Network partners react to Wisconsin “budget repair” bill

Late on Wednesday, the Wisconsin State Senate passed a modified version of the “budget repair bill” removing the fiscal items and passing a bill to strip collective bargaining rights from some public unions in the state. Previously, because the bill also contained fiscal items, it could not  be voted on without a quorum of 20. When the 14 Democratic Senators left  the state, the 19 remaining Republican Senators could not vote on the  bill as it was.

With little public notice, the remaining Republican senators reintroduced the bill without fiscal items, and passed it through the chamber within minutes at a vote of 18-1. The bill now heads to the state Assembly for a vote on Thursday, where it is expected to pass.

As noted by Midwest Democracy Network’s partner organizations in Wisconsin, the state’s open meetings laws might have been violated in the process. Wisconsin law requires that all meetings be held publicly and that there be 24 hour notice before a meeting takes place. Less than 24 hour notice can be given only under certain circumstances, but Network partners question whether this was one of those times.

Midwest Democracy Network partners reacted to the news:

Jay Heck, Common Cause Wisconsin: The action is an assault on the right of Wisconsinites to know what their elected representatives in the Legislature and the Governor are doing prior to acting. It is an affront to Wisconsin’s 173 - year - old tradition of open and transparent state government.

Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign: the Senate’s surprise vote to bust unions was disgraceful and cowardly. It was a desecration of the democratic process. Senators made a mockery of Wisconsin’s open meetings law.

Wisconsin Voices: From our point of view, it was an all-out attack on democracy and Wisconsin’s history of good government.

League of Women Voters Wisconsin: With barely two hours notice of a legislative committee meeting and Senate floor session, the majority party has once again flouted the principles of open government and public input. It is not yet clear whether this move is illegal, but at the very least it demonstrates the political motives behind the “budget repair” bill.

Flickr photo courtesy of antrover