A chance to end the dramatic legislative standoff that has paralyzed the Wisconsin government for weeks seemed to slip away Monday after Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, accused the leader of state Senate Democrats of blocking negotiations to end the impasse.
After some of the 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state to block a vote on the governor’s proposal to sharply curtail collective bargaining for government workers in Wisconsin sent signals about their possible willingness to return, Walker called a news conference where he accused the Democratic lawmakers of being the biggest impediments to ending the stalemate.
Walker said members of his staff seemed to be making progress in negotiations with some of the missing Democrats, only to have Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller stand in the way. Walker also accused the Democratic leader of being in the pocket of organized labor, whose leaders Walker blames for escalating the conflict into a national drama.
“Sen. Miller is misleading the public, just like he misled us,” Walker said, adding that Miller was also “misleading his own caucus.”
Walker’s comments came after at least one Democrat said Monday morning that he and his colleagues were on the verge of returning to the state because they were satisfied passage of Walker’s “budget repair” measure would be seen by voters as an overreach that would quickly weaken the Republicans’ hold on power in Wisconsin.
But the governor’s comments later in the day seemed only to deepen the Democrats’ resolve to stay away until the governor gives in on his demand to end collective bargaining for public employees.
“The bottom line is the governor is still intent on breaking the backs of workers’ unions and assaulting the middle class,” state Sen. Robert Jauch said after the governor’s comments to reporters. “You don’t go to peace talks with a grenade. And that’s what he threw at his press conference.”
The fight over Walker’s bill has drawn national attention as labor leaders and many independent analysts say it would have the effect of killing public-employee unions in the state. Similar proposals have surfaced in other states, including Ohio and Indiana.
“It was an almost spontaneous event when we left Wisconsin,” Jauch said. “We always planned to come back. Never in our wildest dreams could we imagine this historical outpouring of support from the public.”
