Category: State news

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his Republican allies may have imagined that the insufficient debates, inappropriate votes, flagrant violations of open meeting laws, threats and general legislative lawlessness used to pass his plan to strip public workers and teachers of their collective bargaining rights would finally silence the opposition. But when the state Assembly finally voted Thursday to approve a version of Walker?s draconian proposal, following Wednesday night?s surprise state Senate vote, the people who have for four weeks campaigned to ?kill the bill? kept on coming — hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, rallying, marching, banging on the doors of the state Capitol in Madison and chanting: ?Let us in! Let us in!?

MADISON (WKOW) — After hours of debate, the state Assembly has passed a bill ending most collective bargaining rights for most public employees.

Quoted: Although Wisconsin has traditionally had liberal and conservative forces, “usually the discourse is much more civil and deliberate, even when there are differences in public policy,” said Dennis Dresang, founding director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “If this can happen in Wisconsin, it can happen anywhere.”

The Republican-dominated state Assembly passed on Thursday the controversial bill that would take away most collective bargaining rights from public workers.

A day of turmoil at the state Capitol wrapped up Thursday afternoon, with the state Assembly giving final approval to a modified version of the Governor?s budget repair bill. The bill passed on a 53-42 vote, despite numerous calls from Democrats to stop an assault on middle class families by removing many collective bargaining rights from public employees.

State Senate Republicans removed all fiscal items from the budget repair bill, avoiding the need for a quorum, and passed limits on collective bargaining Wednesday, sparking massive protests and raising questions of constitutionality.

Wisconsin Senate Democrats who fled to Illinois three weeks ago are coming back.

Shortly after Senate Republicans? surprise vote Wednesday to eliminate most collective bargaining rights for most public employees, protesters started collecting signatures from citizens in preparation for filing an open meetings complaint. It is not yet clear where these complaints will be filed, but former Attorney General Pat Lautenschlager said they can be filed with either the Dane County District Attorney?s Office or the Attorney General?s Office.

Hundreds of people waiting to get inside the State Capitol Thursday morning were stymied as law enforcement officers gathered to assess how to handle the throng of protesters at the building.

Wisconsin State Journal reporter Mary Spicuzza was outside the King Street doors at the scheduled 8 a.m. opening time. “They were all chanting ?It?s 8 a.m., let us in,?” Spicuzza said.

State Rep. Mark Pocan, a Madison Democrat and the former co-chair of the legislative Joint Finance Committee, says he is starting to feel as if he lives in a ?third world junta.

State Sen. Bob Jauch, a senior Democrat, says that what he is witnessing feels like ?a coup.? And thousands of Wisconsinites have poured into the state Capitol in Madison, shouting: ?Shame! Shame! Shame!?

Thousands of protesters rushed to the state Capitol Wednesday night, forcing their way through doors, crawling through windows and jamming corridors, as word spread of hastily called votes on Gov. Scott Walker?s controversial bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers. The budget repair bill was stalled in the Senate since the body?s 14 Democrats fled Wisconsin on Feb. 17 in a desperate gambit to slow or stop passage of the measure, which affects about 175,000 public employees. Representatives of the union that represents blue-collar, technical and safety officers at UW-Madison said the possibility of a general strike has been discussed.

MADISON (WKOW) — 27 News? crews inside the Capitol say at least one door to the Capitol remains open. Protesters are beating drums as they chant against Gov. Walker?s bill which ends most collective bargaining rights for most public workers. A modified version of the bill passed the Senate tonight, and the Assembly is expected to vote on the measure Thursday morning.

MADISON (WKOW) — Protesters converged on the Capitol as soon as word spread that Senate Republicans passed a bill taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, but the building was supposed to close at 6 PM.

Thousands of people poured into the state Capitol following a surprise vote by state Senate Republicans to pass elements of a bill taking away most collective bargaining rights from public workers.

Following the Senate?s vote on a stripped down version of the budget repair bill, massive crowds began converging on the State Capitol in protest. Those not already in the building when the Senate began taking action though were left locked outdoors initially. However, just after 8pm, doors were opened by those still inside the Capitol and thousands began rushing in to the building.

The bitter political standoff in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker?s bid to sharply curtail collective bargaining for public-sector workers ended abruptly Wednesday night as Republican colleagues in the State Senate successfully maneuvered to adopt a bill doing just that.

Gov. Scott Walker?s office released documents Tuesday showing he?s willing to give on some points of his union bargaining bill to break the Capitol standoff and bring Senate Democrats back from Illinois.

The e-mails showed ideas and counteroffers – panned Tuesday by state labor leaders and some Democrats – that were made by the Republican governor?s aides and two Democrats as they sought some resolution that would allow Democrats to come back to Wisconsin. Senate Democrats have been holed up in Illinois since Feb. 17, when they left the state to block a vote on Walker?s budget-repair bill.

Quoted: But University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said that while it certainly shows the group was ready to go right out of the gates, it doesn?t mean Walker?s administration is working with them.

It?s hard to imagine any team in the state capable of matching up with the new starting 11 representing the University of Wisconsin-Madison. No, we?re not talking about the Badger football team.

A UW-Madison political scientist says the recall efforts launched against 16 state Senators are unlike anything ever seen before.

At the second New Badger Partnership forum this month, Chancellor Biddy Martin answered questions and provided more specifics concerning the proposed public authority status for UW-Madison Tuesday.

Noted: Fewer than two dozen of the 182,000 students in the University of Wisconsin system have used the program, said university spokesman David Giroux. The Wisconsin Technical College System did an informal survey last fall of how many undocumented immigrants were paying instate tuition, “and there were virtually none,” said spokeswoman Morna Foy.