the legislature to appropriate to a stranger to the fund money belonging to those teachers who are presently members of the teachers’ retirement system. Their interest exists by virtue of their contract with the state as evidenced by the provisions and requirements of ch. 459, Laws of 1921. To interfere with such rights acquired by virtue of that contract is to take something of value from the rightful owner in an unlawful way. The demurrer to the return is overruled because ch. 417, Laws of 1933, offends against sec. 12, art. I, of the constitution of the state of Wisconsin, wherein the people of this state have forbidden their representatives to enact “any law impairing the obligation of contracts,” and sec. 10, art. I, of the constitution of the United States, reading: “No state shall . . . pass any . . . law impairing the obligation of contracts.”
By the Court. — Demurrer overruled, and writ denied.