Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Part #12: Sneak Attack
March 12, 2011 - 12:26pm
Wednesday morning we were all preparing for a compromise. The media blew up with stories that Scott Walker was willing to keep collective bargaining in place in exchange for the return of the fourteen Democrats and the passage of the rest of the bill, and activists on the ground scrambled looking for ways to strengthen their coalition and resist a compromise that could remove organized labor from the fight in order to conquer the rest of the working class.
The odd thing was that Wednesday evening, instead of continuing what appeared to be a very effective strategy to move forward on the austerity and disperse the movement, Republicans split the bill and moved to ramrod it through the Legislature that night; the bill has stalled out for as long as it has because they don’t have quorum to pass it as financial legislation, so they’ve split the bill to have a non-financial union-busting bill that they can pass with the numbers they have now. The Senate passed the union-busting split bill Wednesday night with no debate and with only 8 pages missing from over 140 total pages.
The response by protesters was furious: I must have gotten at least four phone calls and a dozen text messages saying “GET TO THE CAPITOL”—every network had been tapped. A group managed to get into the building and unlocked doors to let the rest of the crowd flood in, and thousands packed the capitol for another night reminiscent of the first week. Early Thursday morning most of the crowd left the capitol, but as the Assembly prepared to go into session mid-morning a number of activists organized in affinity groups linked arms and prepared to block the Assembly Chambers. Once again, Capitol Police asked the group to leave politely, saying that once they leave the capitol doors will be unlocked. While some left voluntarily a few dozen activists refused to comply and remained seated. At around 11am the State Patrol was ordered to drag out deadweight activists one by one as cameras flashed away. [1]
Outside, I took the bus to the capitol about 10am. Most of the other passengers had buttons or signs at their feet and at the MLK stop half the bus dismounted and quick-stepped up the block to the capitol rally. Cars have started honking to the tune of “This is what democracy looks like”, often in call and response, so even though the numbers around the building seemed to be in the ballpark of only 12,000, cars and workers around the city were clearly paying attention and trying to be a part of the protest however they could. Close to 10:30, students from Madison’s East and West High school walked out and got to the capitol from opposite sides of town; West marched up State Street, East up East Washington. As they were cheered on by the crowd, they packed the stairs outside the East Washington entrance and after about fifteen minutes Jesse Jackson said a few words I couldn’t hear and led them away from the building a second time. (Where they went I couldn’t say, though its possible he took them back to school like he did the first week.) After clearing the crowd inside, the Assembly passed the bill Thursday afternoon while Firefighters took out hundreds of thousands of their dollars from M&I Bank, forcing it close for the day.
Friday, Walker signed the bill. Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk filed for an emergency order to prevent the law from being published, but was refused by Judge Amy Smith, and so the law goes into effect March 25th. Walker also backed off of some of the layoff notices in an attempt to ease the situation. Of course the damage is done and a wave of retirements has already ensued as older workers scramble to keep their hard earned pensions.
***
I’m left trying to understand, “what the hell just happened?” Why such a violent shift from one tactic to another? I really can’t tell if this is a case of one hand washing the other, or if it exemplifies conflict among the ruling class. In favor of a conflict thesis, a number of business publications have been quite upset with Walker’s heavy handed tactics and have been trying to backpedal so that they don’t lose the whole enchilada, but Walker and the far-rightists know just how important a victory is for them in Wisconsin and may have rammed it through in spite of the Democrats to have their way. The New York Times Business Page printed an article suggesting that its not the pay that’s “bankrupting” states, but its inefficient provisions in union contracts:
“The solution today is not to cut both the pay and the benefits of public workers, as would happen if workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere lost their right to bargain.The solution is to get rid of the deferred benefits that make no sense — the wasteful health plans, the pensions that start at age 55 and still let retirees draw a full salary elsewhere, the definitions of disability that treat herniated discs as incurable...A more efficient government is one that does not need quite so many employees to do the same work. Layoffs are not always necessary, either. Attrition can reduce a payroll fairly quickly, as has happened in Indiana.” What’s more, they suggest that the problem with government is that they “face no competition”, setting itself up for arguments for increased privatization.
