IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says the state doesn’t have to honor a contract negotiated with a union representing University of Iowa nurses before the new anti-collective bargaining law was signed. District Judge Jeffrey Farrell ruled Thursday that the contract with Service Employees International Union isn’t binding because the Board of Regents never voted to ratify it.

The union represents 3,500 nurses and other workers at UI Hospitals and Clinics. The union voted to accept the regents’ last offer in February, days before Gov. Terry Branstad signed the law cutting the ability of most public-sector unions to negotiate benefits and workplace conditions. But the regents then refused to formally approve the contract, which guaranteed two-percent raises in each of the next two years and flexible schedules.

On Nov. 28, Judge Michael Huppert ruled the state must honor a similar last-minute contract with the Iowa United Professionals union.