Madison — Gov. Scott Walker's office released documents Tuesday showing he's willing to give on some points of his union bargaining bill to break the Capitol standoff and bring Senate Democrats back from Illinois.

The e-mails showed ideas and counteroffers - panned Tuesday by state labor leaders and some Democrats - that were made by the Republican governor's aides and two Democrats as they sought some resolution that would allow Democrats to come back to Wisconsin. Senate Democrats have been holed up in Illinois since Feb. 17, when they left the state to block a vote on Walker's budget-repair bill.

The e-mails were first released to the Journal Sentinel through an open-records request and then to other news outlets. The Journal Sentinel also first reported Friday on some of the ideas, which would rewrite some of the provisions most criticized by unions but still sharply restrict their bargaining.

The bill as proposed by Walker and approved by the Assembly last month would repeal bargaining by public employee unions over their benefits and work conditions, leaving only bargaining over wages with a cap based on the rate of inflation, barring a referendum. The measure has sparked massive protests in recent weeks.

The two Democratic senators, Bob Jauch of Poplar and Tim Cullen of Janesville, have had face-to-face meetings in recent days with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Walker aides.

Jauch cautioned that the two sides had never reached a deal. Cullen characterized the talks as "discussions" rather than negotiations, because he and Jauch weren't speaking on behalf of other Democrats, and said he was disappointed the details on them were sent out in a news release.

"I've never seen negotiations be done successfully in public," he said. "I thought they were bargaining in good faith."

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie in a statement said the e-mails show Walker is trying to resolve the situation through negotiations.

"We have repeatedly tried to get Senate Democrats to come home and continued to provide reasonable offers for their consideration," he said.

For weeks, Walker said the state was broke and unable to negotiate on the bill, but recent polls have showed Walker's approval rating has dropped since his Nov. 2 election. Werwie said Walker was seeking a solution but "remained firm" on aspects of the bill that would help local governments and schools save money to help them absorb cuts in state aid proposed in Walker's separate 2011-'13 budget bill.

The changes discussed would be made not in the budget-repair bill itself but in later legislation, Werwie said. In the latest offer Walker aides e-mailed to Jauch on Sunday evening:

• Public employee union bargaining over wages would no longer be limited to the rate of inflation.

• Unions would be allowed to bargain over certain economic issues, including mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size. On this set of issues, both labor and management would have to agree to discuss them for bargaining to happen.

• Unions could bargain over workplace safety, but that would be limited to workers' physical health and safety. It would not allow bargaining over hours, overtime, sick leave or family leave, work schedules or vacation.

• Unions would have to vote every three years to remain active, with the first of those votes coming within one year of the bill becoming law. The current version of the bill would require unions to vote to recertify every year - starting this April - and require them to get at least 51% of workers' votes.

• Employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority would not lose all union bargaining rights.

• The Legislature's budget committee would have to approve changes to state health programs for the poor sought by the Walker administration. The budget-repair bill gives Walker broad powers to reshape those Medicaid health programs, which cover more than 1 million state residents.

The changes wouldn't affect provisions in the bill ending union bargaining over health and pension benefits. It also would still require state and local employees to pay more for their health and pension benefits, lowering workers' take-home pay but saving nearly $330 million for state government alone through June 2013.

Jauch noted Walker's latest offer does not discuss union dues - another part of the bill strongly opposed by labor groups. Right now, those who don't join state unions must make "fair share" payments because union leaders say all employees benefit from their labor contracts. Walker's bill would end the requirement to make "fair share" payments and would prohibit the state from collecting dues on behalf of unions.

Alternate proposal

Also Tuesday, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) and Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) offered a separate plan to shore up state finances for the fiscal year that ends June 30 by refinancing state debt and taking concessions from state workers. That would avoid - for now at least - the broader debate over collective bargaining.

The release of the e-mails by Walker's office drew criticism from union leaders."The very few bargaining rights he uses to create the illusion he's willing to compromise are still drastically limited, and the ability of unions to effectively bargain would still be eliminated entirely," said a statement from Rick Badger, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 40, which represents local government employees.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said that his caucus Tuesday reviewed the negotiations between Walker and Senate Democrats and remained in support of Walker's bill.

"We're rock solid, we're fine," he said.

One senator rumored to be wavering on the bill was Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), but Kapanke told reporters Tuesday he is sticking with his fellow Republicans. Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) said he was pleased to see negotiations.

"We're just backing the governor's efforts to resolve this," he said.

Republicans have been pressuring Democrats to return to Wisconsin in several ways, but for the second time Monday they stepped back from fining Democrats for missing a session day.

Republicans last week passed a resolution saying senators could be fined $100 for missing sessions if they had missed two sessions without a valid excuse. But they canceled their Friday session - sparing Democrats fines on that day - and on Tuesday decided not to vote on the fines.

Republicans have also threatened to withhold paychecks from Democrats for missing sessions, but on Friday they sent out their checks. Fitzgerald said in a statement they were sent because negotiations with Democrats were going well at that time and because the ability to withhold the checks was in a legal "gray area."

Recall attempts for 14 senators are officially under way, and senators from both parties have said they were concerned about that prospect. Republicans control the Senate 19-14.

Fitzgerald Tuesday repeated Republicans' position that the budget-repair bill must pass in its current form since the Assembly - led by his brother, Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) - has already taken a vote on it. The changes would have to be made by the Legislature's budget committee when it takes up the 2011-'13 budget bill, he said.

That could be a difficult proposition for Democrats to agree to because they would have to let Walker's version of the bill go through, and then have changes made to it months later as they debate the state budget.

Cullen, the Democratic senator, said the discussions have been difficult for both sides. Rank-and-file members of both parties haven't wanted to retreat from their positions and have been critical of those involved in talks of giving too much, he said.

"They're ripe for Monday-morning quarterbacking," Cullen said of the talks.

Cullen said he believed Democrats could return even if they don't reach an agreement with Walker and Republicans because the public now has had a chance to fully examine the details of the bill. Democrats are universally opposed to the bill and split only on how to oppose it, he said. They disagree on when to return to Wisconsin, but are committed to deciding that issue as a group and returning together.

"It's sooner, not later" that Democrats will return, Cullen said. "I can't give you a specific date because there's not one."

Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article.