Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Government Union Contract Fails in Senate

Wow.  Senator Decker argued against the process of approving the union contracts in the lame duck session like this.  Kudos to him.  Contracts are denied in the Senate by a 16-16 vote (tie results in motion failing). 

UPDATE: Correction, the Senate vote was just for the Wisconsin State Building Trades contract - not all of them.  Decker did vote against it.  But how they voted on this is a clear indication of how the vote would go down on all of the contracts.  The Democrats are in caucus now beating Decker about the head and shoulders.  I commend him.  Very classy way to leave office.  I wonder if his Democratic colleagues appreciate the fact that he may have saved them from a lot of political pain in 2012. 

UPDATE2: Dead.

Labor contracts for state workers made a dramatic nosedive in the Legislature late Wednesday after the leader of Senate Democrats defied his party and cast the deciding vote to reject them.

The contracts were approved by slim majorities in the Assembly, but senators tied 16-16 with one senator absent on the first contract they considered.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Wausau) and Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) voted with all Republicans against that contract. Democrats immediately went into a closed door meeting where they deposed Decker as majority leader in favor of Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), who will serve for the next two weeks until Republicans take over the Senate. Democrats then returned to the floor for voting on other contracts, which also failed on 16-16 votes.

The trouble in the Senate came after Democrats in the Assembly mustered just enough votes Wednesday to pass contracts for tens of thousands of state workers in a rare lame-duck session before their party relinquishes power to Republicans.

On all but one contract, the Assembly approved the no-pay-raise agreements on votes of 48-47, with the deciding vote cast by Rep. Jeff Wood, a Chippewa Falls independent who was released from jail earlier Wednesday so he could attend the legislative session.

Most Democrats said approving the contracts running from July 2009 to June 2011 was the right course because they are already 18 months old and included no raises and $103 million in concessions. That includes 16 unpaid furlough days over two years - a 3.3% pay cut.

But Decker said he was not comfortable voting for the contracts now that the “people have spoken” and voted him and other Democrats out of office. He blamed Gov. Jim Doyle and unions for not reaching an agreement on the contracts before the Nov. 2 election.

“If these contracts had been brought to us before the elections, as they should have been, this would have been an entirely different situation,” said Decker, who later declined further comment.

(12) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2117 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. I’d join you in victory dancing, but I was a high school senior when multiple votes were taken on the creation of the Miller Park tax. 

    Stranger things can and could happen.

    Posted by Kevin Binversie on December 15, 2010 at 2139 hrs


  2. I’m not celebrating just yet, but this is encouraging.

    Posted by Owen on December 15, 2010 at 2144 hrs


  3. WisPolitics is saying Jauch’s going ballistic about what just happened. 

    Not shocked there.  Jauch’s and old Obey’s aide, and is full of hot air and bluster as Dave is.

    Posted by Kevin Binversie on December 15, 2010 at 2158 hrs


  4. They’ve couped Decker.  Dave Hansen is now the Majority Leader for the rest of the session.

    They’re also back to voting.  Results aren’t changing.

    Posted by Kevin Binversie on December 15, 2010 at 2250 hrs


  5. And now you can say all 17 contracts, including the prototype pay-increasing one for the SEIU for FY2012/13, are dead.  The 16-16 deadlocks continued for all of them.

    Posted by steveegg on December 15, 2010 at 2321 hrs


  6. Not too surprising - just Democrats doing what Democrats do…, well, for another two weeks anyway.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 16, 2010 at 0006 hrs


  7. Bi-partisan opposition.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 16, 2010 at 0012 hrs


  8. Wow!  Do I wish I could have been in “Madtown” tonight.  Decker- good for you.  Marty- you are a pox on many good state employees.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 16, 2010 at 0029 hrs


  9. You know, I disagree with Decker in principle on this.  It’s this Legislature’s job to deal with this contract, whenever it should happen.  And if you think this is Russ Decker’s grand display of nobility, you’re crazy.  This is Russ Decker being a bitch because he didn’t get the help he wanted/needed in his own race and getting one more chance to f@#$ with Jim Doyle.

    However, to watch their caucus implode like this almost makes the end result worthwhile.  The GOP was a total mess after ‘08, but at least they largely kept it behind closed doors and close to the vest.  But wow, God Bless the Democrats for their commitment to openness in all forms.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on December 16, 2010 at 0145 hrs


  10. RS - While you have a point about the Legislature dealing with these contracts, they didn’t have to deal with them in a lame duck session.  The fact is they rolled the dice over Tom Barrett and came up snake eyes…then they lost the Legislature entirely. 

    Honestly, I don’t know what Decker’s motivation was.  Maybe it was the lack of help in his district…maybe he’s looking for a job somewhere…I don’t know.  But recall, Decker came to power the last time the Dem caucus blew up, and it’s fitting and poetic that he’s removed from power in the same manner.

    But whatever the reason, it is a shining example as to why I believe Democrats should never be in charge of anything.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 16, 2010 at 0741 hrs


  11. RS - Exactly what constituency does Decker owe it to to make sure the contracts get dealt with this week as opposed to 3 weeks from now?  The people back in his district that voted him out?  His Caucus, who did little to save him from that loss?  I honestly don’t know what his motivation is ... maybe its to stick it to Jim Doyle ... maybe its to flip off members of his own caucus with whom he has been at odds with for awhile now ... or maybe its because the people of his district sent a message when they voted him out in November and he feels the proper thing to do now is let the new guy cast his districts vote on this in January.  Whatever the case, I don’t think he has an obligation to do anything, and has no constituency to which to be beholden ... particularly because he is a lame duck.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 16, 2010 at 0831 hrs


  12. MPP - It’s the unions that really rolled snake-eyes.  They held out for wage-increase contracts like the SEIU got, and not only did the state finances get so messed up it couldn’t happen even with the Dems controlling everything, but they got an incoming government where the Republicans (and not the spending kind) control everything.

    The utter implosion of the Sen Dem caucus is a beautiful thing.

    Posted by steveegg on December 16, 2010 at 1407 hrs


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