Wis. lawmakers flee state to block anti-union bill

Wis. lawmakers flee state to block anti-union bill

Link to Article

MADISON, Wis. – Faced with a near-certain Republican victory that would end a half-century of collective bargaining for public workers, Wisconsin Democrats retaliated with the only weapon they had left: They fled.

Fourteen Democratic lawmakers disappeared from the Capitol on Thursday, just as the Senate was about to begin debating the measure aimed at easing the state's budget crunch.

By refusing to show up for a vote, the group brought the debate to a swift halt and hoped to pressure Republicans to the negotiating table.

"The plan is to try and slow this down because it's an extreme piece of legislation that's tearing this state apart," Sen. Jon Erpenbach said.

The move drew cheers from tens of thousands of protesters — teachers, prison guards and others targeted by the proposal — who filled the Statehouse during the past three days.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who took office just last month, has made the bill a top priority. He urged the group to return and called the boycott a "stunt."

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Associated Press writers Todd Richmond and Jason Smathers in Madison and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this story.

Can anyone imagine the headlines if Republicans had pulled this same stunt on, say, Obamacare?

I bet the article would read much, much different.

reply to post by donatellanator


I think if Obama is going to wade into local politics, it should have been done through his Secretary of Education, and then it should be a remiunder to both sides that this is about the students, and not themselves.

From the State level, the Democrats in my opinion are handeling this completely wrong. By running away, it puts the spotlight on those actions and distracts from the real issue. They should have had the vote, all the dems vote against it, and then make their case to the people.

I am not a fan of Unions because for the most part they have this unusual sense of entitlement regardless of their job performance.

There was a study that was done on private education and public education, speciufically using catholic schools. The cost per student was almost 2k less than what Public schools pay, and the private school scores were a lot higher.

Reason being private schools are able to terminate under performing teachers..

At the very least, its something that should be looked at for public schools to see if that standard can be adapted.

Now they are looking for them. Even though they by law cannot be arrested?...

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin State Patrol was dispatched Friday to find a Democratic state senator who fled the Capitol to delay the near-certain passage of a bill to end a half-century of collective bargaining rights for public workers, a measure that's attracted thousands of protesters for four days.

Full article here

reply to post by donatellanator


Yeah most states have something like this built in, where others actually allow for the police to compel an elected offical to return to the office of business, it just depends on the issue and what state they are in.

Sending State troopers is to remind the minority leader of the seriousness of the situation in the Capital, as the article says.. To me, I think its a failure to execute their oath of office but thats just me.