106th Wisconsin Legislature
| 106th Wisconsin Legislature | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Wisconsin Legislature | ||||
| Meeting place | Wisconsin State Capitol | ||||
| Term | January 2, 2023 – January 6, 2025 | ||||
| Election | November 8, 2022 | ||||
| Senate | |||||
| Members | 33 | ||||
| Senate President | Chris Kapenga (R) | ||||
| President pro tempore | Patrick Testin (R) | ||||
| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Assembly | |||||
| Members | 99 | ||||
| Assembly Speaker | Robin Vos (R) | ||||
| Speaker pro tempore | Kevin D. Petersen (R) | ||||
| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
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| Special sessions | |||||
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The One Hundred Sixth Wisconsin Legislature is the current ongoing legislative term in Wisconsin. It was convened on January 3, 2023, in regular session, and is scheduled to conclude on January 6, 2025, though it adjourned for legislative activity on March 12, 2024.[1] There has been one special session during this term.
This was the only legislative session under the legislative redistricting plan imposed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the 2022 case Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission. The district plan was a Republican remedial proposal which closely adhered to districts adopted by the Republican legislature in 2011. During this legislative term, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared that district plan unconstitutional on technical grounds, and the legislature and governor agreed on a new redistricting plan.
Senators representing odd-numbered districts are newly elected for this session and are serving the first two years of a four-year term. Assembly members are elected to a two-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 8, 2022.[2] Senators representing even-numbered districts are serving the third and fourth year of their four-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 3, 2020.[3]
Major events
- January 3, 2023: Second inauguration of Tony Evers as Governor of Wisconsin.
- February 8, 2023: On his first trip after the 2023 State of the Union Address, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Dane County, Wisconsin, and spoke to workers at a LiUNA training center in DeForest, Wisconsin.
- February 12, 2023: Following the 2023 Chinese balloon incident, another suspected Chinese balloon was detected near northern Wisconsin and was shot down over Lake Huron.
- March 17, 2023: Wisconsin's longest-serving statewide elected officer, secretary of state Doug La Follette, retired after more than 40 years in office.
- April 4, 2023: 2023 Wisconsin Spring election:
- Janet Protasiewicz was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to succeed Patience Roggensack.
- Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution related to guidance to judges on questions of pre-trial release and bail conditions.
- Dan Knodl won a special election to a vacant seat in the Wisconsin State Senate, giving Republicans a supermajority in the chamber.[4]
- August 8, 2023: Governor Tony Evers called a special session of the Legislature to consider bills related to child care, higher education, and paid family leave.[5]
- September 20, 2023: The Wisconsin legislature opened and closed a special session within 38 seconds in response to the Governor's call for a special session devoted to bringing down soaring child care costs in the state.
- October 4, 2023: A man carrying a loaded pistol was arrested at the Wisconsin State Capitol while seeking a meeting with Wisconsin governor Tony Evers. The man made bail and returned later in the same day with a loaded rifle, and was arrested again.[6]
- December 22, 2023: The Wisconsin Supreme Court released their decision in the case of Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, finding that Wisconsin's legislative maps were unconstitutional and had to be re-drawn.
- January 26, 2024: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources established a protected conservation area of 67,000 acres of land in Pelican River Forest in northern Wisconsin, one of the largest conservation projects in state history.
- April 2, 2024: 2024 Wisconsin spring election:
- Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution:
- To restrict local elections administrators from soliciting or accepting private donations or grants to support election administration.
- To restrict participation in election administration to only those described in law.
- Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution:
- July 13, 2024: U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot at and wounded in an attempted assassination in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
- July 15, 2024: The 2024 Republican National Convention began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- July 21, 2024: U.S. president Joe Biden announced in a written statement that he would not run for another term as president.
- August 13, 2024: Wisconsin fall partisan primary:
- Two amendments to the state constitution on the ballot:
- To require that all state spending must be specifically appropriated by the legislature, not delegated to the executive or other agency.
