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 pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1. The 2013-14 legislative session will commence on January 7, 2013.
On July 16, John Lehman was sworn into office for the 21st Senate District. He was declared the winner in the June 5 recall election after a recount of the results. With his swearing-in, the Democratic Party now has control of the State Senate, by 17 to 16 member margin. The Senate held a floor session on Tuesday, July 17, to elect new officers. Senator Fred Risser was elected President, and Senator Tim Carpenter was elected President Pro Tempore. Senate Majority Leader Mark Miller has named the following Senate Democrats to Senate and joint committees:
On July 18, Senator Rich Zipperer (R) announced that he would be resigning his seat in the 33rd Senate District. His resignation would leave the Senate with 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Zipperer will be joining Governor Walker's staff. The Governor has not yet issued an order calling for a special election to fill the Senate seat. Zipperer was elected in 2010 to a four-year term.
Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan has issued a permanent injunction against the voter id law passed last summer. The suit was brought by the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP against Governor Walker and the Government Accountability Board, claiming that 2011 Wisconsin Act 23 violates the Wisconsin Constitution's Equal Protection and Suffrage clauses. In March, another Dane County judge issued a permanent injunction against the law in a suit brought by the League of Women Voters. See the March 12 edition of the Spotlight for more details on that decision. The Attorney General has appealed the ruling.
Pursuant to 2011 Wisconsin Act 32, the Department of Administration, the Department of Employee Trust Funds, and the Office of State Employment Relations have completed a study of the structure and benefits of the Wisconsin Retirement System.
June 1 was the deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions for the August primary. No incumbent filed in two senate districts and 21 assembly districts. In two districts, two incumbents have both filed to run: Evan Wynn and Andy Jorgensen have both filed in the 43rd Assembly District; Samantha Kerkman and John Steinbrink have both filed in the 61st Assembly District.
The Government Accountability Board has posted the lists of candidates for the August 14 partisan primary.
The Legislature has RSS feeds for recent session activity. Also see our Facebook page and Twitter.
For details of upcoming committee meetings, see the Schedule of Committee Activities. At the time of publication, the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Permanency for Young Children in the Child Welfare System was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 24.
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.
The library recommends the following resources related to recreation:
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