Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Wisconsin: Republicans Dial It Back, Revoke Punitive Actions Against Fab 14 Senate Democrats | FDL #wiunion

Wisconsin: Republicans Dial It Back, Revoke Punitive Actions Against Fab 14 Senate Democrats | FDL News Desk

Wisconsin: Republicans Dial It Back, Revoke Punitive Actions Against Fab 14 Senate Democrats

(photo: mrbula)

Plenty of people were quick to denounce Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald for announcing that Senate Democrats would not be allowed to participate in recorded committee votes. But if you read the letter he sent, he was saying more specifically that the contempt order, which the Republicans passed in the dark days of the impasse over the anti-union bill, had not yet been revoked. This contempt order could only be lifted on the Senate floor by a vote, and the Senate isn’t due back in session in Wisconsin until April 5.

Well, today, perhaps because of this outcry, Republicans did revoke all associated penalties arising from the contempt resolution, in particular the $100-a-day fines Republicans imposed on Democrats for leaving the state. Furthermore, Fitzgerald said that Republicans would try to find a way for Democrats to get their voting rights