Madison — In a move meant to lure boycotting opposition senators back to Wisconsin, the Republican leader of the state Senate threatened Monday to force a vote soon on a bill that is abhorred by Democrats: requiring people to show an ID at the polls.

Meanwhile, the National Guard has toured at least one state prison - presumably in preparation for taking over if needed - as thousands of correctional officers, teachers and other public workers continued Monday to protest at the Capitol to stop a budget-repair bill that would take away most of their union rights. Correctional officers insisted they have no plans to strike and called the Guard visit unwarranted.

Monday's events presaged a hectic week, with the Assembly set to vote Tuesday on the budget-repair bill and the Senate planning at the same time to take up other bills to try to force Democrats in that house to return to the state. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Walker - who has shown no sign of relenting - will address voters directly in a "fireside chat."

The push on the photo ID bill by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) is the latest example of Republicans pressuring Democrats in hopes of ending the standoff over the bill on union rights. Senate Democrats disappeared to Illinois on Thursday to prevent a vote on that bill, and they've been there ever since.

The Capitol drama marked its seventh day of massive protests as thousands again filled the rotunda and statehouse grounds. Monday's protests were dominated by those opposed to the bill, after a weekend of demonstrations that also drew bill supporters to Madison.

Adding to the surreal feel of the protests, a camel brought by the comedy news program "The Daily Show" fell on an icy, slush-covered street near the Capitol.

While Fitzgerald raised the possibility of passing the photo ID bill, absent Senate Democrats have their own leverage against Republicans. The changes to union rights are included in a sweeping budget repair bill that also includes $165 million in bond refinancing that must be acted on by Friday to make sure the state meets its bills in the fiscal year that runs through June 30.

In a news conference, Walker gave no hints of conceding and called proposals to tweak the bill non-starters.

"I am going to stand with the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin," Walker said.

Walker's budget-repair bill would require most public workers to pay half their pension contributions and about twice what they do now for health care. Their raises would be limited to inflation, unless a bigger increase was approved in a voter referendum.

Public-sector unions would lose virtually all bargaining rights, would have to hold annual elections to keep their organizations intact and would lose the ability to have union dues deducted from state paychecks. Police, firefighters and state troopers would be exempt from the changes.

Amendments sought

On Tuesday, the Assembly is slated to meet at 11 a.m. to take up the bill in a debate that is expected to last hours and take place amid unprecedented security. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said Democrats would offer well over 100 amendments to the bill.

Among the amendments Democrats will offer is one to ensure transit workers retain their collective bargaining rights because they say the U.S. Department of Labor could pull millions of dollars in federal aid from Wisconsin if those laws are changed. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, said he opposed that change because the issue of whether federal aid would be lost was a "gray area."

Assembly Democrats said they also were worried the bill could affect the certification of state forests as being managed sustainably, because the groups that certify them require that foresters adhere to international labor standards. Losing the sustainability certification could hurt an important niche market, they said.

Members of the public who enter the Assembly's viewing gallery will be screened for metal - a step beyond the ones adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The protests so far have been boisterous but peaceful.

Also Tuesday, the Senate will vote on measures to honor the Green Bay Packers and .extend an expiring dairy and livestock tax credit The votes are meant to embarrass absent lawmakers such as Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), who wrote the Packers resolution.

Fitzgerald said the ID bill could come up another day if Democrats don't return soon.

Without Democrats present, the Republicans have enough members to be able to vote on measures that don't spend money, but not on fiscal bills such as the budget-repair bill. Twenty senators must be present for spending bills, and Republicans hold 19 seats.

As written, the photo ID bill would need 20 senators present because it appropriates money to provide free IDs to those who don't have driver's licenses. But Fitzgerald said the bill could be changed to take out the spending provisions.

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Elections is set to vote on the bill Tuesday. The Senate could then act on the bill as early as Wednesday. Democrats oppose the photo ID bill and would want to argue against it on the floor of the Senate.

Democrats said they were worried Republicans would approve the changes to union laws as a stand-alone bill, which, since it wouldn't spend money, could pass even if the Democrats did not show up. But Fitzgerald said he did not plan to do that.

Fitzgerald floated the idea of passing the photo ID bill to reporters after a tense meeting of the Senate Organization Committee, which sets the body's schedule. Hansen and Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) joined the meeting by phone from Illinois.

"You have shut down the people's government, and that's not acceptable," Fitzgerald scolded the Democrats.

Miller and Hansen said Republicans should take the elements out of the bill that take away union rights because public workers have agreed to the financial concessions Walker is seeking.

"The workers have stepped up and given the governor what he's asked for," Hansen said.

But Republicans said the bill needs to pass as is because collective bargaining rights can affect the bottom lines of state and local governments in a host of ways.

To underscore that, Walker noted many school districts have union contracts that require them to provide health care through WEA Trust, which is affiliated with the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union.

He said if his plan passes, schools could leave the trust without bargaining and get health care from the state or private sector and save at least $68 million a year.

Guard's prison tour

In another development, the Journal Sentinel learned Monday the National Guard recently toured at least one state prison and possibly others.

Thursday, a half dozen National Guard members in plainclothes toured Redgranite Correctional Institution, said Lenny Wright, president of the union that represents the prison's correctional officers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 281.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie confirmed the visit to Redgranite but couldn't say if Guard members had visited other facilities. Werwie described the Redgranite visit as routine, saying unit commanders occasionally visit prisons to understand how they operate so they can be ready in the event of problems.

"It wasn't any specific contingency planning" for possible strikes, Werwie said.

But Wright said he had worked as an officer at Redgranite for 10 years - almost the entire time the prison had been open - and had never heard of such a visit by the National Guard. Bob McLinn, president of AFSCME Council 24, said that in 27 years as a correctional officer he had also never heard of such a prison visit.

Wright said prior to the tour he told the prison warden that his union local would not strike or have its members call in sick to disrupt security at the prison. But Wright said that the National Guard members toured the prison with its security director and that he believed the purpose of the tour was to make sure the Guard was ready to take over in the event of a strike.

When Walker announced his budget-repair bill Feb. 11, he said the National Guard is ready to deploy if needed to step in for essential public safety workers who don't show up for their jobs.

As if there needed to be any more signs of the depth of contentiousness at the Capitol, on Monday Barca accused Assembly Republicans of violating the state's open meetings law last Friday when they took a key vote on the budget repair bill minutes before 5 p.m., when the session was scheduled to start. Republicans started voting before Democrats had even entered the chamber.

Republicans ultimately agreed Friday to restart debate on the bill Tuesday, and John Jagler, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon), called that open-meetings issue "laughable."

Nevertheless, Bob Dreps, a lawyer who handles open government cases for clients including the Journal Sentinel, said voting before the scheduled start time for a legislative session "certainly violates" state law.

"There's no point in specifying a time if you're going to start ahead of that time," he said.

But pursuing a case would be "pointless" since Republicans have already undone the vote, he said.

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