Capitol police are working with state and local agencies to plan for the possibility that large crowds will again descend on the Capitol as the Legislature considers Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill.

Jodi Jensen, executive assistant to Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch, said in an email that "law enforcement agencies are aware of the possibility that the Capitol police will request assistance" if large groups of protesters show up in Madison.

"Staffing level changes at the Capitol will be made based on an ongoing evaluation of security needs," Jensen said.

A City of Madison panel on Friday gave protesters permission to build a tent city outside the Capitol, from which they would stage protests as the Assembly and Senate take up the budget.

In February, huge crowds showed up at the Capitol to protest Walker's separate budget-repair bill, including provisions that would have curtailed collective bargaining for most public sector employees. The bill to pay law enforcement officials from all over the state cost taxpayers at least $7.8 million.

At the time, Huebsch instituted the Emergency Police Services system. That system authorizes the state Division of Emergency Management to contact local law enforcement agencies to provide assistance. More than 200 law enforcement agencies provided officers for security at the Capitol.

Jensen said the EPS system could be implemented again if needed. EPS officials have been alerted to that possibility, said Lori Getter, a spokeswoman for the Division of Emergency Management.

On Friday, Madison's Street Use Commission approved a permit filed by We Are Wisconsin to occupy Mifflin St. and Carroll St. on the Capitol Square, along with performance space at the top of State St.

We Are Wisconsin, along with union groups, wants to set up a "Walkerville" tent city beginning Saturday and continuing for as many as 17 days.

The committee approved the group's application under the condition that the group successfully applies for a separate campground permit and that most of the tents get taken down during the day.

Republican lawmakers are skeptical of turnout.

"I think a lot of the enthusiasm has waned," Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said. "But there will always be a lot of people in Dane County who think the rest of the state is the cow and they are the farmer."

Miles Kristan, a member of the Autonomous Solidarity Organization, said participants will pick up where they left off during the earlier protests.

"We slept on the cold marble floor in the middle of winter. We can manage to sleep outside in tents now," Kristan said.