La Follette delays collective bargaining bill as Democratic senators prepare to return [View All]

[highplainsdem]

Source: Wisconsin State Journal

Friday, March 11, 2011 8:29 pm


State senators left the state for three weeks. Assembly members forced a marathon, 61-hour debate in their chamber. Now, Secretary of State Doug La Follette will join the list of Democrats delaying Gov. Scott Walker's controversial bill to limit collective bargaining for public employees.

Walker signed the bill early Friday, but it doesn't take effect until the secretary of state publishes the proposal, and La Follette said he would not publish the law until March 25 to allow time for legal challenges to move through the courts. Laws don't take effect until one day after they are published with the Legislative Reference Bureau.

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La Follette, a Democrat, said in an interview that it's normal procedure to publish laws 10 business days after the governor signs them, although he said it is sometimes necessary speed up the process.

"The governor wants to publish this on Monday, but that seems a mad rush to conclusion when there are so many questions," La Follette said. "This is one of the biggest changes in Wisconsin I can remember, and I've been around for 30 years."

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