After four months of political upheaval in Wisconsin, UW-Madison students can expect the high level of activity to continue through the summer with recall elections, more policy pushes from Gov. Scott Walker and the potential for radical changes to the UW System.
Nine state senators could face recall elections July 12 if the petitions against them are verified by the Government Accountability Board. Only four lawmakers in Wisconsin's history have had recall elections, and only two were defeated.
As the state Senate currently stands there are 19 Republicans and 14 Democrats, which means Democrats need to gain three seats in the recalls in order to control the chamber. Six Republicans and three Democrats are up for recall.
""I wouldn't be surprised if when students return in the fall we've got a Democratic majority in the senate,"" UW-Madison political science professor Dennis Dresang said.
Dresang said Democrats will mobilize their efforts against Republican incumbents based on anger over the collective bargaining provisions of the budget repair bill, while Republicans will play on the controversy of Democratic senators fleeing to Illinois to delay a vote on the bill.
He said Republicans' argument against the Democratic senators is ""much more of a kind of abstract idea than the … principle issues of collective bargaining rights.""
""You have to give an edge to the Democratic constituencies,"" Dresang said.
However, UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said even if Democrats managed to take the Senate in July, they likely will not be able to reverse policies Walker put in place.
""Even a significant pick up won't fundamentally alter the balance of power in the state,"" Franklin said, ""though it certainly could make life more difficult for the governor to have a Democratic senate if it went that far.""
This summer could also see the introduction of legislation that has been put on the back burner because of all of the issues surrounding the budget, including social issues like stem-cell research and reproductive rights.
During the campaign, Walker said he would like stem-cell research to focus on adult rather than embryonic stem cells, and Dresang said he could try to push that through before Republicans possibly lose control over both houses.
Another issue that will most likely be decided before the beginning of the fall semester is the status of UW-Madison, and whether or not it will remain a part of the UW System.
""That's a very fluid situation right now,"" Dresang said. ""Clearly it's one of the governor's priorities, but the Republicans are not following the governor as blindly as they had been at the beginning of his term.""
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said he hopes a compromise can be met in which all UW schools are free of what he called the bureaucratic restrictions they have now, but remain unified with UW-Madison in tow.
But Giroux said because of the $250 million in cuts to the UW System, all state universities will see significant changes come the fall.
""It's going to be hard for us to absorb cuts of this magnitude without somewhere, somehow touching just about every corner of the university,"" Giroux said.