Another example is the Forbes article, “Gov. Walker Has Lost the War”. There they talk about the danger of the bill uniting the working class in opposition: “While Governor Walker may yet succeed in getting his budget repair bill through the legislative process and accomplish his goal of reducing collective bargaining to a shell of its former self, the larger battle appears to already be lost...He will also have prompted the nation’s unions to work together for a common objective– a feat that would have seemed impossible just one month ago...The damage has already been done.” And back in January, there was the Economist article that started this all, which also argues in favor of productivity as the way to handle the problem, rather than “banning unions outright”.
But its still not clear if that is the dominant logic. My partner Kate pointed out that the Republicans have spent all of their political capital already and are set to be recalled, even if they’ll just be replaced by Democrats. They themselves have nothing to lose by doing this because they’re probably already on their way out. And we should all know by now that its harder to undo something than to stop it in the first place, so probably we can expect that this will do its damage and if Democrats retake the legislature they’ll likely leave behind many portions of the bill. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but we shouldn’t take lighly Mike Tate’s recent comment in the New York Times, “From a policy perspective, this is terrible. But from a political perspective, he could not have handed us a bigger gift.” Democrats still do stand to benefit from this, even as the working class reels. (And now the fourteen Senators are on their way back.)
The Legislature doesn’t have any sessions until April 5th, so there’s nothing to block at the capitol and the last few days’ violent interruption notwithstanding we have to figure out what now. I don’t think anyone could have predicted Wednesday night’s split and rush, but I think we continue the transition into a new fight...
Part # 11: Regrouping and Reorienting
March 8, 2011 - 4:38pm
A quick note on process: I want to point out that the analysis and reporting that I’ve been doing has been the result of many collective discussions and debates with my comrades, members of Solidarity as well as fellow travelers. Mistakes or misjudgments are my own, and times where I feel like I’ve been off is because I haven’t been able to work through the situation collectively. Givin’ credit where credit’s due!
Let’s start with a recap of last week before getting into where we are now. A week ago, on the last weekend of February, the Legislature tried to close the capitol and ran up against a critical mass of demonstrators and a number of police defections. On Sunday evening, 2/27, about a hundred protesters refused to leave the capitol after a dispersal order and following some short deliberation the Capitol Police announced that they would not attempt any arrests. This all set up an intensified struggle over the capitol—would the continued occupation by a hundred activists reopen the capitol or would the capitol be closed out?
A number of discussions arose during the week about whether the capitol was a distraction or not, sometimes broadbrushing the entire effort, but I think its more complicated than talk of distractions. It certainly was a victory on Sunday night when activists were able to stay in the capitol. And the lawsuits thrown at the Department of Administration Monday hinted that it was possible to reopen the building and resume the capitol protests, especially because there was such a large worker turnout pressuring the judiciary. Tuesday’s court skirmishes were engrossing but by that evening I think it became clear that a number of factors had shifted the situation and the window of opportunity for retaking the capitol was closing.
That the court did not immediately rule that the DOA and the police were breaking the law and violating the constitution suggested that they were trying to manage the fuck-ups of the Walker administration and were using the system of “checks and balances” to check Walker and balance out what could have been an explosive situation. The legal proceedings continued past Wednesday (way longer than they should have), with a final order that the DOA couldn’t keep the building closed but they didn’t have to admit anyone after business hours and no one was to sleep there—to top it off, the court order to wasn’t go into effect until Tuesday, March 8th, which was a tacit acceptance of the DOA’s methods and a cue that the DOA had a few days to finish up any remaining business with the court’s blessing. When they started letting people back in, they had diffused the anger that was building over Walker, the Legislature and the DOA’s political repression and managed to control it by letting people have access to the capitol but stripping them of the power that they had to potentially block a vote through mass action, or at least keep a close eye on what was happening.
Alongside the court ruling was a set of maneuvers by the labor bureaucracy and the Democratic Party. The AFL-CIO staff in the capitol kept telling people not to disobey the dispersal order on 2/27 and 2/28 and then undermined grassroots activists by making back room deals with police inside the capitol, finally withdrawing staff and material support from the capitol effort early last week. The Democratic Party told people to leave the capitol (Hulsey twice, others a few times as well) and that their presence was getting in the way of the legislative effort to stop Walker. In the final days of the sleep-in, police appointed a new group (who were not selected by occupiers) to “negotiate”, i.e. relay orders to evacuate. It should be clear that the Democratic Party and labor leadership did not want to keep the mass protests in the capitol going—the mass protests in the capitol enabled workers’ to connect with other workers and grassroots activists, self-organize and push for a set of increasingly militant demands and tactics, which forced the labor-dems to respond and do things they would normally never do—like flee the state or call sick-outs. By withdrawing support and literally telling people to leave, they hoped to reconvene the protests in an arena that was more under their control, out on the square where you need access to permits and special equipment to be heard (like PA’s).
