Walker's position on right-to-work mirrors Snyder in Michigan before he signed law

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker's reluctance to take a firm stand on a new push by Republican legislators to act quickly on right-to-work legislation in Wisconsin mirrors how Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder dodged the issue in 2012 before he signed that state's bill into law.

Walker sponsored a right-to-work bill as a freshman Assembly member in 1993, but he didn't go after private-sector unions once elected governor in 2011. Instead, the changes in the law known as Act 10 only pertained to public-sector workers, and excluded police and firefighters.

But now Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he wants to move forward a right-to-work proposal that would bar private-sector unions from forcing workers to join or pay dues, similar to the restrictions Act 10 put on those working for the state and local units of government, including schools.

Walker, who is preparing to begin his second term and is actively considering a run for president in 2016, reiterated Friday that he would prefer lawmakers would focus on his priorities and not take up the issue, but he refused to say whether he would sign or veto a right-to-work bill.

"My position is right now, for the attention it would draw into the state, it would be a distraction," Walker said.

Walker also said his position on right-to-work hadn't changed since 1993 when he sponsored the bill.

"My position now is the same as it was two years ago before the recall, the same as it was two month ago before the election, the same as it will be two years from now," he said.

After repeatedly insisting during his first two years in office that right-to-work was not on his agenda, Snyder reversed course in December 2012, a month after voters defeated a ballot initiative that would have barred such measures under the state constitution. He refused to say whether he would sign such a bill but never closed the door, saying he had other priorities.

Snyder said the union-backed ballot measure publicized the matter and that he was influenced by Indiana's decision to become a right-to-work state the year before.

Introduction of Michigan's right-to-work bill generated mass protests. But the Legislature moved at lightning speed to pass it just five days later with no public testimony. Snyder signed it into law the same day.

Secunda initially thought Walker may want to avoid the issue until after any potential presidential run plays out, but now he thinks there may be a benefit to quick action to deal with the issue and then move on.

"If I were Scott Walker ... I would think that signing it in a lightning-quick manner would be less detrimental to my national political aspirations," he said.