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Senate Republicans omit financial provisions from legislation to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights, skirting a requirement that a quorum be present.

By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times March 10, 2011
Senate Republicans in Wisconsin used a surprise legislative maneuver to advance a bill that would strip collective bargaining rights from most public sector workers, a move accomplished without the presence of 14 Democratic senators who fled the state to stall the measure.
Republicans voted 18 to 1 Wednesday night to pass the non-fiscal provisions of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, including those that would eliminate or severely limit collective bargaining rights for most public employees.
By omitting the financial provisions from the bill, Republicans were able to bypass a requirement that a quorum be present to vote on fiscal legislation. When all 14 Democratic state senators fled to Illinois on Feb. 17, they denied the GOP majority a quorum and thereby stymied action on the initiative.


For the rest of the story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,0,13926.story