State Democrats who’ve fled Wisconsin to block an anti-labor bill are taking a page from Senate Republicans who’ve perfected the art of the filibuster to kill Democratic proposals, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) charged Tuesday.
Hoyer, the House minority whip, said both tactics have the same purpose: to keep legislation from receiving votes on the floor.
{mosads}”There are 14 members of the Wisconsin Senate who are not in Wisconsin at this point in time. Some Republicans have criticized that,” Hoyer told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. “[The Democrats] don’t want something to come to the floor unless they can fully participate and not just be rolled.
“Thirty-eight, 39, 40, 41 Republicans did that consistently over the last four years in the United States Senate. Now they were here, but they simply would not vote to bring measures to the floor,” he said. “I see no substantive difference.”
In 2009, Senate Republicans forced Democrats to vote 39 times to invoke cloture – a procedural move that ends debate and allows a floor vote on the underlying measure. The Democrats defeated the filibuster on 35 of those occasions.
In 2010, Republicans forced 28 cloture votes; Democrats defeated only four. The trend launched a national debate about the functionality of the Senate, and inspired some Democrats to call for a reform of upper chamber rules.
In Wisconsin, GOP Gov. Scott Walker is pushing changes to the state’s pension and healthcare systems that would increase costs for government employees. The Tea Party-backed Walker also wants to revoke most collective bargaining powers of most unionized state workers.
In response, thousands of protesters have converged on the statehouse in Madison, and 14 state senators have fled to neighboring Illinois to avoid a vote on the proposal.
Walker on Tuesday threatened to begin firing public workers if the Democrats don’t return to vote on his budget.
“This is not a threat, this is not a strategy, and this is not a negotiation,” Walker said. “The bottom line is that if they do not come home, there are dire consequences.”
Hoyer on Tuesday conceded the need for state employees to give up some benefits for the sake of balancing state budgets. But the proposal to revoke collective bargaining rights is a step too far, he said – even for states facing the toughest economic times.
“Using that as an excuse for taking away from workers the right to collectively bargain is to retreat on a century of policy … and a commitment that this country has made to workers being able to better themselves,” Hoyer said.
“That’s unfortunate, and I hope that the governor will reconsider.”