Police officers are looking for Democratic Wisconsin politicians who were ordered to attend a vote on a bill that would strip public employees of collective bargaining rights.
No Democrats showed up for Thursday's Senate session, meaning a vote cannot be taken. Republicans need one Democratic senator to be present.
| Technically, they need one more member to make a quorum. The thing is, all the remaining senators are Democrats. |
Calls to Democratic leaders were not immediately returned.
Republicans are pushing the anti-union bill proposed by GOP Gov. Scott Walker. Thousands of people clogged the halls of the Statehouse for a third straight day in opposition.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says law enforcement officers were searching for Democrats after they were ordered to attend the Senate session.
Found hiding safely across state lines in the Best Western Clock Tower Resort in Rockford, Illinois. It is not clear if the bus that took them there had returned to base after dropping them off.
According to the Twitter account of Democrat State Senator Chris Larson from Bay View, "For those looking for us, we are right here, standing with the people of Wisconsin."
| Standing with Wisconsin but not in Wisconsin... |
When asked by TODAY'S TMJ4's Tom Murray why he would not divulge his location, he said "I don't want those details to take away from the message being sent by the people of Wisconsin."
Tea Partiers rousted them out (it turns out the politicians are video camera-shy) and herded them back into Wisconsin. For the curious, they did keep the bus conveniently in the parking lot against future need... which arrived considerably sooner than they anticipated. |