I won’t go into the events of the capitol’s evacuation itself, save for mentioning a few hundred people from the No Concessions Funeral March [2] making it past a police check-point to get into the capitol briefly, but interested parties should read the excellent account offered by a comrade, Rebecca [3].
On Friday morning, the capitol had been cleared of its trespassers and the building had been transformed from a redecorated and repurposed workers’ open house to a locked-down quasi-military zone. To add insult to injury, the DOA claimed it would cost $7.5 million to clean up the capitol, though they had to reduce the number to a more “appropriate” $350,000 after some push back. Even though the capitol is “open”, they have effectively neutralized the potential for disruptions and mass action, and the court really did the DOA a favor by intervening and forcing them to have a more subtle approach than they were employing.
This, I think, concludes the first part of the Battle for Wisconsin and now that the objective situation has changed a process of regroupment and reorientation is beginning. The contest for the capitol is pretty much over, and the power that was there has been circumvented by giving limited access and controlling the space. As this has happened, our sense of social time is slowing from developments every six hours to developments every day and a half—or so it feels. I had numerous conversations with people last week who felt like they had to resume much of their normal life and were trying to figure out how to balance it so as to continue the struggle. There’s a near consensus that we’ve moved from an expectation of a sharp conclusion to a much longer and more drawn out fight. In regrouping, there are many meetings, sure, but Friday and Saturday there must have been more parties and get-togethers happening than I could count. Transitioning out of this acute struggle and into whatever comes next, people did take time to celebrate themselves and each other, share some stories about this modern day folktale and heal a little.
The calculations about our tactics and strategy will necessarily have to change. What will move us towards defeating the bill as well as the budget now that the capitol situation is contained? What will be the new sites of grassroots, rank’n file assembly and forum? How do we solidify a set of demands that includes the majority of the working class, beyond organized labor and into a workers’ movement? I draw these up in the abstract, but they’re the living questions that people are grappling with in the here and now.
Some notable developments are the No Concessions contingent organized by National Nurses United [4], who have constructed a fairly class conscious, militant analysis—even for those who don’t subscribe to it totally, there is a meme that’s growing in popularity that the unions offered to pay for the fake crisis, and even that Walker rejected, so now the concessions should be off the table. Saturday, thousands of farmers will drive a tractorcade up to the capitol in protest of cuts to social services that affect rural workers. Freedom Inc, a racial-justice nonprofit led by women of color, has been organizing a series of town halls around Madison to mobilize communities of color against the bill and the budget and to intervene in the mainly-white protests. The Labor and Working Class Studies Project has also been organizing a series of educationals, such as an upcoming session on the “Economics of the Wisconsin Labor Struggle”.
Obviously there is and will be a lot of experimentation as the movement reorients towards all of the new developments, but the battle is hardly over. The struggle continues...
Part #10: Inside-Outside
March 3, 2011 - 6:00pm
Court is still in session and access to the capitol is restricted for the fourth consecutive day. About eighty people continue the sit-in inside the capitol, for hope that the combination of popular pressure and favorable judicial order will force the DOA and police to step aside and let the occupation of the capitol resume in full; if they leave, their understanding is that the capitol will be unrecoverable for the movement.
The resolve of people inside is nothing short of heroic. Many of the activists holding the floor at the capitol have been there for days, since last Friday even, committed to staying for every night that it was rumored people would be pushed out. But unlike last week where activists would go to meetings, get food, clean up and rush back to the capitol before being locked out, they have been basically unable to leave since the doors closed Sunday afternoon. Morale has had its highs and lows, higher at the start of the week and lower every day since as the isolation and feeling of powerlessness sets in. I got a call from a comrade inside yesterday and I said to them, “Its like you’re in fucking prison,” to which they responded, “Well actually in prison you could come visit me.”
