Republican state Sen. Dale Schultz said this week he was "decoyed" on Feb. 17 by Gov. Scott Walker into missing a key chance on the Senate floor to put in play a compromise on Walker's plan to eliminate most union bargaining for public employees.

A Walker spokesman confirmed that a meeting occurred that morning in the GOP governor's office amid a day of drama and chaos at the Capitol.

But the Walker aide and the top two Republican leaders in the Senate strongly denied that there was any intent or plan to lure Schultz into missing a vote in the Senate.

Schultz acknowledged that he had no proof of the governor's intent and that he didn't ask the Senate to reconsider its action later that day on Walker's budget-repair bill or use another opportunity the following week to introduce his amendment.

But he told the Journal Sentinel that he felt he was having some success getting members of the Senate Republican caucus to sign on to his compromise, in which he sought larger financial concessions from public employees but a two-year sunset on the limits to collective bargaining.

"You're damned right I think that's what they were doing," Schultz said of Walker's intent. "It's appalling to think about it."

With protesters swarming the Capitol that February day and Democratic senators secretly racing to Illinois to block a final Senate vote on the bill, Schultz said he was called into a 20- to 30-minute meeting in Walker's office around the Senate's 11 a.m. scheduled start time.

The Senate session started late at 11:28 a.m., but the preliminary vote took less than five minutes, with GOP lawmakers quickly voting to move the bill past the stage at which it could be amended. Schultz and all Democrats were absent.

But Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said that during the meeting, aides to the governor had relayed to Schultz, a former Senate majority leader, a message from his chief of staff that he might miss the vote.

The senator replied that if the vote was important, the Senate would wait for him, Werwie said.

"Senator Schultz is wrong," Werwie said in an email. "There was no attempt to get or keep the senator out of the chamber - he chose not to go to the floor after the governor's staff informed him a vote was going to be held."

Late Thursday, Schultz softened his criticisms after he got calls from Walker and Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) and a request to talk with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), saying he never meant to besmirch anyone.

Six GOP senators and two more Democrats still face recall elections over their stances on the union bargaining bill - the Republicans on Tuesday and the Democrats on Aug. 16.

Fitzgerald told the Journal Sentinel he recalled hearing that day that Schultz was in Walker's office, but said he had no intention of keeping him from voting.

He said that if Schultz, of Richland Center, had asked for a chance later to offer his amendment, "we would have been in caucus within two minutes" talking about whether and how to allow that. He said Schultz would have faced pressure not to offer the amendment but would have had a chance if he had insisted.

"The idea that I would pull a quick one on one of my members, that's ridiculous," Fitzgerald said. "It doesn't work that way. It wouldn't work that way. It couldn't work that way."

On Feb. 17, the Senate, which Republicans control 19-14, took up the budget-repair bill as passed by the Legislature's budget committee.

There were enough GOP senators present to allow the body to take up a bill and move it past the stage at which it could be amended. But GOP senators could not give final approval because Senate Democrats had fled to Illinois, preventing the quorum needed to pass fiscal items.

As the lawmakers met, there were protesters who clogged up Capitol hallways, shouted in the Senate galleries and blocked the usual entrances to the Senate, though a stairwell entrance remained under police control, allowing senators, aides and the media to come and go.

Empty seat

The Senate met and began taking roll, according to the footage archived by WisconsinEye, the public affairs network. Schultz did not answer when he was called and his seat was empty.

A few minutes later, the bill had been moved past the amendable stage as the Senate quickly moved through its work.

Schultz said the Senate took that action as he talked with Walker and Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch.

Schultz said he jumped up and started to leave the governor's office, grabbing the handle of the door when he heard the Senate was taking that action.

But he quickly realized it was too late to reach the Senate floor in time through the crowds.

"I told them both, 'If I ever find out that either one of you had anything to do with this, I'll be very disappointed,' " Schultz said.

The meeting itself was one of respectful disagreement on both sides, with Walker and Huebsch listening more than they spoke, Schultz said.

Ellis expressed surprise Thursday at Schultz's claim, saying he would have given Schultz time to offer his amendment if he had been asked, calling Schultz's plan a "pretty damn well-thought-out substitute." Ellis said Schultz is one of the three senators with whom he is closest.

A few days later, Schultz publicly announced his intention to amend the Walker bill, making him one of the few Republicans willing to go against the governor on the controversial plan.

On Feb. 25, Schultz had another chance to offer his amendment to Walker's plan when the Senate took up an identical companion bill sent over by the Assembly. But with no Democrats present to back it, Schultz said he preferred to keep working with his GOP colleagues rather than offer a doomed amendment.

He was later the lone Republican in the Senate to vote against the repair bill, saying it had divided the state.

Schultz's plan asked somewhat more from workers in concessions on their benefits to save the state money and also would have prohibited collective bargaining for two years. But it lifted the limits on union bargaining after that.

Schultz said he wanted a "thoughtful approach" that would respect the tradition of collective bargaining, which he noted had led to uninterrupted high-quality government services.

"Too often when we don't come together, we've seen short-lived public policies and needless disruption for people and communities. I grew up during the civil rights and Vietnam War movements where the social fabric of our community was torn apart," Schultz said.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.