Republican lawmakers have blocked an effort by Democrats to learn more about how much the state is spending on Gov. Walker's security detail as Walker travels the globe in his likely run for president.

The Wisconsin State Patrol provides security for the Governor 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and this year, that's meant troopers have spent a lot of time traveling. Walker has been on two state trade missions to Europe not to mention repeated campaign trips to states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and New York.

Middleton Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach wanted the legislature's budget committee to require new quarterly reports from the State Patrol on all the expenses the state pays to protect the governor.

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“The amount of money being spent right now protecting the governor nowhere near the state he was elected to govern is ridiculous,” said Erpenbach.

Republicans voted it down. Budget committee co-chair John Nygren called it political theater.