MacIver News Service | February 20, 2015
[Madison, Wisc…] Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced Friday afternoon that the legislature will hold an extraordinary session over the next couple weeks with the intention of passing right to work.He mentioned the plan to Governor Walker on Wednesday and sat down with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Thursday.
The news came as a shock to many on Friday morning when Right Wisconsin broke the story. It had been widely believed the Senate would wait until Sen. Grothman’s seat was filled by a special election in April before moving on the issue. Fitzgerald later explained to reporters, “my experience as leader is when you have the votes, you go to the floor.”
The plan is for the Senate to take up the bill next week and the Assembly will take it up the week after that.
Senator Fitzgerald said the law would go into effect as soon as Governor Walker signs the bill. There will be no grace period where unions can hammer out last minute deals. However, the law would have no effect on existing contracts.
“There’s no provision that prohibits a 5 year extension a 10 year extension,” Fitzgerald explained. “So the window in which that could happen is obviously- I mean they could start working on it this afternoon if they wanted to.”
Fitzgerald said right to work could be the missing piece in Wisconsin’s economic recovery.