After Gov. Scott Walker continued to defend the budget repair bill in a press conference Wednesday, Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, unexpectedly took the podium to rebut the governor's statements.
""We're doing this budget repair bill in anticipation of our budget,"" Walker said, ""giving those local governments the tools they need to balance their local budgets, with the reality that they're going to see less in terms of state aid.""
Walker said the bill would save $300 million for the state government and $1.44 billion for local governments in the next biennium starting July 1. He warned that not passing the bill could result in 1,500 layoffs this year and 10-12,000 layoffs of state and local employees in the next budget period.
Walker said he would be willing to talk with the 14 missing Democratic senators who left Wisconsin to deny Republicans a quorum, but he said the bill had to come to a vote.
After the press conference, Hulsey took over the podium in what appeared to be a spontaneous move to rebut Walker's statements.
""What you just heard was unaltered, complete nonsense,"" Hulsey said of Walker's statement.
As Hulsey spoke Walker's aides opened the doors to the press conference, letting protesters' chants obscure his words. Outside, crowds chanted ""Where is Scotty?""
""The budget ‘despair' bill that we have right now, according to our nonpartisan fiscal bureau, does not have to happen,"" Hulsey said. ""We do not have a budget emergency in this state, except the one he is creating by creating union busting.""
Hulsey called Walker a ""dictator"" and a ""megalomaniac,"" and accused him of being more interested in talking to Fox News than negotiating with Democrats. The representative promised to continue to fight, saying he had a sleeping bag and three days' worth of food in his office.
""This dispute can go on forever,"" Hulsey said. ""The senators have given us vital time to fight this tyrannical rule that we're seeing here.
""It's the tyranny of the majority. The senators are very brave for doing what they're doing.""
