After Gov. Chet Culver threatened to veto a recently passed collective bargaining bill, Senate Democrats are pushing to reconsider the bill before sending it to Culver.

“It’s as if the bill never passed,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Dist. 50, who filed the motion to reconsider.

The bill would give public employee unions the same bargaining rights as private unions, and was narrowly passed in both chambers after drawing debate throughout March.

Gronstal said there are three possible directions the Legislature can go.

“We can call the bill up to reconsider, we can amend it and pass it in another bill or it can be sent to the Governor,” he said.

However, Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, R -Dist. 27, would like to go in a different direction.

“What I’d like to see is the governor veto it,” Wieck said. “The current Code in chapter 20 has worked for 34 years, was created in a bipartisan effort and went through 13 days of debate. I don’t know why they want to change this now.”

Wieck thinks Gronstal is playing the waiting game to get a feel for what Gov. Culver will do when the bill reaches his desk.

“Right now it rests in Gronstal’s hands. We have to wait and see what he does with it,” Wieck said.

Brad Anderson, communications director and spokesman for Gov. Culver, said the governor has been meeting with groups, ranging from unions to school board members, to hear their opinions on the bill.

“[Culver] hopes that the parties come to some sort of agreement before the end of the legislative session,” Anderson said. “The governor is happy to see both sides working together.”

Anderson also said Culver is likely to consider the bill now that he has had a chance to get more input from citizens.

“I think, in the end, we will get this resolved,” Gronstal said.