As I understand it, the Wisconsin Senate has 19 GOP and 14 Democrat members. (When the Democrat senators decide to respect the principle that elections have consequences and come back to their jobs, I'll let them have back their "ic." But not when they're behaving so undemocratically.)
The flight of the 14 Democrats out of state deprived the Senate of the 3/5 quorum necessary to conduct business relating to fiscal matters. As to non-fiscal matters, however, the quorum is a simple majority. The GOP members thus constitute a quorum for conducting such items of business.
As I understand the bill that triggered the Democrats mass exodus, it includes the controversial provisions cutting back on collective bargaining by public employees and various fiscal matters relating to public employee pensions and benefits and so on.
Here's what i don't understand: Why can't the Wisconsin Senate Republicans simply cut the bill in half? Leave the fiscal reforms for another day when the Democrats come crawling back. In the meanwhile, however, put the collective bargaining provisions up for a vote. Is there some bizarre rule that sweeps collective bargaining rights into a broad definition of fiscal? If not, why not just do it. Or at least threaten to do it to put pressure on the Democrats?
At the end of the day, what matters in Wisconsin is not dollars and cents. What matters is limiting the power of public employee unions. As I discussed here a few days ago, I find the case against public sector unionism compelling. So I'd urge the Wisconsin Republicans to pull the trigger and pass the collective bargaining limits now.
