While state Republicans hope to resolve the controversy over the budget repair bill in the courts, they are prepared to insert parts of the bill into the state's budget if no ruling comes by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said if the courts have not decided on the issue by then, Republicans will add portions of the bill pertaining to collective bargaining to the state budget.
""If it's continued to be tied up in the courts and we can't get resolution, we, at that point, would put this into the budget,"" Welhouse said. ""But we still expect the resolution to come through the courts, and that's our preferred course of action.""
Those restrictions, which would strip public-sector employees of almost all collective bargaining rights, sparked the massive protests that took place at the Capitol for weeks in February and March. All 14 Democratic state senators left the state to block a vote on the bill, but Republicans separated the non-fiscal portions, namely the restrictions on collective bargaining, so they could vote without the larger quorum required for fiscal issues.
Since then, the issue has been tied up in a court battle because Republicans may have broken the state's open meetings law the night the bill was passed.
While many legislators and voters still have strong feelings on the issue of collective bargaining, Welhouse said he was not worried about reigniting the protests or opposition to Republican legislators.
""I think the people of Wisconsin have spoken very clearly at the ballot box that having a balanced budget is a priority for the state and I think that's the bigger concern here,"" Welhouse said.
According to Welhouse, the collective bargaining changes are necessary to deal with the state's budget deficit in the upcoming biennium.
""We have said since the beginning that the long overdue collective bargaining reform is a critical part of balancing the state budget and local budgets throughout the state,"" Welhouse said.
Other Republican and Democratic state legislators did not return phone calls.
