The Wisconsin protests cost the state $8 million.

That includes the expense of all the extra security that was needed. The estimated cost of repairing the Capitol building was $270,000.

Originally, DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch estimated the repair costs alone would run about $7.5 million. The controversial figure was said to have been a quick estimate, based a single handwritten page of notebook paper. Heubsch later revised that number down to $350,000.

On Friday, the secretary spelled out the estimate and said the costs could have been higher, given the size of crowds at the historic building for four straight weeks.

“It is important to note that there was no malicious damage,” Huebsch said. “But that said, this is still a lot of money.”

Presumably, "malicious" means done solely for the purpose of destruction. There were plenty of intentional actions that were destructive, such as forcing open a door (bending a hinge and breaking a wooden panel) and putting duct and masking tape on marble walls.

The $8 million estimate only covers the period from February 14 to March 13, so it doesn't include the cost of the added security we now have at the Capitol.

Huebsch said the tighter security measures would likely continue, at least until the collective bargaining bill debate is resolved. On Friday, however, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said it was time the Capitol returned to normal.

“We did not need to waste this money, nor do we need to continue to waste this money,” he said. “The majority of the people here now are fourth-grade schoolchildren on tours.”

And if the security were removed? I note that there was another protest at the Capitol yesterday, with 7,000 to 10,000 people. It was called the “Fight Is Not Over” rally:

“We have to reclaim our moral outrage, our sense of indignation,” Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, said to cheers from the crowd. “We have to keep the pressure on and let them hear us.”

Are we supposed to believe that the protesters wouldn't retake the Capitol building if the security were removed?