A Wisconsin state Senate committee is holding a public hearing on a Republican bill that overhauls the state's 110-year-old civil service system. It would affect about 30,000 state employees.
The bill would do away with the civil service exam, speed up the hiring process, define “just cause” for disciplining employees and eliminate “bumping” rights that protect more experienced workers from losing their jobs.
Democrats and unions representing state workers oppose it, saying it will make it easier to hire political cronies. Republicans say the changes will modernize the system and make it easier to hire more quickly.
