Two bills concerning jobs and employers’ rights which caused disagreement between Democratic and Republican senators were eventually passed at a floor meeting that addressed both special session and regular session legislation.

The first bill addressed at Thursday’s meeting, introduced by Sen. Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee, is a part of the special session on jobs. The bill addresses the factors for determining the reasonableness of attorney fees and limiting those fees.

The bill states that the fees an attorney receives in a civil case cannot exceed three times the amount of damage fees under dispute.

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, and other Democratic senators opposed the bill, but offered amendments.

“This bill is another one of those where the ‘Big Brother’ state takes over and tells independent people what to do,” Risser said.

Sen. Zipperer, author of the bill, said each party in a court case is responsible for their own costs of litigation. He said, however, there are many exceptions, and for the most part they favor the plaintiff.

Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, spoke against the bill but did not vote against it.

“This bill shifts the center of justice away from people of modest means to those of wealth,” Grothman said.

Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said not only small business and consumers, but also law offices themselves will be affected.

She said smaller law offices that do not deal with huge claims will be hurt by this bill. The number of hours, attorneys and actions needed for specific cases cannot have a blanket rate of fees.

A statement from the State Bar of Wisconsin said the bill undermines the right of individuals to be protected by the justice system.

The State Bar statement said that limiting attorneys’ fees would only slow down the legal process and further delay resolution of cases.

Another bill passed Thursday, sponsored by Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and other Republicans, give education agencies the ability to determine to hire or fire someone based on their past criminal records for felonies.

Darling, the author of the bill, said it should be possible for a school to fire or not hire based on felonies if they choose.

“The goal is to protect students in our schools,” Darling said. “We want to have schools in the best position to hire and fire as possible.”

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, said one of the biggest concerns was the reentry of felons into society and making sure they transition back to fully participating as citizens.

Most prisoners in the state have re-offended since being released, Vinehout said, which suggests the current system is not efficient in reintegrating former felons into society.

Taylor agreed with Vinehout about the reintegration of criminals into society.

“Restorative justice is something I thought we were beginning to get in Wisconsin,” Taylor said.

She said this bill sets a standard that takes away from encouraging restoration and that this is not useful in our justice system.

Darling said the bill is not meant to prevent felons from working in schools.

“The bill is meant to give employers the right to see the whole record,” Darling said.