How the Wisconsin Legislature Works

Overview:
Wisconsin has 33 senators and 99 Assembly representatives. Each senate district represents about 150,000 citizens. Each senate district is further divided into three Assembly districts, each representing about 50,000 citizens.

In January of each odd-numbered year, a new legislature is sworn into office for a two-year period called a “biennium.” During the biennium, the legislature is in continuous session with a schedule of alternating floor periods and committee work periods.

During any given biennium, approximately 2000 bills, joint resolutions and simple resolutions are introduced in the Senate and Assembly. Only one-fourth of these measures will become law.

How a bill is introduced
Any senator or representative may introduce legislation. Ideas for legislation can come from a legislator, a constituent, a group of citizens, a state agency, a business or a combination of sources. Once the legislation is properly drafted and other legislators have co-sponsored the legislation, the bill is introduced. The bill is given a bill number, read a first time, noted in the official journal of the house in which the bill is introduced, and referred to a committee.

Committee action on a bill
At the discretion of the committee chair, a public hearing may be scheduled. The hearing is open to the public and anyone may appear to speak or register for or against the measure. After the hearing, the committee meets in executive session where committee members may offer amendments to the bill, and to vote on amendments to the bill and the bill itself. If the bill is approved, it is reported to the house in which the bill originated.

Bill is placed on the calendar
Bills reported out of committee are considered “available for scheduling”. For bills originating in the Assembly, the Assembly Rules Committee determines if the bill will go before the full Assembly. In the Senate, the Senate Organization Committee makes that determination.

Action in the first house
When a bill reaches the floor of either house, it is given its second reading by title. The question for the members is “Shall the bill be ordered to a third reading?” After the second reading but before a bill is ordered to a third reading, the members debate the bill and may offer amendments.

Engrossment, third reading and final passage
A vote to engross the bill incorporates any adopted amendments and technical changes and occurs at the third reading state. After the bill is read a third time, the question is, “Shall the bill pass?” If the members pass the bill, it is messaged to the other house.

Action in the second house
The bill follows the same procedure as in the first house. If no changes are made by the second house, the bill is enrolled when a clean copy is prepared of the text as agreed to by both houses.

If the second house makes changes to the bill, it goes back to the first house for concurrence. If the two houses cannot agree on the language of the bill, a “Committee of Conference” made up of members from both houses is appointed to reconcile the differences. Both houses vote on the Conference Committee report and if both houses approve the report, the bill is enrolled.

The governor’s role
The Governor has six days (excluding Sunday) to approve or veto a bill. The governor can: 1) sign a bill, in which case it becomes law; 2) fail to sign it within six days, whereby the bill would become law; 3) veto the bill 4) veto certain parts of the bill (in any legislation involving an expenditure of funds, the governor may exercise his line-item veto power where parts of a piece of legislation are vetoed.)

Veto review
If the governor vetoes a bill, it returns to the house in which the bill originated along with the governor’s objections to the proposal. The session schedule provides a specific floor period for the consideration of all gubernatorial vetoes. The first house can override a gubernatorial veto with a two-thirds vote. If a two-thirds vote to override is achieved in the first house, the bill goes to the second house where it also takes a two-thirds vote to override the governor’s veto. If either house fails to achieve a two-thirds vote to override, the bill becomes law.

Information provided here is based on more extensive information available on the official state legislative website.