[Madison, Wisc..] Three weeks after Senate Democrats fled the state, the Wisconsin State Senate passed the bulk of the Budget Repair Bill in a series of surprise moves Wednesday.

Late in the afternoon Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and the GOP lawmakers assembled for the Special Session voted to send the bill to a bipartisan conference committee.

That committee met, voted on the bill and sent it to the State Senate, which passed the bill on an 18-1 vote moments later.

The unamendable bill now awaits action in the State Assembly where passage is expected.

MacIver News Service’s Bill Osmulski reports from Madison.