Wis. GOP won't enforce contempt citation

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MADISON, Wis., March 15 (UPI) -- Republican leaders in the Wisconsin state Senate said Tuesday they will not enforce a contempt finding against Democrats.

Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Senate President Mike Ellis made the announcement Tuesday, a day after Fitzgerald said Senate Democrats would be unable to vote in committee until the contempt citation is lifted, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Fitzgerald said until the full Senate meets, Democrats would be unable to participate in votes, although they could attend committee meetings and take part in debate.

"The name of the game is moving this state forward, putting this stuff behind us," Ellis said. "Let's get on with the people's business. Let's stop all the bickering."

The 14 Democrats fled to Illinois to deny Republican Gov. Scott Walker a quorum for a controversial bill limiting collective bargaining. Republicans were able to pass the bill without a quorum by stripping out financial provisions, using a parliamentary tactic that Democrats say violated the state's open-meeting law.

Walker introduced a $1.1 billion two-year capital budget Monday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The governor cut spending on infrastructure by 28.8 percent from the current $1.6 billion capital budget.

Walker removed some projects and postponed others. The capital budget will be merged into the operating budget the governor introduced March 1.