The Latest From Wisconsin
Yesterday evening, as most of you know, the Republican majority in the Wisconsin State Senate pushed through a bill that would severely limit state employees’ ability to bargain collectively through unions. The bill, which was presented three weeks ago as part of new governor Scott Walker’s first state budget proposal, had been stalled by Democrats in the Senate who had managed to keep that body from obtaining quorum.
Here’s a quick rundown on what happened last night, and what’s coming up today and in the future.
For most legislation, a simple majority is enough to conduct Senate business, but certain financial legislation requires a sixty percent quorum. For the last three weeks, everyone in Wisconsin has been operating from the premise that this bill triggered that sixty percent provision, which meant that the Dems in the chamber (14 of 33 Senators, or 42.4%) could keep the Senate from acting by refusing to show up. But last night the Republican