Wis. Senate Dems, Republicans begin reconciling
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin state senators started to take steps toward reconciliation Tuesday following the Democrats' decision to flee the state for three weeks to block passage of a bill taking away most collective bargaining rights from public workers.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he would rescind contempt orders placed against the Democrats when they were gone, a step that will allow Democrats to have their votes in committee action counted once again.
"It was an essential first step if we're going to be able to move forward," said Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Mark Miller. "It needed to be done."
Senate Republicans voted earlier this month to find the Democrats in contempt as one of a series of steps designed to pressure them to return. Those penalties included imposing $100 fines for each session day Democrats missed, authorizing police to detain the senators if seen in Wisconsin and taking away their staff members' access to copying machines. The fines were only in effect for one day.
Fitzgerald admitted at a Tuesday news conference that most of the steps, like taking away senators' parking spots, were "not significant enough," to force them to return.
The Democrats returned on their own accord to attend a Capitol rally on Saturday, the day after Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill. They hid out in Illinois for three weeks to deny Senate Republicans a quorum and block passage of the proposal that takes away nearly all collective bargaining rights for most state workers.
Fitzgerald said he felt comfortable rescinding the contempt finding and taking away the other penalties after receiving assurances from Democrats they won't flee the state again.
"The name of the game is moving the state forward, putting this stuff behind us," said Republican Senate President Mike Ellis.
In a sign Democrats may also want to work to move beyond the standoff that gripped the nation's attention, one of the 14 senators who fled made a surprising proposal Tuesday.
Sen. Tim Cullen drafted a constitutional amendment that would remove the requirement that 20 senators need to be present in order to vote on any budget bill that spends money.
That requirement allowed the absence of the Democrats to stop the 19 remaining Republicans from acting on Walker's emergency budget bill that included the collective bargaining changes.
Republicans eventually removed the spending items and passed the bill without the Democrats last week. A court hearing was scheduled for Friday on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of how the Senate managed to pass the law without the Democrats present.
Under Cullen's proposal, Republicans would have been able to vote on the bill when they originally intended, three weeks earlier, even without the Democrats.
Cullen's proposal would have to be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions and by voters in a statewide referendum.
He did not immediately return messages seeking comment, but Fitzgerald said he supported the concept.
"I like the idea of making sure this never happens again," he said.