MADISON, Wis., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature got back to work Tuesday amid heightened security and continued refusal by Democrats to show up.
Fourteen Democratic senators fled across the Illinois border to prevent the state Senate from having a quorum necessary to address a budget-repair bill that would strip most unionized public workers of most collective bargaining rights. The House also lacked a quorum, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Gov. Scott Walker planned to address the state Tuesday evening. He said as many as 1,500 state employees could receive layoff notices if the budget dispute is not resolved.
"I am not negotiating over the budget because the budget is broke," Walker told MSNBC. The state is facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit.
Related
Republicans hoped to pressure Democrats into returning by bringing up a bill requiring people to show a photo ID to vote -- a measure for which a quorum is not necessary and one strongly opposed by Democrats.
The South Center Federation of Labor Tuesday endorsed the idea of a general strike if the budget repair bill is passed, WISC-TV, Madison, reported.
Defendwisconsin.org called on University of Wisconsin system faculty to march on the Capitol Wednesday.
Thousands of protesters -- many of them public school teachers -- conducted a week of demonstrations inside the Capitol and on its grounds. Milwaukee Public Schools said Tuesday they would have to add a makeup day at the end of the school year to makeup for lost time, WISN-TV, Milwaukee, reported, adding a number of other districts also were planning to add on makeup days.
Republicans said the layoffs would happen if the state misses a chance to refinance bonds and save more than $100 million.
This could happen, he said, because Democratic state senators fled to Illinois last week to block passage of his controversial collective-bargaining bill.
The Senate needs a quorum of 20 or more members to decide spending issues, including Walker's budget bill. This means the Senate's 19 Republicans need one of the body's 14 Democrats to be present before they can act.
Other measures need only a majority of the chamber's 33 members, and Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau said his colleagues would take up those matters starting Tuesday.
The Capitol drama marked its seventh day Monday with thousands of protesters filling the rotunda and Statehouse grounds.
Monday's protests were dominated by those opposed to the bill, after a weekend of demonstrations -- including an estimated 70,000 people Saturday -- that also included a small number of austerity-measure supporters.
In Ohio, union officials said they expected as many as 20,000 protesters Tuesday at the Statehouse in Columbus where a legislative panel is considering a Republican-backed bill similar to Wisconsin's that would restrict collective-bargaining rights for about 400,000 public employees. Republican Gov. John Kasich supports the bill.
In Indianapolis Monday, thousands of steelworkers, autoworkers and other labor activists marched on the state Capitol to protest a bill to dramatically weaken the clout of private-sector unions.
