Hiding senators held in contempt; layoff notices to go out today

Journal Sentinel reports Pressure ratcheted up on absent Senate Democrats on Thursday, as they were found in contempt by GOP senators and Gov. Scott Walker said he will start sending layoff notices to state workers Friday if the standoff over his budget-repair bill isn't resolved.

Along with the finding of contempt came an order that law enforcement detain Democrats and bring them to the Senate chambers - an order that critics said was prohibited under the state constitution.

Walker said he hoped not to lay off anyone but would have to issue the notices because his plan to fill a hole in the state budget is stalled. Democrats have said that Walker has other options and does not need to resort to layoffs.

"Even today I hold out some hope that this can be resolved by the Senate coming back," Walker said in an interview Thursday. "But by the end of the day tomorrow, we have a legal and a moral obligation to start forewarning people."

At the same time, the Republican governor said his administration was in talks with Democrats, and he also showed a sign for the first time in the budget crisis that he might be willing to make at least one marginal change to his budget-repair bill. But Walker remained firm on the core of the proposal, which would eliminate most collective bargaining for public employee unions.

Meanwhile, one key Democratic senator involved in talks with Republicans said he no longer believed that his side could win over enough GOP senators to defeat Walker's bill.

And late Thursday, Republicans canceled Friday's session day, which they said was meant to help restore a sense of normalcy to the Capitol.
Warning of 1,500 layoffs

Walker said he would seek the layoffs of up to 1,500 state employees in an attempt to save $30 million to help address the state's fiscal problems. He said he would try to protect workers in around-the-clock jobs such as prison guards and medical staff.

All 14 Senate Democrats have been out of the state since Feb. 17 to prevent passage of the budget-repair bill. At least 20 senators must be present to pass the bill, but Republicans hold just 19 seats.

Walker's bill would require most public workers to pay more for their health care and pensions, eliminate most collective bargaining, and give the governor broad powers to reshape the state's health care programs for the poor and elderly. The provisions on bargaining rights have prompted unprecedented protests for nearly three weeks and put the Capitol in near lockdown.

Republicans voted, 19-0, to find the Democrats in contempt of the Senate and issued orders to Wisconsin law enforcement to detain them.
"We simply cannot have democracy be held hostage because the minority wants to prove a point," said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

The Senate voted in the morning that absent Democrats would be in contempt of a Senate rule requiring attendance if they did not return by 4 p.m. When they didn't return, the Senate reconvened and Fitzgerald signed for each missing senator an "order to detain (in the nature of a warrant to arrest and deliver)."

Fitzgerald said that Republicans were initially "nervous" about taking such a step, but that Democrats have created a "constitutional crisis."
"This is not about a budget-repair bill or about politics," Fitzgerald said. "This is much bigger than that, and the minority party has forced our hand. . . . They're insulting the very fabric of our representative democracy."

More details here

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