The Wisconsin state Senate essentially closed debate on the Budget Repair Bill, but they cannot vote on it and send it to Walker, because of the 20-senators-for-a-quorum rule.
To clarify: the Senate has a rule that 20 of its 33 members must be present to vote yea/nay on any bill or other measure that would spend the state's money. This is why the Senate enacted Voter ID (although in reality they can't
completely enact it, since it would require spending money to implement) but not the budget bill.
As long as the 14 Democratic Senators remain outside of Wisconsin, the bill cannot be voted on and sent to Walker to be signed into law. It is, essentially, no different than a filibuster - except that it involves people fleeing to other states.
From what I understand, if the bill is not signed by sometime in mid-March, its provisions (other than the "union contract termination" language) would be made moot because the state would not be able to issue the bonds needed to "recoup" the difference between the budget shortfall and expenses in time for them to make a difference. This is why the layoff notices are being floated around.
An interesting sidebar about the layoffs:
the numbers Walker is throwing out isn't direct layoffs of state employees, but is due to drastic reduction of funding from the state to local municipalities (county/city/town/village governments).
Walker is scheduled to give his 2011-2013 budget proposal on the 1st.
At least one of the the Democratic Senators has suggested they may need to remain outside of the state until July 1st (the first day of the new budget), so the terms of the budget repair bill never make it to Walker's desk. However, Walker can just as easily put the same terms for terminating union contracts in his budget for the next biennium. And, even given the amount of protesting that has happened at the Capitol over the last three weeks, it's almost certain that he will put the same provision in his budget.
SIGH
The problem with me talking about this subject is that I am way, way, WAY too close to the situation. Even looking things up to verify the situation is getting me way too angry. So angry in fact that, when I had a doctor's appointment on Monday for a physical, I came in after reading the latest from Madison - and had a BP reading of 170/90.
TL;DR - This whole thing sucks, and I'm one of those getting inhaled voluminously upon.
