Wisconsin state senators started to take steps toward reconciliation Tuesday following the Democrats' decision to flee the state for three weeks to block passage of a bill taking away most collective bargaining rights from public workers.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he would rescind contempt orders placed against the Democrats when they were gone, a step that will allow Democrats to have their votes in committee action counted once again.

"It was an essential first step if we're going to be able to move forward," said Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Mark Miller. "It needed to be done."

Senate Republicans voted earlier this month to find the Democrats in contempt as one of a series of steps designed to pressure them to return. Those penalties included imposing $100 fines for each session day Democrats missed, authorizing police to detain the senators if seen in Wisconsin and taking away their staff members' access to copying machines. The fines were only in effect for one day.

Fitzgerald admitted at a Tuesday news conference that most of the steps, like taking away senators' parking spots, were "not significant enough," to force them to return.