Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight

The Week of April 5, 2010

The next general business floorperiod of the Wisconsin Legislature is scheduled to run from April 13 to April 22, 2010, and is the last scheduled general floorperiod of the 2009-2010 legislative session. The schedule of floorperiods for the 2009-2010 legislative session was established by 2009 Senate Joint Resolution 1.

Check the Assembly and Senate Daily Floor Calendars for items which will be considered during floor sessions.

Members Not Seeking Reelection

Representative Kitty Rhoades (30th Assembly District) is the latest legislator to announce that she will not seek reelection. She joins 11 other legislators that have indicated that they will forego reelection campaigns in November.

No Decision on Lawmaker Discipline

An ethics committee has deadlocked twice on a vote to decide whether Representative Jeff Wood should face discipline for three recent driving under the influence arrests. The committee’s report will go to the Assembly without recommending a course of action, but the full house could vote to impose discipline ranging from a reprimand to expulsion. Representative Wood has already announced that he will not seek reelection.

Recent Bill Introductions

As of April 1, 917 Assembly bills and 659 Senate bills have been introduced. Recently introduced legislation can be found on the Legislature's Searchable Infobases site, or by using the Request text and history of legislative proposals function on the home page. Among bills introduced last week were:

• 2009 Assembly Bill 910, relating to establishment of a Wisconsin conservation corps program.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 913 and 2009 Senate Bill 658, relating to public financing of campaigns for the office of justice of the supreme court.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 914, relating to prohibiting possession of a firearm by persons convicted of violent non-felony offenses.

Committee Activity

For information on upcoming events refer to the Schedule of Committee Activities.

Recently Signed Legislation

Governor Doyle has not signed any new legislation in the past week.

Recent Publications

• The Legislative Reference Bureau library released a "Tap the Power" annotated bibliography on Performance Pay for Teachers.
• The Legislative Audit Bureau released the State of Wisconsin Single Audit for 2008-09.
• The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released Status of the State's General Fund.
• The Legislative Council Staff issued a 2008 Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems.

For more information about Legislative Service Agency publications, see the left panel of the Spotlight index page.

Spotlight Home

Prior Spotlight issues

Send comments to LRB.Reference@legis.wisconsin.gov

Last revised: November 13, 2012