Republican Senators Avoid Madison Because 'It's a Dangerous Place'

The GOP-controlled Assembly is expected to vote on a bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday night that suddenly ended the stalemate on the Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill but ignited an eruption of protesters.

Those protesters might keep Republican Senators from heading to the State Capitol today.

"We're told it’s a dangerous place to be," said state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), adding he will not be in Madison on Thursday. Grothman is the senator for District 20, which represents portions of Ozaukee, Washington, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties.

Republicans on Wednesday modified the bill so that it only needed a simple majority to pass — not the 20 votes that the original bill required. The bill retained all the provisions that elimintated most elements of collective bargaining for many public unions.

The Republican group has known for the last three weeks that the bill could move forward without the Democrats if the fiscal items were removed, Grothman said. When the Democrats didn't come back, they decided to make the move.

"We ... reached the conclusion the Democrats were not interested in (negotiating)," he said.

Grothman said the Democrats have yet to call, but he said what happened Wednesday will likely bring them back — especially considering their biggest objections were related to the collective bargaining issues.

"I assume they’ll come back and complain that we rushed things," he said.