- To require the governor to seek legislative approval before spending any money received from the federal government.
- Two amendments to the state constitution on the ballot:
- November 5, 2024: 2024 United States general election.
Major legislation
- January 19, 2023: Joint Resolution to amend section 8 (2) of article I of the constitution; relating to: conditions for release prior to conviction, including the imposition of bail (second consideration), 2023 Senate Joint Resolution 2. Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Wisconsin.
- April 6, 2023: An Act ... relating to: statutory changes to implement the constitutional amendment relating to conditions of release, 2023 Act 3. Updated state law to reflect the constitutional amendments ratified in 2023 relating to bail.
- June 21, 2023: An Act ... relating to: county and municipal aid; imposing a city and county sales tax to pay the unfunded liability of city and county retirement systems; requiring certain newly hired city and county employees to be enrolled in the Wisconsin Retirement System; fire and police commissions of first class cities; eliminating the personal property tax; reporting certain crimes and other incidents on school property or school transportation; advisory referenda; local health officers; local public protection services; local levy limits; local regulation of certain quarry operations; emergency services; local approval of projects and activities under the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 Program; and granting rule-making authority, 2023 Act 12. A long-overdue compromise allowing Wisconsin municipalities to raise revenue. Shared revenue for Wisconsin municipalities was slashed in 2011 and placed on an unsustainable trajectory in order to give the appearance of a state budget surplus, at the same time local options to raise revenue independent of state authority were also constrained. This act allowed some easing of those rules to allow municipalities to avoid bankruptcy or mass layoffs.
- July 6, 2023: An Act relating to: state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2023 legislature, 2023 Act 19. Vetoed in part.
- December 6, 2023: An Act ... relating to: baseball park district administration, funding for improvement of professional baseball park facilities, use of the Milwaukee County sales tax, expiration of the Milwaukee County sales tax, and Milwaukee County pension obligation bonds, 2023 Act 40. Setting up funding sources for improvements to American Family Field to ensure that the Milwaukee Brewers franchise remains in Milwaukee.
- December 6, 2023: An Act ... relating to: funding for improvement of baseball park facilities, administration of county and municipal sales taxes, and making an appropriation, 2023 Act 41. Along with Act 40, providing funding for improvements to the American Family Field to ensure that the Milwaukee Brewers franchise remains in Milwaukee.
- February 19, 2024: An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting, 2023 Act 94. This was a remedial legislative redistricting plan, passed by the legislature after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the existing map. If the law stands, it will be the end of 12 years of extreme partisan gerrymandering in the Wisconsin legislature.
Party summary
Senate summary
Democratic: 10 seats
Republican: 22 seats
Vacant: 1 seat
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | Vacant | ||
| End of previous legislature | 12 | 21 | 33 | 0 |
| Start of session[note 1] | 11 | 21 | 32 | 1 |
| From May 3, 2023[note 2] | 22 | 33 | 0 | |
| From Jan. 26, 2024[note 3] | 10 | 32 | 1 | |
| Current voting share | 31.25% | 68.75% | ||
Assembly summary
Democratic: 35 seats
Republican: 64 seats
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | Vacant | ||
| End of previous legislature | 38 | 57 | 95 | 4 |
| Start of session | 35 | 64 | 99 | 0 |
| From May 3, 2023[note 4] | 63 | 98 | 1 | |
| From Aug. 7, 2023[note 5] | 64 | 99 | 0 | |
| Current voting share | 35.35% | 64.65% | ||
Sessions
- Regular session: January 3, 2023 – January 6, 2025
- September 2023 special session: September 20, 2023
Leadership
Senate leadership
- President of the Senate: Chris Kapenga (R–Delafield)
