La Follette, a Democrat, said he was pleased with the ruling, adding he received a lot of pressure from supporters of the law urging him to publish it. "It seemed prudent and conservative to wait and see what the courts said, and it turns out I was right."

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the governor is still confident the legislation would become law soon.

State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, who was the only Democratic member present at the conference committee meeting, said the ruling "affirms that people have a right to be notified of meetings, to be present, in order to be able to participate in our democracy."

Barca was given just minutes to read a 138-page amended version of the bill before the Republican-controlled committee passed it over his objections.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who is also suing the state to block the bill from becoming law, congratulated Ozanne for his suit, which she said protects "the need for open, honest government from a governor and Republican legislators who have trampled those values."

In her decision, Sumi said she was making no judgment on the merits of the bill and was deciding only the open meetings issue.