Gov. Scott Walker has indicated he may be willing to compromise on the budget repair bill, according to e-mail correspondence with two Democratic senators his office released Tuesday. 

Walker’s staff have been engaging in e-mail discussion with Senators Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, and Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, since last week about possibly easing some of the provisions restricting collective bargaining rights. Walker spokesperson Cullen Werwie said the discussions were held to provide the missing Democrats a pathway home.

Changes include allowing public union employees to bargain for workplace safety and for wages without being limited by the inflation rate. Labor members could also bargain on mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and calendar and classroom size.

Other changes being floated include limiting labor contracts to one or two years, allowing union members to vote every three years to maintain certification instead of annually and requiring public hearings on rules created by the Department of Health Services.

The governor has said in previous press conferences he was working with a few reasonable Democratic senators who disagreed with party leadership and wanted to return to Wisconsin. It became clear the governor had been alluding to Cullen and Jauch after the e-mails were released.

But Jauch said he never intended to come back and Walker was trying to make political gains by saying otherwise.

“[…] Gov. Walker’s identification of Sen. Cullen and me was intended to use us as a wedge in public opinion and showed he was not seriously interested in achieving a meaningful solution,” Jauch said in a statement.

Although the two Democratic senators were communicating with Walker through his staff, Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said the correspondence was not negotiation and in no way represented the collective opinion of all 14 Democrats currently in Illinois.

“Anyone can enter into a discussion; that doesn’t mean it’s negotiating,” Risser said. “[Cullen and Jauch] said they were discussing items with Walker because they did not have the power to negotiate.”

Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, D-Monona, is the only person who is authorized to negotiate on behalf of the 14 senators, Risser said, and the senators are solidly behind Miller despite the governor claiming a rift exists.