2013 Senate Joint Resolution 8
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: the retirement of Pam Shannon, Senior Staff Attorney, Legislative Council Staff, following a long and distinguished career in nonpartisan service to the Wisconsin legislature.
Whereas, Pam Shannon was born in Connecticut where both of her parents were attending graduate school at Yale University, courtesy of the GI Bill; and
Whereas, Pam began her love of travel as an infant, flying to Madison when her father joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Extension, and, following her parents' instructive example, began a lifetime of learning and civic engagement; and
Whereas, Pam grew up in Madison, attended Middleton High School, and moved with her family to Beirut, Lebanon, for two years, graduating from the American Community School of Beirut in 1968; and
Whereas, Pam graduated from UW-Madison with honors in 1972, majoring in history, but not neglecting French, Italian, and Arabic; and
Whereas, Pam, in her various travels, met future husband Doug Bradley, a Vietnam veteran and graduate student, in Pullman, Washington, the site of Washington State University; and
Whereas, following a stint as a VISTA volunteer at Wisconsin Judicare and working with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Pam graduated from the UW Law School in 1977, where her favorite class was Professor Willard Hurst's course on Legislation; and
Whereas, while working for the UW Law School's continuing legal education program, Pam followed the work of the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Determinate Sentencing, staffed by future colleagues and, despite of that early exposure, accepted a position as a staff attorney at the Legislative Council in March of 1981; and
Whereas, Pam staffed the American Indian Study Committee, drafting initial legislation establishing the county-tribal law enforcement program and drafting bills relating to tribal courts, burial sites preservation, and Indian health, culminating in an Inter-Tribal Council award "in appreciation for outstanding service and dedication to the Indian Tribes of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council"; and
Whereas, Pam, as a jack of all trades, staffed legislative study committees ranging from lead poisoning prevention and child support to corrections and nanotechnology, as well as major statutory recodifications of the laws regarding actions affecting the family, veterans, military affairs, and emergency management; and
Whereas, Pam served as the longtime staff to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, working closely with a succession of three state auditors and innumerable committee cochairpersons and drafting legislation in response to audits of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, the Transportation Projects Commission, the PECFA program, and state economic development programs; and
Whereas, as staff to committees on veterans and military affairs, Pam worked on legislation creating the Wisconsin GI Bill and the veterans and surviving spouse property tax credit; and
Whereas, Pam served as the director of the Legislative Council's Administrative Rules Clearinghouse, overseeing staff review of proposed administrative rules and making presentations to the legislature, state agencies, and private sector groups, explaining the extensive changes made to the rule-making process in the 2011 legislative session; and
Whereas, in 2005, Pam provided training in French to parliamentary staff in Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon, as a participant in a joint program of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative; and
Whereas, Pam regards as particular highlights of her 32-year legislative career her collegial working relationship with the Legislative Audit Bureau and the Joint Audit Committee, her tenure as director of the Rules Clearinghouse, her mentoring and supervision of younger colleagues at the Legislative Council (including assisting in the production of some famously raucous scenes in Legislative Council holiday party films), and her role in helping legislative offices to respond to open records requests; and
Whereas, Pam's Council colleagues will sorely miss her in-office collaborative efforts, her thorough and timely work product, her approachability and willingness to lend a hand, and, in the tradition of her Council forbears, her persnickety, yet welcome, editing style; and
Whereas, many of Pam's colleagues have become lifelong friends, have shared peak life experiences with her, and have turned to her for advice and wisdom on all topics ranging from Lebanese cooking and world travel to college selection and elder care options; and
Whereas, Pam is especially proud to have worked alongside both of her children when they served as senate staffers, carrying on the family's tradition of public service exemplified by their late grandmother, Dorothy Shannon; and
Whereas, Pam's retirement plans include working with her 94-year-old father to complete his World War II memoirs, traveling to the four states she has yet not visited, assisting with her daughter's wedding planning, and visiting family in Arizona, Oregon, and Washington; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the members of the legislature honor and commend Pam Shannon for her 32 years of devoted service to the Wisconsin legislature and wish her many fruitful, active, and enjoyable years in retirement; and, be it further
Resolved, That the senate chief clerk shall provide copies of this joint resolution to Pam and her husband, Doug; her daughter, Summer; her son, Ian; and her father, Ted Shannon.
