Wisconsin's Budget on Thin Ice in the Senate
Monday, June 15th, 2015 -- 8:18 AM
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) -Gov. Scott Walker's budget hangs by a gossamer thread in the GOP-controlled state Senate, where "no" votes from just three lawmakers within his own party would be enough to derail his spending plan.Already, two conservative Republican senators have made clear they will be extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald to win over without knocking moderate senators from their party out of the yes column in the process.
The budget deadline is barely two weeks away, Walker is traveling in Canada and Fitzgerald has no margin for error; right now almost every one of the 19 Republicans in the 33-member Senate can be seen as the deciding vote for the bill.
As a veteran leader, Fitzgerald has been in this position with other legislation and passed it. But for now, every GOP senator who wants to demand something from the Senate majority leader is in a good spot to do it. The biggest issues, prevailing wage, bucks arena and transportation and taxes.
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