- President pro tempore: Patrick Testin (R–Stevens Point)
- Senate majority leadership (Republican)
- Senate Majority Leader: Devin LeMahieu (R–Oostburg)
- Assistant Majority Leader: Dan Feyen (R–Fond du Lac)
- Senate Majority Caucus Chair: Van H. Wanggaard (R–Racine)
- Senate Majority Caucus Vice Chair: Joan Ballweg (R–Markesan)
- Senate minority leadership (Democratic)
- Senate Minority Leader: Melissa Agard (D–Madison) (until Dec. 1, 2023)
- Dianne Hesselbein (D–Middleton) (after Dec. 1, 2023)
- Assistant Minority Leader: Jeff Smith (D–Brunswick)
- Senate Minority Caucus Chair: Chris Larson (D–Milwaukee)
- Senate Minority Caucus Vice Chair: Dianne Hesselbein (D–Middleton) (until Dec. 1, 2023)
- Mark Spreitzer (D–Beloit) (after Dec. 1, 2023)
Assembly leadership
- Speaker of the Assembly: Robin Vos (R–Rochester)
- Speaker pro tempore: Kevin David Petersen (R–Waupaca)
- Assembly majority leadership (Republican)
- Assembly Majority Leader: Tyler August (R–Lake Geneva)
- Assistant Majority Leader: Jon Plumer (R–Lodi)
- Assembly Majority Caucus Chair: Rob Summerfield (R–Bloomer)
- Assembly Majority Caucus Vice Chair: Cindi Duchow (R–Delafield)
- Assembly Majority Caucus Secretary: Nancy VanderMeer (R–Tomah)
- Assembly Majority Caucus Sergeant-at-Arms: Treig Pronschinske (R–Mondovi)
- Assembly minority leadership (Democratic)
- Assembly Minority Leader: Greta Neubauer (D–Racine)
- Assistant Minority Leader: Kalan Haywood (D–Milwaukee)
- Assembly Minority Caucus Chair: Lisa Subeck (D–Madison)
- Assembly Minority Caucus Vice Chair: Jill Billings (D–La Crosse)
- Assembly Minority Caucus Secretary: Kristina Shelton (D–Green Bay)
- Assembly Minority Caucus Sergeant-at-Arms: Lee Snodgrass (D–Appleton)
Members
Members of the Senate
Members of the Senate for the One Hundred Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:[7]
Democratic: 11 seats
Republican: 22 seats
Members of the Assembly
Members of the Assembly for the One Hundred Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:[7]
Committees
Senate committees
- Senate Committee on Agriculture and Tourism – J. Ballweg, chair
- Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technical Colleges – D. Feyen, chair
- Senate Committee on Education – J. Jagler, chair
- Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage – R. Stafsholt, chair
- Senate Committee on Government Operations – D. Stroebel, chair
- Senate Committee on Health – R. Cabral-Guevara, chair
- Senate Committee on Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry – R. R. Quinn, chair
- Senate Committee on Insurance and Small Business – M. Felzkowski, chair
- Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety – V. Wanggaard, chair
- Senate Committee on Labor, Regulatory Reform, Veterans and Military Affairs – P. Testin, chair
- Senate Committee on Licensing, Constitution and Federalism – A. Jacque, chair
- Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families – J. L. James, chair
- Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy – R. L. Cowles, chair
- Senate Committee on Senate Organization – D. LeMahieu, chair
- Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection – D. Knodl, chair
- Senate Committee on Transportation and Local Government – C. Tomczyk, chair
- Senate Committee on Universities and Revenue – R. Hutton, chair
- Senate Committee on Utilities and Technology – J. Bradley, chair
Assembly committees
- Assembly Committee on Agriculture – T. Tranel, chair
- Assembly Committee on Assembly Organization – R. Vos, chair
- Assembly Committee on Audit – R. Wittke, chair
- Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections – S. Krug, chair
- Assembly Committee on Children and Families – P. Snyder, chair
- Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities – D. Murphy, chair
- Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection – C. T. Callahan, chair
- Assembly Committee on Corrections – M. Schraa, chair
- Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety – J. Spiros, chair
- Assembly Committee on Education – J. Kitchens, chair
- Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities – D. Steffen, chair
- Assembly Committee on Environment – L. Oldenburg, chair
