Republicans pushed a provision stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights through the state Senate Wednesday evening by separating it from Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget bill.Now the fun really begins. Lefty heads are popping all over Wisconsin (and Northern Illinois). There's no longer any reason for the Fleebaggers to stay away.
The action would have the effect of rendering moot a Democratic attempt to keep the provision from passing the Senate. The vote in the Senate was 18-1. No Democrats were present.
All 14 Democrats had left the state to prevent passage of the overall budget bill in opposition to the collective bargaining rights. Because the union provision was part of a budget bill, Republicans in the Senate needed at least one Democrat to be present for a quorum to allow a vote.
Before the Senate floor vote, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald read the bill to a hastily created joint conference committee. Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, objected, saying the committee's meeting was in violation of the state's open meetings law. But Fitzgerald went ahead with the vote, which was seen live on WisconsinEye, and the measure was approved.
Was this legal? Yep. Previous court decisions had said that measures involving collective bargaining were not considered fiscal measures requiring the larger quorum Gov. Walker had chosen to leave it in the budget repair bill because he considers it part of his fiscal fix for Wisconsin.
UPDATE: Word is that Fleebaggers are starting to head home. Radio host Mark Belling has an interesting thought - this could a Rope-a-Dope:
Belling opines that this may not be signed by Gov. Walker and this is a way threaten the 14 missing senators to get back to work or he will sign it. I hope he does sign it, get the collective bargaining restrictions and other union excesses reigned in.Once they have the required Senate quorum the union stuff could be put back in the original bill and passed as originally intended. That would pretty much kill any legal challenges.
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2 comments:
Some people don't seem to realize the value of unions. Wages and benefits of nonunion jobs are better because of the unions. The employers know that to keep their workers from unionizing they must offer wages and benefits at least close to what the unions receive. Do unions sometimes seem greedy and corrupt? Perhaps. But they are nothing compared to our government leaders such as Walker. Think about what it costs to get elected and compare that to what the job pays. Most campaign contributi¬ons come from big business. We now have the best government money can buy.
And, of course, this is WHY the unions donate to Dems, so they can negotiate with a wholly-owned associate.
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