Tensions erupted in the Senate chambers Tuesday afternoon after Democratic and Republican members of the legislature lashed out at one another.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, D-Monona, said it was appropriate to assess how Wisconsin fared under the past 12 months as the anniversary of Gov. Scott Walker’s contentious budget repair bill approaches. He critiqued Walker for departing from the routes taken by the formerly Democrat-controlled Senate and Gov. Jim Doyle, who he said were creating jobs.

“Wisconsin was keeping pace with the slow national economic recovery,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, the Walker administration chose not to go with what was working, and instead embarked on an extreme and ideological agenda that reversed Wisconsin’s progress in job creation.”

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, disagreed with Miller and said 167,000 manufacturing jobs were lost under Doyle.

He also said the Republican Party did not create the current partisanship and that Democrats have, citing the four recall efforts launched against Republican senators. He added Democrats have not provided any new solutions for job creation.

“I love that you guys all took 10 minutes to write down a speech and blast the majority, but I didn’t hear any solutions,” Fitzgerald said. “I didn’t hear one new idea. Not one.”

Still, the Senate found common ground as it unanimously approved legislation Tuesday prohibiting public school employees from using physical restraint or seclusion to punish pupils.

The bill primarily prohibits an employee of a public school from using seclusion or physical restraint on a student unless the student’s behavior presents a danger to the physical safety of other people.

“We are here today to pass this bill because of the different players that got together realizing this is an important issue,” said Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “Sometimes it’s necessary for physical restraint; sometimes it’s necessary for seclusion. But we need to do it right so we can protect the students and the adults that work with them.”

Olsen said the bill has been a contentious issue for around 16 years and nobody could agree on how to address these issues.

He said he was pleased the Legislature worked with disability rights groups, the Department of Public Instruction, and school administrators to create an easily understandable bill, which will give people the information they need to know when applicable situations arise.

Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who introduced the bill with Olsen, asked for bipartisanship support on the measure.

“It has been many years since this [became] an issue and I think what is so important is that students are safe in our public schools as well as the staff, and that parents know what is happening with their students,” Lassa said.