After Republican leaders adjourned the last Assembly session to let the minority party craft amendments, the chamber finally reconvened Tuesday and the Democrats brought with them more than 100 amendments to the governor’s budget repair bill.
At the start of the session, Democrats introduced 25 amendments, had 25 more waiting to be introduced and there could be others still being drafted, said Assembly Minority Leader Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha.
“We do have 100 amendments, and the reason is to dissect the bill and let people know what’s really in it,” Barca said.
The amendments Democrats drafted include modifying the bill to disallow taking the collective bargaining rights from workers paid by the federal government and for public transit workers who, if they are without bargaining authority, could cause the state to lose $40 million in federal transit aid, Barca said.
Another amendment is being drafted to modify the provision that would allow no-bid sales of public power plants to private companies, said Kevin Benish, a spokesperson for Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee.
Democrats talked on each amendment at length. Only three of the first 25 introduced had been discussed as of press time.
Even before debate on the Democrats’ amendments began, minority party members delayed the Assembly proceedings with speeches about the bill and calls for the suspension of some members on the Republican side of the Assembly.
Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, called for the removal of the Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, for his decision to begin last Friday’s session before the scheduled time, making a “mockery” of the legislative process, Jorgensen said.
Republicans are largely in favor of the bill and have made no gesture that they would be willing to accept a Democratic amendment. All the amendments heard were rejected with unanimous Republican votes.
At 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Assembly reconvened following a Democratic caucus.
Senate Session
Senate Republicans Tuesday voted to withhold the paychecks of the 14 missing Democrats and convened a session to pass non-fiscal items as ways to put pressure on the Democrats to come back.
The paycheck provision passed through the Senate Committee on Organization with three positive votes and two negative votes, which Democrats sent via fax.
The Senate took up commending the Green Bay Packers on their Super Bowl win, dairy and livestock farm investment credits and the appointment of Eloise Anderson for Department of Children and Families secretary, according to the Senate calendar.
“[Eloise Anderson] has been a mother in any way possible – biological, adoptive and foster,” Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, said.
The missing Democrats have been gone since last Thursday, when they fled the state to block a vote on a bill they said would destroy collective bargaining rights. Fiscal bills like the governor’s budget repair bill can not be passed without at least one Democrat.
Missing Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said Tuesday his colleagues would not come back until bargaining rights for public employee union members are guaranteed.
Fireside Chat
Gov. Scott Walker gave a “fireside chat” Tuesday night in which he spoke to Wisconsinites about his decision to keep moving forward on the budget repair bill and told personal stories from supporters across the state.
“A substitute teacher from right here in Madison wrote to me just last week about having to sit at home unable to work because her union had shut her school down to protest,” Walker said. “She sent me an e-mail that said, ‘I was given no choice but to join a union, and I’m forced to pay dues. I’m missing out on pay today. I feel like I have no voice.”
He added that the collective bargaining system is broken and costs taxpayers serious money, especially at the local level.
Democrats responded critically to the governor’s speech. Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, said she did not hear Walker say that on Friday public workers across the state agreed to the financial concessions asked for in the bill.
A recent Gallup poll shows 61 percent of Americans would not support a public union law similar to the one proposed by Walker.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report
