Madison -- Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is clamping down on absent Democrats by seeking to take control of whether or not their staffers get paid.

Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) would have to review and approve timesheets for Democratic staffers, under a proposal put before a legislative committee Monday morning. Previously, Democratic lawmakers had signed off on their staff's hours.

Democratic senators fled to Illinois earlier this month to block a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan repealing most union bargaining rights for public workers.

A ballot describing the changes went out Monday to the Senate committee that oversees activity in that body. An aide to Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) said that Miller and the other Democrat on the committee voted by fax from Illinois against the changes.

But Republicans have enough votes on the committee to pass the change over Democratic objections. A spokesman for Fitzgerald was not immediately available for comment Monday.

Senate staffers can start handing in their timesheets on Tuesday since it's the first day of March.