u***r
发帖数: 4825 | 1 state Assembly 过了
state Senate 还没有过
州长正州内各处飞着去找senator.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870415060457616563
Wisconsin Governor Appeals for Senators' Return
By AMY MERRICK And DOUGLAS BELKIN
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is flying around the state Friday to appeal to
Democratic senators to return from Illinois to cast their vote on a
controversial bill, said a spokesman.
Mr. Walker flew aboard a state plane this morning to Kenosha, center of
Democratic Sen. Robert Wirch's district, where he appealed through local-
media outlets for the senator to return to the Capitol.
[UNIONS] United Press International
Matthew Dammann demonstrated at the state Capitol Thursday, scene of
protests over a proposed budget.
Mr. Walker will be making two other stops Friday afternoon, but his
spokesman, Cullen Werwie, did not say where they will be.
Early Friday morning, the state Assembly passed Mr. Walker's budget "repair
bill," ending a marathon three-day session in which Democrats tried to block
it.
Final passage of the bill was far from certain as the state's Senate
Democrats remained in northern Illinois. The senators left Wisconsin last
week to avoid a vote on the proposal that would eliminate most of the
collective-bargaining rights for the state's 170,000 public employees.
Mr. Walker has repeatedly appealed for them to return and they have said
they won't return until he agrees to negotiations on the measure.
The bill passed the Assembly quickly early Friday morning on a 51-17 vote,
raising an outcry from many Democrats that they were not given an
opportunity to vote against it.
View Slideshow
[SB10001424052748704150604576166460836327954]
M.P. King, Wisconsin State Journal/Associated Press
After the vote, Wisconsin's Republican assemblymembers walked out of the
chamber, as their Democratic colleagues, in orange, jeered at them.
"Republicans in the Assembly knew their cause was so flawed that they rushed
a vote in seconds, cheating Democratic representatives of the opportunity
to vote," Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca said in a statement. He
added: "This fight is not over. This is only the beginning."
Republican Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald said, in a statement: "This is
one of the toughest votes this body has taken in decades. After the longest
debate in the history of this body, we took the necessary steps we had [to]
to get Wisconsin's fiscal house in order."
The fight by public sector unions for collective bargaining rights in
Wisconsin moved to the nation's capital Wednesday. But with both sides
refusing to budge, a prolonged stand-off appears likely. WSJ's Neil Hickey
reports.
Mr. Walker has said the bill needs to pass both houses of the legislature by
Friday, to give the state enough time to refinance $165 million bonds to
meet legal deadlines.
But in a news conference Thursday evening, the governor extended the
deadline by a few days. "Realistically, it should be done by this weekend,
but if we can squeeze another day or two in, we're going to try to do that,"
he said.
The bill removes most collective-bargaining rights for most public workers,
allowing them to negotiate only for their wages. Those wage increases would
be limited to the increase in the consumer-price index unless voters approve
larger raises.
More
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GOP Retreats on Indiana Labor Law
Mr. Walker's budget bill calls for state employees to contribute 5.8% of
their salaries toward their pensions—currently they pay little or nothing—
and pay at least 12.6% of their health-care premiums, up from an average of
6%.
The governor says the bill is necessary to eliminate a $137 million deficit
for the fiscal year ending June 30 and to begin addressing a $3.6 billion
shortfall for the following two fiscal years.
Meanwhile, rallies continued to spread around the U.S. on Friday and more
were planned for the weekend.
Liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org was moving to organize rallies across the
country this weekend in support of the Wisconsin workers.
On Friday, more than 3,000 people gathered in Trenton, N.J. Several
Wisconsin union officials flew to New Jersey to participate, according to
the Associated Press.
Write to Amy Merrick at a*********[email protected] and Douglas Belkin at doug.
b****[email protected] |
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