From reports with occupiers inside, the DOA has been increasing the pressure every day and is trying hard to break them: when food isn’t withheld, its cold and contaminated (and they’re getting sick of macaroni pizza); the heat has been turned off at night to freeze them out; they’re constantly surrounded by a squadron of cops, sometimes with dogs and Republican legislators and their staff gawk at them from the balcony above. Fox News has had a semi-constant live feed camera pointed at occupiers and Republicans are making dehumanizing and insulting public comments, like Senator Glenn Grothman calling them “a bunch of slobs” and saying that they’ve turned the building into a “pigsty”. Nevertheless, activists inside have developed close bonds and are having regular tactical conversations and communicating with allies on the outside, occasionally exchanging in the one-in one-out system that’s been likened to a prisoner exchange by some. Reporters with press passes and those who make appointments to lobby their legislators have some limited access, so long as they pass through a militarized check point.
As this goes on, Republicans have tried to also force the fourteen missing Senators to return. They’ve passed a bill fining each senator $100 for every day that they are missing (as well as some other associated “costs”), stripped their staff of access to supplies and parking and even issued an order for the Senators’ arrest. On the crazy front, the Senate put forth a motion banning prank calls after the Walker fiasco last week. Their strategy seems to turn the situation inside the capitol into something that looks strained and hopeless, broadcast that over national TV and sell that as the essence of this movement: small, doomed and representing full-time activists more than rank’n file workers. Its part of their battle for public opinion, and as things stall out it may have some effect.
There is a lot going on here and a lot to unpack. The situation with occupiers in the capitol is incredibly delicate both for the sake of honoring activists inside and with regards to the overall strategy. There is no doubt that those sitting in are being subject to inhumane conditions intended to encircle them psychologically and ultimately break their resolve. Having spoken to folks inside, there is a lot of serious pain and trauma and they’re having to combat the psychological effects of a prisoner situation while being forced to make critical political decisions. For their allies outside, there is an overwhelming feeling of guilt that they are not inside, not being supportive enough, not able to open the doors. Its a feeling of powerlessness that haunts us.
That being said, focusing on the micro-level shouldn’t lose sight of the objectives. Why are we here? What was the purpose of sleeping in the capitol and holding the space?
The occupation of the capitol began semi-spontaneously and grew to repurpose space into what was referred to in the media as “the workers’ cathedral”. The symbolic nature of this reclaimed capitol is plain to see, but the tactical value was something I think less examined. For one, having a critical mass of people did physically block the legislative sessions, stalled the vote and that power influenced the Democrats to high tail it. It was also a central meeting place to come in from the cold, warm up, have food, network with other workers and organize in a space that was more resilient to the machinations of the labor bureaucracy—it was just plain hard to organize a planned event in there with thousands of people and all the noise, so established institutions couldn’t use their resources like they normally do as leverage. Lastly, and maybe this is related to the symbolism, is that it was a space that built confidence and raised morale.
So then we get back to today, where there is a dedicated group on the inside being prodded and subject to a dehumanizing gaze holding out amidst the worst of circumstances. The questions that arise now are about our (and especially their) evaluations of the weight of importance the capitol holds and if we think this action will lead to returning it to our possession, and if that will win us the fight. We have to ask ourselves how this plays into the goal of killing the entire bill, pushing back the budget and, if we’re gonna just put it all out there, turning this into a workers’ offensive. There’s no easy answer, its all contingent upon the developments of the next few days, but we need to make sure to consider all the elements at play and think about where’s the source of our power.
Part #9: Change of Venue
March 2, 2011
Judge Moeser ruled that the Department of Administration (DOA) could not limit access to the capitol building and granted the restraining order demanded by protesters (I think legal counsel was acquired by WEAC and AFSCME Council 24?). Nonetheless, the entrance to the capitol Tuesday was penned in with guard rails to keep protesters in single file, orange plastic fencing enclosing the lawn and a line of police guarding the doors. Around 80 people have stayed in the capitol, and the DOA’s response to the restraining order was to “satisfy” entry rights by allowing one protester in for everyone who would leave the occupation inside. All this as thousands of people outside chanted “LET US IN!” and “SHAME ON YOU!” Bricklayers from Chicago came out in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and blew up an inflatable suited fat cat strangling a hard-hatted worker with “WISCONSIN” written on him. Laborers from Milwaukee marched in their bright orange LiUNA! shirts and said that any day they’re not here they’re demonstrating back home.
