Wisconsin assembly agrees to union bill vote; troopers' search for Democrats comes up dry 24FEB11

THE DICTATOR WANNA-BE gov scott walker continues his assault on workers rights in Wisconsin, and the repercussions will be felt around the nation. The Wisconsin Senate Democrats must stay united and stay out of the state until the union-busting legislation is withdrawn. Go to the Wisconsin Is Us live blog for the latest updates on the workers struggle, there is a link to them on this blog
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Brady Dennis
Washington Post Staff Writers

Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly agreed to a deal shortly before dawn on Thursday that sets the stage for a vote on a bill that would limit collective bargaining rights for public workers.
The bill has prompted several days of protests at the State Capitol by more than 60,000 union supporters .
The agreement, announced shortly after 6 a.m., follows a marathon 40-hour debate that began Tuesday morning, during which Democrats sought to delay the vote by filibustering. The vote could come as soon as Thursday afternoon and will almost certainly pass, given the chamber's Republican majority.
That would send the bill to the Wisconsin Senate, which has been unable to vote on the issue since 14 Democratic senators fled the state and left it without a quorum. Wisconsin state troopers were dispatched Thursday to the homes of the missing Democrats to try to pressure them to return to break an impasse on a budget bill.
The Senate sergeant at arms said the troopers left after not finding any of the senators at home, the Associated Press reported. The troopers had been authorized by a Senate decision early Thursday to issue a "call of the house," allowing law enforcement to be sent to find missing members.
While police cannot arrest the members, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has said he hopes they will feel compelled to come back to debate the bill. The Republicans need just a single Democrat to return to vote.
Democratic state Sen. Robert Jauch, a longtime Wisconsin lawmaker, said Thursday morning that despite rumors that some of his colleagues had returned to the state, "everybody is outside of Wisconsin -- all of us."
He said he had just spoken to his wife at their home more than 300 miles north of the state capital and that no law enforcement officials had come knocking at his door.
"They're too cheap to send somebody from Madison up to northern Wisconsin," Jauch said. "If they had, my wife was going to invite them in for hot chocolate."
Jauch criticized what he called the "police state mentality" by Republicans in the capital and took issue with Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's assertions that Democrats who had fled the state were abandoning their duties.
"I'm doing more from the Land of Lincoln to communicate with citizens in my district than he is," Jauch said, adding that the Senate Democrats talk regularly and are "trying to reach out through back channels to see what the solution could be. This governor has dug himself in -- that's very clear."
The scene at the Wisconsin Capitol resembled a siege. Elected officials and their staffers were taking turns sleeping on couches. Some Republican representatives' offices have had to defend themselves from angry protesters who defaced signs supporting Walker. Many Assembly members have had only a few hours of sleep over two nights.
Peter Barca, a Democrat who is the Assembly's minority leader, said that around 4 a.m. he was approached by the speaker, who told him that "his members were tired and they were frustrated."
Barca said in an interview that he was given an ultimatum: "Unless we limited our amendments, they were going to just pull the plug. They were going to use parliamentary procedure to shut down the debate. It would get ugly."
The Assembly's Democrats had no choice, he said. "We very reluctantly agreed."
Under Walker's plan, most public workers - excluding police, firefighters and state troopers - would lose bargaining rights for anything other than pay and would have to pay half of their pension costs and at least 12 percent of their health-care costs. Walker, who took office last month, says the emergency measure would save $300 million over the next two years to help close a $3.6 billion budget gap.
Rep. Tyler August (R), who represents the southeastern part of the state, said that the deal announced by the Assembly is the first step toward resolving the standoff that has triggered protests in state capitals throughout the country.
"I think the Democrats thought they might be able to wear us down. But they have not done so. We certainly plan on still passing the bill," August said.
August said he had heard that several Democratic senators already had returned to the state and was hopeful they would show up so that the bill could be passed.
"This isn't a game. For them to be running around is just so unbelievably irresponsible to their constituents," he said.
chaa@washpost.com dennisb@washpost.com