Facing a flood of red ink and embroiled in an effort to curb the collective bargaining rights of most public workers, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to unveil his new state budget on Tuesday.
The spending plan is being rolled out as protesters enter a third week of demonstrations at the state capitol, and Democratic lawmakers stay as far away from the building as possible.
The state's 14 Democratic senators have fled to neighboring Illinois to prevent a quorum of 20 votes needed for a budget repair bill that would require public employees -- with the exception of police and firefighters -- to cover more of their retirement plans and health care premiums.
Passage of the budget repair bill, which would apply to the current spending plan, would limit collective bargaining to wages. Any pay increases beyond the rate of inflation would be subject to voter approval.
"There are plenty of states that do not have collective bargaining," Republican Gov. Scott Walker said Monday. "We have a right to do this with the statutes and that's what we're doing."
Union leaders have agreed to pay more for benefits, but oppose restricting bargaining rights that the governor argues is needed for meaningful fiscal reforms.
Wisconsin is confronted with a $137 million budget shortfall by June 30.
The embattled governor has defended his budget repair bill, saying the measures are needed to head off a $3.6 billion budget gap by 2013 that could result in thousands of layoffs.
The state had faced a suggested Friday deadline to balance the budget, but the crucial date is March 16, officials said.
The budget bill was passed by lawmakers in the state assembly early Friday and must still clear the Senate, where AWOL Democrats have stalled the legislative process.
Walker has called on the lawmakers to "come back and do their job," sending state patrol officers to Democrat homes in an effort to pressure their return.
"If we fail to pass this bill by Tuesday, we lose $165 million worth of savings. If we continue down that path we start seeing layoffs," he warned.
Meanwhile, some of the hundreds of demonstrators who had filled the Capitol building -- gathering inside the rotunda in daily protest of the proposed legislation -- had left the building by Monday at the request of state police, said state Department of Administration spokeswoman Jodi Jensen.
"Of those who remained, all but a few have voluntarily complied with the request of law enforcement to remain in a designed area of the building," Jensen said. "No additional protesters will be allowed into the building until this situation is resolved."
Hundreds gathered outside the Capitol building later on Monday, chanting, "Let us in!" Their yells were met by a group of protesters who remained inside, chanting, "Let them in!"
Representative Peter Barca, the Democratic leader in Wisconsin's state assembly, called the lock-down unacceptable.
"Politicians may not always enjoy hearing what the citizens of this state have to say, but it is wrong to block elected officials from their constituents," Barca said. "There are a number of scheduled meetings in the building today and the public has a right to attend them and visit their legislators."
A pro-union political action committee called "Defending Wisconsin" filed a lawsuit Monday in a U.S. District Court against the state of Wisconsin for not letting people to enter the capitol building, said the group's director Jeremy J. Ryan.
Authorities had initially given demonstrators until late Sunday afternoon to leave the building, saying it needed to be cleaned after roughly two weeks of protests.
And while many people left, others defied the order and remained inside. Some said they were willing to risk arrest to make their point.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers said Sunday that workers in Wisconsin have sent a message to Walker that "'we understand and we will do our fair share.'" But Walker is sending a different message, Weingarten said: "'I'm just taking away your voice at work.'"
In the long term, that message "is ridiculous because collective bargaining is the way to increase quality," she said.
President Barack Obama also weighed in on Monday, appearing to allude to the growing controversy by telling a group of governors that while "everybody should be prepared to give up something" in the face of new budget realities, "I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are vilified" or their rights are infringed upon.
The president has publicly expressed support for those fighting to keep collective bargaining in Wisconsin.
Walker, in the meantime, is getting an assist from national Republicans.
The Republican Governors Policy Committee, a wing of the Republican Governors Association, will launch a new television ad Tuesday defending Walker's rigid stance on his budget bill.
The ad claims that Walker is simply trying to balance the budget without raising taxes and asking state employees to contribute more to their own benefits, "just like everyone else."
Several labor groups have already run ads attacking Walker.
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