By the CNN Wire Staff
February 22, 2011 1:20 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Madison, Wisconsin (CNN) -- A left-leaning website that union supporters
used to rally protesters in Wisconsin was partially blocked as demonstrators
gathered in the state Capitol over a controversial budget bill.

The website, defendwisconsin.org, could not be accessed on Monday and into
Tuesday morning in the Capitol building, where crowds assembled over
proposed legislation that would increase the costs of benefits to public
employees and curb their collective-bargaining rights.

Wisconsin Democratic Party press secretary Graeme Zielinski blamed Gov.
Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers -- who returned to work Tuesday -- for
causing the outage.

"In a direct assault on the First Amendment, Scott Walker's administration
is blocking access in the Wisconsin Capitol to opposition websites,"
Zielinski said.

State Department of Administration spokeswoman Carla Vigue responded, saying
, "DOA's security software automatically blocked the site, as it does all
new websites."

"No one here at DOA decided to block it or took action to do so," he said. "
The website is handled like any other website."

The Capitol internet service, which restricts access to certain websites
considered inappropriate for lawmakers, revealed a "blocked page" when users
tried to access the site using the building's wireless system.

Users were able to access the site elsewhere.

The outage comes on the heels of a speech by Walker, who defended the budget
proposal and criticized unions for squandering state coffers and impeding
fiscal reform.