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Madison — Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate on Wednesday approved bills overhauling the state's century-old hiring process and cutting funding for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

The Senate took up the bills reducing government payments to Planned Parenthood as a separate measure backed by abortion opponents remained stalled. The legislation that isn't advancing — at least for now — would ban research on aborted fetal tissue.

As they wind down the legislative session for the year, senators voted 19-14 on party lines for Assembly Bill 373, which would modify the civil service system put in place 110 years ago to keep politics out of hiring public employees. Republicans who control the Legislature hope to finish their work for the year in March.

Backers said employment policies for 30,000 state workers need to be updated because it takes too long to hire people to replace retiring baby boomers. The bill would eliminate the state's civil service exams; stop allowing longtime employees to avoid termination by "bumping" other workers with less seniority out of their jobs; and shorten by more than half the process for employees to appeal their dismissal or discipline.

"It takes far too long to hire an employee here at the state," said Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton). "(The bill) seeks to reform that process to make sure we can make those decisions in a timely fashion."

Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) said the bill would allow supervisors to play favorites and return to a system of political patronage.

"Yes, this is going to open the door to corruption," he said. "Yes, this is going to open the door to cronyism."

Gov. Scott Walker's administration has not yet fulfilled a request from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last month for documentation on how long it's currently taking the state to hire workers.

Last month, the newspaper reported that one example given by Walker to illustrate problems with the civil service system involved an at-will employee who didn't have those protections. In that case, two employees were given reprimands — and no other discipline — for having sex at work and trading explicit messages on their state email accounts.

The Assembly passed the bill in October and it now goes to Walker, who has championed the measure.

The bill stalled for a time because Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) opposed a provision in it that would end the state's practice of asking some job applicants upfront to check a box showing whether they have been convicted of certain crimes. He relented on Wednesday because Assembly leaders had told him the bill would die if the Senate made changes to it.

Planned Parenthood bills

Along party lines, senators voted 18-14 for a bill that would restrict how much Planned Parenthood could be reimbursed for prescription drugs, stripping it of perhaps $4 million a year, according to a rough estimate by Planned Parenthood. A second measure the Senate approved would cut another $3.5 million in government payments to Planned Parenthood.

The moves come four years after Republicans made other funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, which the group says led to the closure of five rural clinics that provided birth control and health screenings but not abortions.

Democrats argued Republicans were allowing their ideology to prevent some women from getting birth control.

"We have no right to dictate our faith on another, that's what the Constitution says," said Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee).

But Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) said taxpayers who oppose abortion shouldn't have their money go toward Planned Parenthood. Women can get their birth control from other providers, he said.

"Since when is birth control a rare commodity? I think it's pretty easy to find," he said.

Erpenbach disputed that, saying women in northern Wisconsin and other rural areas have difficulty in accessing birth control.

Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics acquire drugs at discounted rates available through a Medicaid health program known as 340B. Under Senate Bill 238, Planned Parenthood would be limited to billing taxpayers through Medicaid for the actual acquisition cost, plus a dispensing fee.

Opponents argued it would be thrown out in court because it would treat Planned Parenthood differently than other clinics.

The bill next goes to the Assembly, which is also controlled by Republicans.

Again on party lines, the Senate voted 19-14 to pass Assembly Bill 310, which would prevent the state from passing on federal money it receives through the Title X grant program to any group that provides abortions or has an affiliate that provides abortions. Title X money goes toward family planning and health screening for the poor and uninsured and is not allowed to be used for abortions.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin receives about $3.5 million in Title X money a year.

The Assembly approved the measure in September and it now goes to Walker, a longtime opponent of Planned Parenthood.

Under the bill, the Wisconsin Well Woman Program and other public health programs would get first draw for receiving federal funding, with nonprofits getting whatever funds remain, if any. The Well Woman Program provides breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings for women ages of 45 to 64.

Critics of the proposal have praised the Well Woman Program but pointed out that it doesn't serve younger women or men. Supporters of the proposal have said other efforts would be targeted to men and younger women but have not provided a detailed plan for that.

Eliminating Planned Parenthood's funding has gained momentum following the release of secretly recorded videos by abortion opponents that show a Planned Parenthood official in California discussing the cost of providing fetal body parts for medical research. Planned Parenthood last week sued the makers of the videos, alleging they were involved in a criminal enterprise and had lied about the abortion provider.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Wisconsin are wrestling with a measure that would bar research on tissue from fetuses that were aborted after Jan. 1, 2015. Bill supporters say it would protect against profiteering from the remains of fetuses, while opponents say the state could achieve that goal without criminalizing potentially lifesaving research.

So far, backers haven't been able to muster enough support to get the measure to the floor of either house.

Other measures

The Senate on Wednesday also approved:

Senate Bill 248, which would end a requirement that people who are jailed cannot be strip searched unless they are going to be held for more than 12 hours. The bill, which Republicans passed on a party-line 19-14 vote, now goes to the Assembly.

Assembly Bill 13, which sets up a system for returning firearms to people whose weapons were seized but who were not convicted. The seized firearms would have to be returned to the owners if prosecutors declined to press charges; charges were dismissed; or 10 months passed and no charges were filed. Senators approved the measure on a voice vote.

The bill passed the Assembly in June and now goes to Walker.