State Assembly set for marathon Right-To-Work debate

The Right-To-Work bill is moving forward in Madison. The full Assembly will take up the bill Thursday morning, and that's after a committee passed it through an executive session Wednesday night. The committee voted down all four of the proposed changes Democrats offered, and then moved the bill on.

Thursday's Assembly floor debate could last as long as 24 hours. This bill is backed by Republican legislators with Democrats trying to stop it. Democrats said they have between 50 and 75 amendments to offer on the Assembly floor. Last week Senate Democrats offered seven amendments, and that floor session lasted almost nine hours.

Democrats say they will take as much time as they need tomorrow trying to convince enough Republicans to vote against the bill.

“I'm hoping that as Representative [Cory] Mason (D-Racine) suggested that they will listen to these amendments.\" said Representative Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), the Assembly Minority Leader.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) countered, “It's not necessarily about going and trying to improve the bill because they wouldn't vote for it even if all those amendments were added. So all it is is about delay which is unfortunate. We've had ample time. The public needs to have certainty, which means the bill will pass.\"

Vos and other Republicans say they are confident there are more than enough votes to pass Right-To-Work out of the Assembly.