Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin State Assembly | |
---|---|
Wisconsin State Legislature | |
Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 3, 2023 |
Leadership | |
Speaker pro tempore | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Structure | |
Seats | 99 |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 2 years |
Authority | Article IV, Wisconsin Constitution |
Salary | $50,950/year + $153 per diem |
Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 |
Next election | November 5, 2024 |
Redistricting | Legislative control |
Meeting place | |
State Assembly Chamber Wisconsin State Capitol Madison, Wisconsin | |
Website | |
Wisconsin State Assembly |
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the
Representatives are elected for two-year terms, elected during the fall elections. If a vacancy occurs in an Assembly seat between elections, it may be filled only by a special election.
The
The Assembly is heavily
On December 22, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission that the gerrymandered districts were unconstitutional and must be redrawn before the 2024 legislative elections.[8]
The Assembly chamber is located in the west wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol building, in Madison, Wisconsin.
History
The United States first organized Wisconsin in 1787 under the Northwest Ordinance after Great Britain yielded the land to them in the Treaty of Paris. It became the Wisconsin Territory in 1836. The then-territorial assembly, after elections, was seated in Burlington for three sessions before they relocated to the permanent capital, Madison.
During the period of territorial assembly, the assembled members helped to set up the court system, established the borders and number of counties, and regularized the spelling of Wisconsin. In 1842, an assemblyman (Charles Arndt, a Whig of Brown County) was shot dead by another assemblyman, James Vineyard, a Democrat of Grant County, over an appointment for Grant County sheriff.
Wisconsin became a U.S. state on May 29, 1848, and special elections were held to fill the first session of the State Assembly; at the time, the body consisted of 66 members.[9] The Assembly was expanded to 82 seats in 1852, and then to 97 seats in 1856, then to 100 seats in 1861, which is the maximum allowed in the Constitution of Wisconsin. The membership remained at 100 seats until the 1971 redistricting act, which decreased membership to 99 in order to comply with federal equal representation requirements within the limits of the Wisconsin Constitution. The current number of 99 seats is set in order to maintain a 3:1 ratio of Assembly to Senate seats.
On July 8, 2015, a case was filed with the
Salary and benefits
Representatives elected or re-elected in the fall of 2016 receive an annual salary of $57,408.[12]
In addition to their salaries, representatives are allowed to claim a per diem for travel expenses. The maximum rate is set by the 2001 Wisconsin Act 16 to 90% of the U.S. General Services Administration rate, but the houses are permitted to establish additional criteria for determining per diem. The State Assembly per diem is set to $155.70 per overnight stay and $77.85 for day visits. A maximum of 153 days may be claimed for per diem in 2023, and 80 days may be claimed in 2024. Over two years, each representative is allotted $12,000 to cover general office expenses, printing, postage and district mailings.
According to a 1960 study, at that time Assembly salaries and benefits were so low that in
Current session
Composition
↓ | |
35 | 64 |
Democratic | Republican |
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Vacant | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
Republican
|
Total | ||
Begin of 101st legislature (2013) | 39 | 59 | 98 | 1 |
End 101st (2014) | 60 | 99 | 0 | |
Begin 102nd (2015) | 36 | 63 | 99 | 0 |
End 102nd (2016) | ||||
Begin 103rd (2017) | 35 | 64 | 99 | 0 |
End 103rd (2018) | ||||
Begin 104th (2019) | 36 | 63 | 99 | 0 |
End 104th (2020) | 34 | 62 | 96 | 3 |
Begin 105th (2021) | 38 | 60 | 98 | 1 |
End 105th (2022) | 38 | 57 | 95 | 4 |
Begin 106th (2023) | 35 | 64 | 99 | 0 |
Current composition | ||||
Latest voting share | 35.35% | 64.65% |
Assembly officers
Position | Name | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Speaker | Robin Vos | Republican | ||
Speaker Pro Tempore | Kevin D. Petersen | Republican | ||
Majority Leader | Tyler August | Republican | ||
Assistant Majority Leader | Jon Plumer | Republican | ||
Majority Caucus Chair | Rob Summerfield | Republican | ||
Minority Leader | Greta Neubauer | Democratic | ||
Assistant Minority Leader | Kalan Haywood | Democratic | ||
Minority Caucus Chair | Lisa Subeck | Democratic | ||
Chief Clerk | Ted Blazel | |||
Sergeant-at-Arms
|
Anne Tonnon Byers |
Members
The corresponding state senate districts are shown as a senate district is formed by nesting three assembly districts.
Committees
The following is a list of the Assembly Committees:[14]
- Review of Administrative Rules
- Aging and Long-Term Care
- Agriculture
- Assembly Organization
- Audit
- Campaigns and Elections
- Children and Families
- Colleges and Universities
- Constitution and Ethics
- Consumer Protection
- Corrections
- Criminal Justice and Public Safety
- Education
- Employment Relations
- Energy and Utilities
- Environment
- Family Law
- Finance
- Financial Institutions
- Forestry, Parks and Outdoor Recreation
- Government Accountability and Oversight
- Health
- Housing and Real Estate
- Insurance
- Jobs and the Economy
- Judiciary
- Labor and Integrated Employment
- Local Government
- Mental Health
- Public Benefit Reform
- Regulatory Licensing Reform
- Rules
- Rural Development
- Science, Technology, and Broadband
- Small Business Development
- Sporting Heritage
- State Affairs
- Substance Abuse and Prevention
- Tourism
- Transportation
- Veterans and Military Affairs
- Ways and Means
- Workforce Development
- Speaker's Task Force on Racial Disparities
- Special Committee on Trade and Supply Chain
- Subcommittee on Education and Economic Development
- Subcommittee on Law Enforcement Policies and Standards
Past composition of the Assembly
See also
References
- ^ Wisconsin Blue Book, 1991, p. 229.
- Journal Sentinel
- US News
- ^ No Contest, Isthmus
- ^ "Many experts recognize Wisconsin as the most gerrymandered state in the country". Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- Politifact
- ^ DeFour, Matthew (December 7, 2022). "Wisconsin's Assembly maps are more skewed than ever — what happens in 2023?". Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ "History of Dane County, Wisconsin : containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages--their improvements, industries, manufactories, churches, schools and societies, its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers : the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the Constitution of the United States". content.wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
- ^ "Whitford v. Gill | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ "Gill v. Whitford". SCOTUS blog. Retrieved February 9, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Salaries of Wisconsin State Elected Officials, 2023" (PDF). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. February 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- JSTOR 445376.
- ^ docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, retrieved November 27, 2020
External links
- Wisconsin State Assembly official government website
- State Assembly of Wisconsin at Project Vote Smart
- Wisconsin State Assembly at Ballotpedia
- Legislature Salary