Gov. Scott Walker put Democrats on "24 hour notice," warning of consequences if they did not return. (Creative Commons)

Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin reiterated his support Monday for a controversial budget repair bill that would drastically curb union bargaining power, declaring that Democrats had 24 hours to come back and vote on the budget or watch the state lose out on $165 million.

According to Walker, the losses would come from the state missing the chance to delay debt service payments due March 15 to later years and the chance to restructure general obligation bonds. Twenty lawmakers are needed to establish quorum and vote on fiscal bills.

Walker threatened to compensate for the impending budget shortfall with major budget cuts if the Democrats didn’t return.

“Failure to return to work and cast their votes will lead to more painful and aggressive spending cuts in the very near future,” Walker’s office said in a statement.

Already, Walker plans to make massive cuts in education and local governments to help resolve Wisconsin’s projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall.

Specifically, he intends to cut $900 million from education aid while drafting a new revenue limit that would impose a $500 per-pupil reduction in property tax authority. He also intends to lay off state employees if the Senate fails to pass the budget repair bill.

Wisconsin public schools are bracing for the impact. As reported by the Chicago Tribune Monday, nonrenewal notices have already been sent out to more than 2,000 teachers.

Wisconsin Republicans have also taken over the payrolls of staff members working for the missing senators in another attempt to force Democratic lawmakers back to work.

Specifically, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) announced Monday that he would assume the duties of approving the timesheets of Democratic staff members. Under Fitzgerald’s supervision, Democrats are barred from using Capitol copiers and from directly depositing their paychecks. Fitzgerald intends to withhold their checks in Madison instead.

In a previous ruse to force Democrats to return, Republicans tried to pass a law Feb. 24 that would require voters to present photo identification at polling places – an issue that Wisconsin Democrats have historically opposed.

Republicans hoped that the lack of Democratic opposition would draw lawmakers back into the Capitol, but failed to anticipate the legislation’s fiscal properties and thus were unable to move the bill past preliminary approval due to the 20 senator quorum needed for fiscal legislation.

Reach reporter Aaron Liu here.