A new bill designed to repair the current budget shortfall in Wisconsin proposes the elimination of most collective bargaining rights for state employees, but base wage negotiations would remain intact.

Gov. Scott Walker introduced the bill Friday, which places severe limitations on collective bargaining rights, a process of negotiations between an employer and a union to reach agreements on working conditions and wages.

The bill would limit rights for state employee unions and freeze wages in current collective bargaining agreements.

“State and local employees could continue to bargain for base pay; they would not be able to bargain over other compensation measures,” Walker said at a press conference.

The bill would be a restriction on bargaining rights, not a repeal, said Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater.

Under current law, state and municipal employees can collectively bargain over wages, working conditions and hours, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

“State and public employees can still negotiate their base wages,” said Rep. Michelle Litjens, R-Vinland. “Salaries are not being cut.”

The government has already started notifying state employee unions.

In a letter, the Office of Employment Relations notified the Wisconsin State Employees Union that five contract extensions, covering the majority of state employees, could be terminated on March 13.

For employees currently under contract, the majority of changes would take place at their expiration, which Mikalsen said could be as early as April 1.

He also said long-term contracts with built-in wage increases for the current fiscal year would be frozen until they can be recalculated to comply with the new law.

The bill would not restrict local law enforcement, state troopers and fire employees’ bargaining rights, as those institutions’ workers are protective service employees and already operate under different bargaining laws, according to Mikalsen.

Although employees who are unionized would still be able to bargain for base wages, Mikalsen said employee benefits would no longer be negotiable and wage increases would have a cap determined by the consumer price index.

The CPI cap protects taxpayers, Mikalsen said.

The percentage of salary increase requested by any general employee can be no more than the percentage change in the consumer price index, or the rate of inflation. To request a wage increase above the state CPI, local voters must pass a referendum, according to the LRB.

By the end of the current fiscal year on Jun. 30, Mikalsen said the provisions of the bill would save the state $30 million.

American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin spokesperson Jill Bakken argued that the provisions of the bill will destroy 50 years of peaceful labor negotiations.

“State employees are shocked and bewildered about how 50 years of labor peace can be unraveled by a governor who has been in office for six weeks,” Bakken said.

If Walker chooses not to implement any of the changes negotiated in the bill, Mikalsen said the governor will have no choice but to permanently lay off state employees to close the budget deficit, estimated at $3.6 billion for the next biennium starting July 1.

Walker maintained the bill is a difficult but necessary action, saying in a letter to state employees, “The path to long term financial solvency for our state requires shared sacrifices from everyone.”

The bill was to be introduced to the Legislature today, followed by a week of scheduled hearings.