- Assembly Committee on Family Law – D. M. Rozar, chair
- Assembly Committee on Financial Institutions – C. Duchow, chair
- Assembly Committee on Forestry, Parks and Outdoor Recreation – J. Mursau, chair
- Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight – D. Knodl, chair (until May 3, 2023), D. Steffen, vice-chair
- Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care – C. P. Moses, chair
- Assembly Committee on Housing and Real Estate – R. Brooks, chair
- Assembly Committee on Insurance – B. Dittrich, chair
- Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business Development – R. Gundrum, chair
- Assembly Committee on Judiciary – R. Tusler, chair
- Assembly Committee on Labor and Integrated Employment – W. Penterman, chair
- Assembly Committee on Local Government – T. Novak, chair
- Assembly Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention – P. Tittl, chair
- Assembly Committee on Regulatory Licensing Reform – S. A. Sortwell, chair
- Assembly Committee on Rules – T. August, chair
- Assembly Committee on Rural Development – D. Armstrong, chair
- Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage – T. E. Pronschinske, chair
- Assembly Committee on State Affairs – R. Swearingen, chair
- Assembly Committee on Tourism – G. Magnafici, chair
- Assembly Committee on Transportation – N. VanderMeer, chair
- Assembly Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs – J. Edming, chair
- Assembly Committee on Ways and Means – J. Macco, chair
- Assembly Committee on Workforce Development and Economic Opportunities – W. Petryk, chair
Joint committees
- Joint Legislative Audit Committee – E. Wimberger (Sen.) & R. Wittke (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Legislative Council – C. Kapenga (Sen.) & N. VanderMeer (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules – S. L. Nass (Sen.) & A. Neylon (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Committee on Employment Relations – C. Kapenga (Sen.) & R. Vos (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Committee on Finance – H. Marklein (Sen.) & M. Born (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Committee on Information Policy and Technology – J. Bradley (Sen.) & S. Zimmerman (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Committee on Legislative Organization – C. Kapenga (Sen.) & R. Vos (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties – R. Hutton (Sen.), chair
- Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems – D. Feyen (Sen.) & T. August (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions – P. Testin (Sen.) & T. August (Asm.), co-chairs
Employees
Senate employees
- Chief Clerk: Michael Queensland (until Sep. 25, 2024)
- Richard Champagne (Acting -- from Sep. 25, 2024)
- Sergeant at Arms: Tom Engels
Assembly employees
- Chief Clerk: Ted Blazel
- Sergeant at Arms: Anne Tonnon Byers
See also
Notes
- ^ Republican Alberta Darling (District 8) resigned before the start of the session.
- ^ Republican Dan Knodl (District 8) was sworn in to replace Alberta Darling.
- ^ Democrat Lena Taylor (District 4) resigned after being appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge.
- ^ Republican Dan Knodl (District 24) resigned to take office in the State Senate.
- ^ Republican Paul Melotik (District 24) sworn in to replace Dan Knodl.
References
- ^ Joint Resolution relating to: the session schedule for the 2023–2024 biennial session period (Senate Joint Resolution 1). Wisconsin Legislature. 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
- ^ Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ "GOP lawmaker wins Wis. Senate seat, creating supermajority". AP News. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ Hess, Corri (2023-08-08). "Gov. Tony Evers calls special session to address child care, workforce challenges". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ Levenson, Michael (October 5, 2023). "Armed Man Seeking Wisconsin Governor Posts Bail and Returns With Rifle". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "State Legislature" (PDF). Wisconsin Blue Book 2023–2024 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. 2023. ISBN 978-1-7333817-2-7. Retrieved February 11, 2024.