Protests continue in Wisconsin, anti-worker bill to face vote today
Thursday is a big day for the budget fight in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a plan that would strip public employees of most collective bargaining rights, with the full legislature set to take it up today. Meanwhile, the protests against the bill are continuing to spread — with school closings in a lot of areas around the state.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee passed the proposal just before midnight, following a debate that began at 7:45 p.m., on a party-line vote of 12-4. The state Senate is now set to take up the bill later on Thursday, and the Assembly could soon follow…
Teachers have been calling in sick in large numbers for days — so much so as to shut down schools — and many of the same teachers are attending the protests in Madison. What began in Madison, has expanded to other districts across the state. Schools are closed again in Madison Thursday, as well as in other towns around Dane County. In western Wisconsin, schools have also closed in the La Crosse area. And other schools have closed in the Milwaukee area. No schools have closed in Milwaukee itself, but teacher absences are up above normal.
Protesters clogged the hallways of the Wisconsin state Capitol on Thursday as the Senate prepared to pass a momentous bill that would strip government workers, including school teachers, of nearly all collective bargaining rights.
The nation’s most aggressive anti-union proposal has been speeding through the Legislature since Republican Gov. Scott Walker introduced it a week ago. After clearing a major legislative hurdle Wednesday night, it was headed to votes in the Senate and Assembly…
Thousands of protesters, including children and teachers from more than two dozen schools forced to close due to high absences, were expected in and outside the Capitol for a third day of protests. Schools in Madison, the state’s second largest district with 2,600-union covered employees, closed for a second day.
Hundreds of people, many of them students from the nearby University of Wisconsin campus, slept in the rotunda for a second night leading up to the vote.
They chanted “Kill the bill!” and “Recall Walker!” early on Thursday. But there appeared to be little doubt the bill would pass.
The head of the 98,000-member statewide teachers union called on all Wisconsin residents to come to the Capitol on Thursday for the votes in the Senate and Assembly.
“Our goal is not to close schools, but to instead to remain vigilant in our efforts to be heard,” said Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell.
The Legislature’s budget committee passed the bill on a partisan vote just before midnight. Several opponents in the crowd broke into tears as Democrats on the committee encouraged them not to give up the fight.
“I’m sad. Scared. Disappointed,” said Kelly Dzurick, a 31-year-old fifth-grade teacher in Elkhorn, who came to the Capitol on Wednesday night. “Nobody’s listening to what people say.”
Democrats have been powerless to stop the bill.
“The story around the world is the rush to democracy,” said Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar. “The story in Wisconsin is the end of the democratic process.”
Republican leaders said they expected Wisconsin residents would be pleased with the changes and that the bill was about saving money. The union concessions would save the state $30 million by July 1 and $300 million over the next two years to address a $3.6 billion budget shortfall.
“I think the taxpayers will support this idea,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said.
As protesters chanted “Recall Walker now!” outside the governor’s office, Walker insisted he had the votes to pass the measure. He says it’s needed to help balance the budget and avoid massive layoffs.
“We’re at a point of crisis,” the governor said. He has said he would call out the National Guard if needed to keep state operations, including prisons, running.