Maintained by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB), this page provides an overview of recent and upcoming activities in the Wisconsin Legislature. The LRB revises its content weekly. Links to more detailed information are highlighted in the text.
The 2011-2012 legislative session began when the new legislature was sworn in on January 3, 2011. The schedule of floorperiods for the new session was established by Senate Joint Resolution 1. The January special session is ongoing. The next regular floorperiod begins February 22.
Governor Walker called the legislature into special session on January 4 to consider legislation on a variety of topics, including tax credits, tort law, medical savings accounts, other legislation relating to taxation, and the budget repair bill.
On February 14, 2011, January Special Session Senate Bill 11 was introduced by the Joint Committee on Finance, at the request of Governor Scott Walker. This bill is intended to address the budget deficit for the current fiscal year. The Joint Committee on Finance held a public hearing on February 16 and voted for passage (as amended by Senate Amendment 1) 12-4 on February 17. For budget repair bill details, see the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s Web site. Action on the bill has been delayed due to the lack of the required quorum in the Senate. On February 17, 14 Democratic senators apparently left the state, effectively preventing a vote from being taken. Thousands of demonstrators have descended on the state capitol protesting the removal of collective bargaining rights for public employees. It is not clear when the stalemate will be resolved.
Governor Scott Walker will deliver his 2011-2012 Budget Message to a joint session of the Legislature on Tuesday, March 1 rather than February 22 as originally scheduled.
All 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. Be sure to select "Jan 2011 Special Session" as the session to be able to view Special Session bills.
See the Schedule of Committee Activities for further information about locations and times of committee hearings held by standing or special committees.
The H. Rupert Theobald Library recently released a new "Tap the Power" bibliography on Executive Budget Support Documentation.
For more information about Legislative Service Agency publications, see the left panel of the Spotlight index page.
Send comments to LRB.Reference@legis.wisconsin.gov
Last revised: November 15, 2012