MADISON, Wis. — To end a high-stakes stalemate over union rights that has captured the nation's attention, a handful of Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin might have to stand up to their new governor.
Gov. Scott Walker made clear Monday he won't back off his proposal to effectively eliminate collective bargaining rights for most public employees. Senate Democrats who fled the state last week to delay the plan vowed not to come back to allow it to pass — even if they have to miss votes on other bills Tuesday. And union leaders said they would not let up on protests that have consumed Wisconsin's capital city for a week and made the state the center of a national debate over the role of public employees' unions.
That dynamic means it might take Republicans in the Legislature who believe Walker is going too far to try to break the impasse. One idea that has been floated by GOP Sen. Dale Schultz would temporarily take away bargaining rights to get through the state's next two-year budget, then immediately restore them.
While it's unclear whether that would be acceptable to his colleagues, Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach said in a phone interview from the hotel room in Chicago where he's hiding out that Schultz was brave for making the proposal. He said Schultz, of Richland Center, and five or six other Republican senators who have ties to organized labor are in the best position to get both sides to negotiate a deal.
Protesters who crowded inside the Capitol for a sixth day Sunday had a similar message. They hung a banner in the Capitol reading "Wisconsin needs 3 cou(R)ageous Senators," referring to the number of Republicans needed to join with Democrats to block the bill.
The protesters have included teachers, who have sometimes arrived in such high numbers that their districts were forced to close due to understaffing. The Madison School District was closed Wednesday through Monday but was expected to reopen Tuesday.
Districts in central Wisconsin were also closed Monday, but that was because of 10 to 12 inches of snow. Milwaukee schools were shut down for a pre-scheduled midsemester break. Those closures, on top of Monday being a previously scheduled furlough day for state workers, could elevate the number of protesters who demonstrate in Madison.
A few dozen protesters spent the night inside the Capitol again Sunday, with many of them still huddled inside sleeping bags before 8 a.m. Monday morning. By midmorning the number of protesters, many of them banging on drums, grew to several hundred inside the building. The walls of the normally immaculate Capitol were adorned with signs urging Walker to back down, but he's shown no willingness to compromise.
Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, on Monday accused Senate Democrats of vacationing and renewed the call for them to return and vote on the bill.
So far, there's little evidence that lawmakers will move to compromise. "Won't happen, won't happen, won't happen," said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. The Juneau Republican said he spoke with every member of his caucus over the weekend and they remained "rock solid" in their support for Walker's plan, even if they had some internal disagreements earlier.