Catherwood LibraryILR School

On Wednesday evening, Wisconsin Republicans voted on a bill that will severely curtail collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin public workers. The bill, which has been the subject of protests for weeks, and caused Democratic Senators to leave the state to prevent its passage, was changed to allow only Republican Senators to pass it. To do so, Republicans removed all budget provisions from the bill, though their argument for cutting collective bargaining rights has been the amount of money that it will save the state. Wisconsin state law calls for a quorum for any budget bills. Many doubt whether the vote was legitimate, as the Speaker would not read a summary of the bill and the vote was called in less than two hours. Union leaders denounced the vote saying that it was an attack on the middle class and unions, while Republicans said that the Democrats and unions forced the vote with their actions. The Governor applauded the vote, and said that it was the first step towards creating 250,000 private sector jobs in Wisconsin. The Assembly is expected to pass the bill on Thursday.