Mar 9, 2011

Wisconsin Senate Finds a Loophole

Wisconsin Senate Advances Bill Opposed by Unions

Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" -- a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.

The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends no money, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved the bill a short time later.

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Makes me wonder why they hadn't just done this in the first place? Well, that ends in a neat little package doesn't it? No loose ends, no hard feelings. Right? If only the Unions had someone in the Statehouse working for them to prevent such a thing from happening... or better, had knocked on doors and campaigned for such representatives to help them fight the legislative battle for them.

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