UPDATED: Brookfield's Senators Join GOP in Passing Union Changes

Brookfield's two state Senators - Leah Vukmir and Rich Zipperer - joined their Republican peers in voting Wednesday to pass sweeping changes to public employee collective bargaining. 

Senators voted 18-1, with Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) casting the sole dissenting vote, to adopt changes that would eliminate collective bargaining on all issues but wages for unionized public employees other than police, fire, sheriff and state troopers.

The revised bill goes to the state Assembly, which plans to meet at 11 Thursday. Brookfield's two representatives - Paul Farrow and Dale Kooyenga - voted in favor of the governor's budget repair bill and collective bargaining changes when it was last before the Assembly on Feb. 24. 

Vukmir and Zipperer could not be immediately reached for comment. A recording on their Capitol phone said their voice mail boxes were full.  

But they have previously expressed support for the governor's controversial repair bill, with Sunday night hosted by U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner. The next night in Wauwatosa, Sensenbrenner abruptly ended another Town Hall meeting when the crowd angrily reacted to Vukmir's answers.

Vukmir told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren the "mob" reaction was "emblematic of what the people in our local communities and our school boards are recognizing and realizing as they go through the collective bargaining process. And it makes the case why we need to have collective bargaining reform." 

Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) said she voted for the bill because “something needs to be done to balance the budget… and avoid large-scale layoffs of public employees.”

Passing the amended bill will prevent layoffs, Lazich said.

Lazich argued that the Democrats “ignored repeated efforts to negotiate on the bill.

But Democrats, who gave conflicting statements on whether they would return to Madison tomorrow, objected to the hastily scheduled vote and its sweeping impacts.

“In the dead of night and in less than 30 minutes, the Senate eviscerated over 50 years of collective bargaining and labor peace in this state,” said Sen. Fred Risser, a Democrat from Madison.

He questioned the legality of the vote, whether it violated state open meetings laws and said it amounted to “nothing more than an abuse of power.”

Sen. Julie Lassa, a Democrat from Stevens Point, called the vote a “truly sad night for Wisconsin democracy.”

“Deaf to the pleas of the overwhelming majority of Wisconsin citizens, Governor Walker and Republican legislators have demonstrated absolute contempt for the democratic process. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

A Green Bay senator, Dave Hansen, called his Republican counterparts “morally bankrupt” and predicted the move would lead to their ouster from office.

“Their actions are reckless, repulsive, unnecessary and mean-spirited,” Hansen said.

Video of the vote is on WisEye.org here. 

More from JSOnline and The Wheeler Report.