Breaking: Wisconsin Assembly Passes Controversial Union Bill

The Wisconsin Assembly has approved the controversial union bill that eliminates most collective bargaining powers from public workers.  It now goes to Governor Walker’s desk for his signature.  Gov. Walker is expected to sign the bill into law within the hour.

My Fox Memphis reported:

– The Wisconsin state Assembly voted Thursday to pass a revised version of Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair bill” that was approved by the state Senate in a surprise maneuver Wednesday night.The Assembly vote on the pared-down bill that strips public employees’ unions of nearly all their collective bargaining rights was delayed Thursday as hundreds of protesters swarmed the Capitol building in an effort to block it.

Police forcibly removed some of the demonstrators who said they were willing to risk arrest in an effort to block the Assembly from proceeding.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday he would sign the bill into law “as quickly as we can legally.”

A vote on the bill had been stymied since February, when Senate Democrats fled to neighboring Illinois to block a vote. Without the Democrats, the Senate lacked a quorum to vote on fiscal legislation. Republicans outmaneuvered their counterparts Wednesday when they removed fiscal parts of the legislation that would require a quorum.

Update: The body voted 53-42 in favor of the proposal. All Democrats voted against the bill and were joined by four Republicans – Dean Kaufert of Neenah, Lee Nerison of Westby, Travis Tranel of Cuba City and Richard Spanbauer of Oshkosh. All other Republicans and the body’s lone independent, Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc, voted for the bill…

 

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