Interview With Scott Fitzgerald

March 24, 2011

Show: FOX ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN>

Date: March 22, 2011>

Head: Interview With Scott Fitzgerald>

Sect: News; International>

Byline: Greta Van Susteren>

Guest: Scott Fitzgerald>

Spec: Wisconsin; Labor>

VAN SUSTEREN: The fight in Wisconsin goes on and on. As you recall, last Friday a judge issued a TRO, a temporary restraining order, preventing the governor's new collective bargaining statute from going into effect. That did not make the governor and the Republicans very happy. Now they are fighting back, filing an appeal yesterday.What happened today? Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald joins us. The DA today has filed a response. Explain, in light of your getting snarled up in this litigation why not vote on the statute, you don't need the Democrats it is not a fiscal bill and vote on it and give them their 24 hours and be done with it?

SCOTT FITZGERALD, (R) WISCONSIN SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I think Greta, you know as well as many of us that they would find something else to file suit on. The judge basically alluded to that in reading off a laundry list of things she thought the Republicans did wrong in and around this bill of which none of it is true. I've been doing this for 17 years. We know how the Senate is run. We know how the Senate rules are put together. Everything was done correctly.

VAN SUSTEREN: I'll tell you why I disagree. I looked through the order. She said public notice of every meeting of a governmental body shall be given at least 24 hours. If you go back run the bill through, pass it. And if you say Democrats come up with another issue, they didn't raise it here and they can't keep raising it piecemeal. There are certain things that are done deals.

I don't that I is true. I think they are dragging you down in the weeds. I think you can move this much faster that way

FITZGERALD: The attorney general feels good about where we are at with the appellate court. It appears those judges on that three judge panel requested information from the DA in a very short manner. And from that I hear from our attorney general here in Wisconsin they feel pretty good about this.

VAN SUSTEREN: How can they feel good -- as many cases as I tried I never felt good about what the judges are going to do. They are so unpredictable. Jamie Van Hollen may feel good, but they didn't go use outside counsel you have to pay outside counsel because you can take free services from lawyers because that is a political gift. So if you feel so good why isn't he doing it himself? It is going to take forever.

FITZGERALD: The next step is many people are saying the Wisconsin Supreme Court. As you probably know there's an election April 5th, so there's questions there. But this is about separation of powers from everything we understand. The question has been raised as to whether or not a circuit court judge or an appellate judge certainly want to insert themselves, not necessarily in the legislation, but in the middle of the legislative process.

And that's something I think is most baffling to us, that you would have any judge throughout the state saying we're going to tell the Wisconsin state Senate and the assembly how to run their chambers. It has become a separation of powers.

VAN SUSTEREN: You let them define the game for you. You could do collateral. You could let it sit in the courts and -- you say it is going to be April 5th, is the election. You can have a committee hearing vote to have the bill and give them the 24 hours. This is March 22nd. Could be done by March 24th and have your new bill. You got your bill many you got your law. Let the governor sign it. And the secretary of state will publish it and you're done.

FITZGERALD: You know the legislature is always very tentative. There are so many different factors that out there in trying to bring this together. The judge said the capital was not open during this process. We know the protesters would come back immediately if we announced we were going to run this bill through again.

I think we are in good shape in court. Of that's what the attorney general is saying. We are going to let this play out. This will be done eventually. If not now it will be done in the governor's budget which will be passed in May or June. The fact of the matter is ultimately this will be law.

VAN SUSTEREN: We'll be watching to see was. Never dull that's for certain. Thank you for joining us.

FITZGERALD: Thanks.