Assembly leader says right to work not coming

Associated Press

Updated: Jan 7, 2013 1:52 PM

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he won't allow a bill making Wisconsin a right to work state to come up for a vote.

Vos spoke Monday before the start of the two-year legislative session.

Gov. Scott Walker last month said he wouldn't pursue right-to-work legislation in Wisconsin like what passed in Michigan because he believes it would be a "huge distraction" to job creation efforts.

Many Democrats, union leaders and others have worried that Republicans would push to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state after passage of a 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.

That measure generated massive protests and a series of recall elections, including one Walker survived in June.

Vos says not every issue the Legislature takes up needs to be that divisive.

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