MADISON, Wis. — A group of Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of an anti-union bill Thursday, refusing to show up for a vote and then abruptly leaving the state to force Republicans to the negotiating table.
As ever-growing throngs of protesters f illed the Capitol for a third day, the 14 Democrats disappeared about noon, just as the Senate was about to begin debating the measure, which would eliminate collective bargaining for most public employees.
They were not in their offices, and aides said they did not know where any of them had gone. Hours later, one member of the group said they had all left Wisconsin.
“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 in a telephone interview. He refused to say where he was.
Democrats hoped Republican Gov. Scott Walker and GOP lawmakers would consider revisions to the bill.
Walker, who took office just last month, called on Democrats to return out of respect for the democratic process and the institution of the Legislature.
“Their actions, by leaving the state and hiding from voting, are disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of public employees who showed up to work today and the millions of taxpayers they represent,” Walker said.
With 19 seats, Republicans hold a majority in the 33-member Senate, but they are one vote short of the number needed to conduct business. So the GOP needs at least one Democrat to be present before any voting can take place. Once the measure goes to the floor, it needs 17 votes to pass.
Other lawmakers who fled sent messages over Twitter and issued written statements but did not disclose their locations. Erpenbach said they planned to gather in the same placelater Thursday.
In response to a question of where she was, Sen. Lena Taylor sent a tweet saying she was “doing the people’s business. Power to the PEOPLE.”
As Republicans tried to begin Senate business Thursday, observers in the gallery screamed “Freedom! Democracy! Unions!” Opponents cheered when a legislative leader announced there were not enough senators present to proceed.
The sergeant-at-arms immediately began looking for the missing lawmakers. If he cannot find them, he’s authorized to seek help, including potentially contacting police.
Senate rules and the state constitution say absent members can be compelled to appear, but they do not say how.
“Today they checked out, and I’m not sure where they’re at,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said. “This is the ultimate shutdown, what we’re seeing today.”
Elsewhere in the Statehouse, Democrats showed up in the state Assembly chamber wearing orange Tshirts that proclaimed their support for working families.
After a routine roll call, Democrats who were leaving the chamber exchanged high-fives with protesters, who cried “thank you” as they walked by. The protesters unleashed boos and screams at Republicans.
Thursday’s events were reminiscent of a 2003 dispute in Texas, where Democrats twice fled the state to prevent adoption of a redistricting bill designed to give Republicans more seats in Congress. The bill passed a few months later.
The scene in Wisconsin unfolded in a jampacked Capitol. Madison police and the State Department of Public Instruction estimated the crowd at 25,000 protesters, the largest number yet.
Hundreds of teachers called in sick, forcing a number of school districts to cancel classes. Madison schools, the state’s secondlargest district with 24,000students, closed for a second day.
Thousands more people, many of them students from the nearby University of Wisconsin, slept in the rotunda for a second night.
About 12 law-enforcement agencies were helping guard the Capitol, which was to remain open 24 hours a day for an indefinite period.
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney said authorities were ordered to show “extreme measures of tolerance.”
Nine people were given citations for minor acts of civil disobedience, he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Todd Richmond and Jason Smathers of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/18/2011