MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Wisconsin state Senate passed a right-to-work bill Wednesday with just enough votes to send it on to the Assembly, where the Republican majority is wider, keeping the measure on a fast track that could put it before Gov. Scott Walker for his signature next week.
Walker, a likely presidential candidate, has promised to sign it into law. The bill passed the Senate 17-15, with all Democrats and one Republican voting against it, after nearly eight hours of debate.
The proposal would make it a crime punishable by up to nine months in jail to require private-sector workers who aren't in a union to pay dues. Supporters say it's about worker freedom, while opponents say it will hurt businesses and lower wages. There are 24 other states with similar laws, including Michigan and Indiana which passed them in 2012.
Democrats argued right-to-work would be bad for workers, wasn't wanted by businesses and would hurt the state's economy. They also decried how quickly the bill was moving - the Senate vote was just five days after the bill was proposed.
Republican supporters said it will give workers the freedom to decide whether to pay union dues and will attract more business to the state.
"There will be no more important jobs bill in this chamber over the next two years than the bill before us today," said its main sponsor, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.
Senate Democrats pointed to a coalition of more than 440 businesses that organized against the bill, the more than 1,700 people who testified or registered against it at a hearing, as well as unions for professional baseball, football and hockey players, as evidence that those who will be affected don't want it to pass.
Republicans rejected several Democratic amendments, including bolstering worker training by $30 million, increasing poverty aid for public schools, removing the provision making violation of the law a misdemeanor and delaying implementation for three months.
The bill as passed would take effect immediately upon Walker's signature. Fitzgerald said there was "adequate time" for unions and businesses to extend contracts now, and not be subject to the law, before Walker signs it.
Democratic Minority Leader Jen Shilling, who called the proposal anti-business, pleaded with Republicans to "be the hero for the future of our state" and vote against the bill. Ultimately, just enough Republicans voted for the bill to pass it.
Sen. Jerry Petrowski, of Marathon, was the lone Republican to vote against it. Petrowski said in a statement that he was "not convinced that the supposed benefits of passing this bill will materialize and offset a potentially disruptive impact on our economy."
"I'm a Ronald Reagan Republican, and, like President Reagan, I was a union member for many years," he said.
Spectators frequently applauded Democrats and occasionally interrupted debate. About a dozen were removed by police. "This is not about democracy. You work for the people of the state!" one person yelled during Fitzgerald's opening comments. Later, another person was removed after shouting, "You're robbing our families! You're robbing me!"
They chanted "Shame!" after the bill passed and the Senate adjourned.
About 2,000 people protested inside and outside the Capitol for a second day Wednesday. While sizable, the protests didn't compare with four years ago, when up to 100,000 people gathered at the Capitol to urge rejection of the law that came to be known as Act 10. In addition to disallowing the automatic withdrawal of union dues, that law took away collective bargaining from nearly all public workers except over wage increases no greater than inflation.
Passage of that law spurred the 2012 recall against Walker, which he won. For years Walker had downplayed his longtime support for right-to-work, saying it wasn't a priority and he hoped the Legislature wouldn't take it up, but last week he promised to sign the bill.
Shilling said the bill was a "hail Mary to please outside special interest groups with a governor who is traveling the nation on the taxpayers' expense pursuing his presidential ambitions."