Republicans in Wisconsin’s legislature announced Friday plans to fast-track right-to-work legislation and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) office indicated that the governor would sign it.
“If this bill makes it to his desk, Governor Walker will sign it into law,” Walker press secretary Laurel Patrick said in a statement, according to National Journal.
Lawmakers plan to hold a vote on the bill next week.
Until recently, it was unclear whether Walker would actually support the right-to-work push. Right-to-work laws prevent unions and businesses from making labor deals that require members to pay unions fees.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that, for years, Walker had said signing this kind of bill into law would be a distraction. At the same time, though, he also refused to make a veto threat if a right-to-work bill came forward.
But now, since Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) has called an extraordinary session of the state legislature to move the right-to-work legislation, Walker seems poised to sign it into law.
“Wisconsin should be a right-to-work state,” Vos said in a statement according to the Journal-Sentinel. “The public widely supports worker freedom and the potential positive impact to the state’s economy can no longer be ignored.”