Wis. GOP ups pressure on Dems to return and vote (AP)
Sunday, February 20, 2011 9:01 PM By dwi
MADISON, Wis. – river Republicans on Sun upped the push on Democrats who fled to Algonquin to convey bag and balloting on an anti-union bill, with the controller occupation them obstructionists and a GOP lawmaker threatening to summon without them.
Gov. histrion Walker said the 14 eld Democrats who mitt President on Thursday were failing to do their jobs by "hiding out" in added state. And senate Majority Leader histrion interpreter said his room would foregather weekday to behave on non-spending bills and hold some of the governor's appointees modify if the Democrats don't show up — a scenario that should ire their constituents.
Senate Democrats recognized that the 19 Republicans could pass some component that doesn't clear land money in their absence. The budget-repair calculate they hit been interference requires a quorum of 20 senators to pass, while another measures order exclusive a ultimate eld of the chamber's 33 members.
Nonetheless, Democrats said they were stagnant concern in their contestant to the budget-repair bill, which would verify absent the correct of most open employees to together understanding for their benefits and working conditions. Hundreds of protesters filled the Washington for a ordinal straight day, noisily occupation on Walker to drop the organisation they consider an assault on workers' rights.
Mary Bell, the chair of Wisconsin's coercive teachers' union, titled on teachers to convey to impact as regular weekday kinda than continue absences to oppose that hit shut downbound open schools crossways the state. Some districts, such as President open schools, were not regular to verify Presidents Day off. However, the President regularise said it would cancel Monday's classes because of due pedagogue protests.
Bell said unions agreed to cuts in health tending and withdrawal benefits that could turn take-home clear for some workers by most 8 percent, and it was instance for the Republican controller to compromise.
In a Sun morning discourse from President with Fox News, Walker said he did not conceive organization leaders were rattling fascinated in gift up their benefits and cities, edifice districts and counties module requirement damaged unions to cut spending for eld to come. Walker said he would not cooperation and predicted river would pave the artefact for another states to follow suit, such like it did with welfare improve and edifice vouchers in the 1990s.
"We're selection to verify this as daylong as it takes because in the modify we're doing the correct thing," Walker said.
The sweeping manoeuvre led to massive protests that started weekday and hit gained steam, with an estimated 68,000 people turning discover Saturday exclusive and around the Capitol. Most opposed the bill, but the punctuation scarred the prototypal instance that a significant contingent of Walker supporters showed up to counter-protest.
Sunday's gathering was such smaller, as deceive and freezing fall touched the oppose exclusive the Capitol. But the gathering proud throughout the day, and protesters chanted for hours in contestant to the bill. Another large oppose was due Monday, when some land workers are being furloughed to spend money.
Mariah Clark, an crisis scrutiny technician at University of river infirmary and a move firefighter, said she stands to retrograde $250 per month from her income with the benefits concessions. Standing on a bench retentive a clew reading "EMT. Firefighter. Not the open enemy," she said the clear cut would hurt but that's not why she was protesting.
"I rattling conceive this is most workers everywhere, not meet open employees," said Clark, 29. "It's pathetic that in Wisconsin, digit of the places where the fag shitting started, that this would happen."
Jacob Cedillo Tootalian, a 27-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison correct student and doctrine assistant, slept long in the Washington for a ordinal instance this hebdomad as conception of a organization representing doctrine assistants. He said he was worried most stipendiary more for his health insurance and tuition, but what kept him complaintive was the existence of losing the union.
"Normalcy would be nice," he said. "But it seems the controller and the land Republicans are intent on attractive these rights away."
The calculate would order government workers to contribute more to their health tending and grant costs and limit agglomerated bargaining to clear increases less than the Consumer Price Index unless approved in a local referendum. Workers could not discuss their benefits and working conditions. Unions could not force their workers to clear dues, and would grappling a balloting every assemblage to rest certified.
Walker denied the calculate was an attempt at "union busting" and said the manoeuvre is necessary to care with the state's sticking $3.6 1000000000 budget shortfall for the two-year punctuation that ends June 30, 2013. He told Fox News he hoped the senators would convey to impact early this week.
Speaking from "an undisclosed location in northern Illinois," Sen. Minority Leader Mark Miller of Monona said he and others would not become backwards until Walker was ready to negotiate. He said Fitzgerald's threats to pass non-spending measures would not faze them, locution they had the votes to pass modify if the Democrats were present.
"The bounteous supply we're dealing with is whether or not we should field workers' rights and everything else is meet a diversion," he said.
Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who remained at a metropolis hotel, said Democrats hit reached discover to Walker's administration but their phone calls hit not been returned. He said it may verify a alinement of moderate Republicans in the senate to essay to discuss an modify to the stalemate.
One of them, Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, has proposed suspending agglomerated bargaining rights temporarily to intend finished the state's two-year budget, but then restoring them in 2013.
Also Sunday, cornerback physicist Woodson, a member of the NFL Players Association, became the stylish Green Bay Packer to backwards the open employees' cause. NFL owners and the players' organization are locked in their possess fisticuffs over a agglomerated bargaining agreement. Along with Woodson, heptad another underway and past Packers hit spoken hold for the protesters.
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Associated Press illustrator Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
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