At noon, the city had a meeting at the Dane County District Court to discuss the DOA’s noncompliance with the judicial order. I arrived a little late, the only person in jeans and a t-shirt, but the recap I got was that the judicial branch of the government can only make rulings and has no power to enforce them; that duty belongs to the executive branch of government, of which the DOA is part. So yet another hearing was held at 2:15 again at Dane County Court to determine whether or not the DOA’s actions to limit access to the capitol were constitutional (again, Wisconsin law guarantees access to the capitol and its grounds), with specific deliberation over the one-in one-out process that the DOA was using.
The courtroom itself was completely full in its forty seats and more than one hundred people packed the basement viewing room, where they broadcast the proceedings on a projector. Usually the people who show up to observe court are dressed in business casual attire, but everywhere were ironworkers in worn grey hoodies with hardhats and cotton in their ears, off-duty cops, stateworkers and nurses in uniform. I worked for a lawyer a few years ago and I’ve been in campaigns that have had to use the courts enough to know that the process here was just silly. As the lawyers cross-examined their witnesses, it seemed like this was mostly a stall for time with foolish questions from DOA lawyer, Steven Means, like this one to Marty Beil from AFSCME Council 24,
DOA: “Would you say that you are omniscient?”
Biel: “I’m sorry, did you say omniscient?”
State lawyer: “Objection!”
Judge : “Can we all agree that Mr. Beil is not omniscient?”
The room full of workers gave running commentary during the whole thing in the overflow room. Clapping, hooting, boos and cries like, “BULLSHIT!” were fairly constant through the proceedings in response to the business on the courtroom floor. My sense was that the court has the legal obligation to hear the arguments, but that the judge seemed to lean pretty clearly towards the side of the protesters. Most of the DOA’s arguments were technicalities about the legal weight and language used in the order, with secondary arguments about the rowdiness of protesters who were disturbing business as usual and purportedly making threats to capitol staff.
Its easy to get caught up in the motions and jargon of legalese, so lets break this down for a sec. Judge Moeser issues the restraining order, the DOA ignores it, Judge Albert hears it a second time, the DOA say it was never binding and stalls to keep people out of the capitol on the day that Walker is going to release his biennial budget. The court cases really haven’t been about winning so much as buying time, it seems. And in the course of these two weeks, Walker has tried to shift the sites of power and keeps failing. He started by trying to simply split the working class and pit the unemployed and private sector workers against public workers and keep cops and firefighters out, which failed; he tried to push it through the legislature, and that failed; he tried to use his executive power to kick people out of the capitol by force, hasn’t been able; and now he’s moving through the judiciary and losing. Its getting hard to imagine where this could possibly go from here. The move to the courts, I suspect, was an attempt to remove the pressure of popular power and move into an elite institution with a more controlled atmosphere. And while its true that there’s less popular influence over the judiciary, the courts’ power typically lies in anonymity and obfuscation, which doesn’t really work when you have hundreds of workers packing the courthouse.
That said, having the new budget out has raised the stakes even more, with $900 million to be cut from education, over one million dollars cut from recycling in Madison, insurance companies released of their obligation to cover birth control and more and more. (Budget analysis to come soon.) Another rupture, Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney, a noted anti-immigrant official, has pulled his officers from guard duty saying that they won’t be “palace guards”.
Into Wednesday, 80 occupiers remain, occasionally switching out with fresh activists who take their place, and access to the capitol remains limited.
Part #8: The Weekend Blues
Submitted by Andrew on March 1, 2011 - 1:49am
The big news this weekend is about cops in the capitol. Friday, most people know, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association said that they would refuse orders to clear out the capitol and instead sleep in to keep the occupation going. Unfortunately, there are three different groups of police working inside the capitol and the WPPA statement is speaking for the city cops here. That leaves the Capitol Police and the State Patrol (Capitol Police actually have their offices in the basement of the capitol and their turf is the capitol and the square surrounding it). The WPPA’s defection Friday was a shock and opened up the question of what’s going to happen inside the capitol? Will the Capitol Police refuse too? Or the State Patrol? Both? Will they come up against each other?
