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 Wisconsin Legislature stands adjourned at the conclusion of the 2011-12 legislative session's final general business floorperiod which ended on March 15. A limited-business floorperiod is scheduled for April 24 through May 3.
The Department of Justice is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a March 22 federal district court decision that concluded that the line between Assembly Districts 8 and 9 needed to be redrawn under the Voting Right Act. In a press release, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen stated, “Any time a federal court rejects a state redistricting statute, and decides to redraw or adjust a legislative district, it is a serious matter and appropriate for appellate review.”
During the 2011-12 legislative session, 286 acts have been signed into law. They can be found under the acts section of the Legislative Documents site. All enrolled bills from the current session have now either been signed into law or vetoed. Recent signings include the following:
On April 12, the governor signed 2011 Senate Bill 275 (Act 286), which changes the membership requirements for those who serve on the district board for the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
On April 12, the governor signed four bills into law aimed at growing Wisconsin’s agricultural economy: 2011 Senate Bill 396 (Act 278), 2011 Senate Bill 410 (Act 279), 2011 Senate Bill 496 (Act 281), and 2011 Assembly Bill 82 (Act 280).
The governor signed a number of bills into law last week relating to protecting victims and holding offenders accountable. On April 9, the governor signed 2011 Senate Bill 104 (Act 266), 2011 Assembly Bill 269 (Act 267), 2011 Assembly Bill 397 (Act 268), 2011 Assembly Bill 263 (Act 269), 2011 Senate Bill 173 (Act 270), 2011 Senate Bill 536 (Act 271), 2011 Assembly Bill 209 (Act 272). On April 12, the governor signed 2011 Assembly Bill 552 (Act 282), 2011 Assembly Bill 232 (Act 283), 2011 Assembly Bill 100 (Act 284), and 2011 Senate Bill 399 (Act 285).
The Legislature has RSS feeds for both recently introduced legislation and recent session activity. You can also view a listing of recently introduced bills. Our Facebook page also has links to recently introduced bills.
For details of upcoming committee meetings, see the Schedule of Committee Activities.
Recall elections will be held on May 8 (primary) and June 5, 2012 (general). The following people have filed nomination papers for ballot access for the recall elections:
Governor
Lt. Governor
Senate District 13
Senate District 21
Senate District 23
Senate District 29
For a compilation of resources on recall elections and the voter identification law, see the Government Accountability Board Web site.
The following resources on current event topics are recommended by the Library:
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: April 18, 2013