It has been a lot of waiting to see, but my understanding is that the city cops have been pretty openly resistant and the Capitol Police have been issuing orders but not really enforcing them. Example: cops tell the food station to vacate, food station says “no, we’re not leaving” capitol cops say “ok fine.” They say the same thing to the medical station, medical station says “no, we’re not leaving” and they say “ok fine”. And they say it again to the TAA, except the TAA says “OK! We want to preserve our good relationship,” and they willingly clear out and relocate to the Democratic Party office on King Street. So the sense has been that the Capitol Police have to relay their orders, but they won’t enforce them—I’ve heard that Capitol Police aren’t exempt from the bill the way that the other police are, so it might be their way of helping themselves while being in a tough spot.
This whole week there’s been fear of being cleared out of the capitol, which started last Monday when they were closing floors to be “cleaned”. Without exception, every night there’s a rumored time when the doors to the capitol will be locked and people rush from meetings and get-togethers downtown up to the capitol to secure their entry. Friday night was the first “confirmed” time the capitol was to be cleared, which was foiled by the WPPA action and a general convergence to hold the space. Saturday was again supposed to be cleared at 6pm, but just wasn’t enforced—doors were closed so that no one else could enter and there was a concerted call to pack the capitol during the night to keep up the presence. Sunday was when things started to change a little, with rules getting more strict. The police set up some metal detectors and did a trade of three-out/one-in to control traffic and shrink the ratio of protesters. Then it was announced that people would be asked to leave voluntarily at 4pm or risk arrest.
At 4pm the crowd outside the capitol kept up a large presence and thanked people as they came out, some with tears in their eyes, mostly chanting “We are leaving, not retreating” and “We’ll be back”. Cars circling the square honked their horns to the tune of “This is what democracy looks like”. About 1000 protesters committed themselves to staying inside and risking arrest, all the while singing, dancing and chanting loudly to keep their spirits up as the doors were closed and they refused protesters entry into the building. Democratic Assembly representative Brett Hulsey (from Madison’s West Side) addressed the crowd, telling them to leave and give up the capitol, “Now I want you to do the most important part of this campaign, which is to follow me out that door at four o’clock.” The crowd mostly booed him, chanting “hell no, we won’t go” and questioned his place to speak in this space. Meanwhile, a few crafty activists scouted around the building and found a bathroom window and with the aid of a screwdriver made a guerilla entrance to smuggle in food, supplies and, yes, people. As it came to the moment, Capitol Police announced that they would not be arresting anyone nor trying to remove them and news broke that one republican senator would vote “no” to the bill.
This brings us to Monday morning. The doors to the capitol were supposed to be opened at 8am, but remained closed and guarded throughout the day. Apparently, Walker dismissed all remaining city police as well as Capitol Police and their chief, Charles Tubbs, and has since put the State Patrol in charge under the command of Stephen Fitzgerald, who is the father of Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, both Republicans who have aggressively pursued the bill and publicly denounced the protests. (That ain’t good.) At about 1pm the Isthsmus liveblog reported that the State Patrol were sealing the windows of the capitol shut after discovering the traffic through them last night—while this may violate fire code, word is that Madison Fire Department doesn’t have jurisdiction at the capitol, but they are aware. The first move the State Patrol made was to cut off food and supplies to protesters inside, so the only things coming in were apparently smuggled through allies who carry press passes, though as of tonight the Patrol has relaxed their restrictions (they have food again) and once more they will not be moving the protesters.
Obviously this is scary, since the police who have either identified with protesters or been hospitable to them have been dismissed in favor of a more militaristic brand of cops led by the father of the two leading Republican Legislators, but keep in mind that they still have not cleared the capitol and the protesters continued presence is a source of strength and pride. Moreover, the switch to a heavier set of tactics by police and by Walker himself suggests that he knows that he cannot rule by hegemony (people aren’t buying his story on what’s gotta happen) and so he’s shifting to more rule by force. This isn’t definitive, but typically that’s a sign that a regime is unstable and grasping at straws; unfortunately sometimes it works.
As this is happening a number of legal ripostes are coming from the protesters: one is that the closure of the capitol violates the Wisconsin State Constitution, Article 1 Section 4: “The legislature cannot prohibit an individual from entering the capitol or its grounds”; a second one suggests that the Budget Repair bill violates home rule; and then there are some miscellaneous injunctions and restraining orders that have been filed by the ACLU.
Regardless of the fight for the capitol, today does still feel like the calm before a storm. The budget will be unveiled tomorrow night, support for strikes seem to be growing (though there’s no saying who might strike, if anyone), and the danger of a Democratic Party compromise is rearing its ugly head once again.
Andrew
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