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2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE
January 31, 2013 - Introduced by Senators Olsen and Risser, cosponsored by
Representative Ballweg. Referred to Committee on Senate Organization.
SJR8,1,3 1Relating to: the retirement of Pam Shannon, Senior Staff Attorney, Legislative
2Council Staff, following a long and distinguished career in nonpartisan service
3to the Wisconsin legislature.
SJR8,1,54 Whereas, Pam Shannon was born in Connecticut where both of her parents
5were attending graduate school at Yale University, courtesy of the GI Bill; and
SJR8,1,96 Whereas, Pam began her love of travel as an infant, flying to Madison when her
7father joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Extension, and,
8following her parents' instructive example, began a lifetime of learning and civic
9engagement; and
SJR8,1,1210 Whereas, Pam grew up in Madison, attended Middleton High School, and
11moved with her family to Beirut, Lebanon, for two years, graduating from the
12American Community School of Beirut in 1968; and
SJR8,1,1413 Whereas, Pam graduated from UW-Madison with honors in 1972, majoring in
14history, but not neglecting French, Italian, and Arabic; and
SJR8,2,3
1Whereas, Pam, in her various travels, met future husband Doug Bradley, a
2Vietnam veteran and graduate student, in Pullman, Washington, the site of
3Washington State University; and
SJR8,2,74 Whereas, following a stint as a VISTA volunteer at Wisconsin Judicare and
5working with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Pam graduated from the UW
6Law School in 1977, where her favorite class was Professor Willard Hurst's course
7on Legislation; and
SJR8,2,128 Whereas, while working for the UW Law School's continuing legal education
9program, Pam followed the work of the Legislative Council's Special Committee on
10Determinate Sentencing, staffed by future colleagues and, despite of that early
11exposure, accepted a position as a staff attorney at the Legislative Council in March
12of 1981; and
SJR8,2,1813 Whereas, Pam staffed the American Indian Study Committee, drafting initial
14legislation establishing the county-tribal law enforcement program and drafting
15bills relating to tribal courts, burial sites preservation, and Indian health,
16culminating in an Inter-Tribal Council award "in appreciation for outstanding
17service and dedication to the Indian Tribes of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes
18Inter-Tribal Council"; and
SJR8,2,2319 Whereas, Pam, as a jack of all trades, staffed legislative study committees
20ranging from lead poisoning prevention and child support to corrections and
21nanotechnology, as well as major statutory recodifications of the laws regarding
22actions affecting the family, veterans, military affairs, and emergency management;
23and
SJR8,3,324 Whereas, Pam served as the longtime staff to the Joint Legislative Audit
25Committee, working closely with a succession of three state auditors and

1innumerable committee cochairpersons and drafting legislation in response to
2audits of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, the Transportation Projects
3Commission, the PECFA program, and state economic development programs; and
SJR8,3,64 Whereas, as staff to committees on veterans and military affairs, Pam worked
5on legislation creating the Wisconsin GI Bill and the veterans and surviving spouse
6property tax credit; and
SJR8,3,117 Whereas, Pam served as the director of the Legislative Council's
8Administrative Rules Clearinghouse, overseeing staff review of proposed
9administrative rules and making presentations to the legislature, state agencies,
10and private sector groups, explaining the extensive changes made to the
11rule-making process in the 2011 legislative session; and
SJR8,3,1512 Whereas, in 2005, Pam provided training in French to parliamentary staff in
13Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon, as a participant in a joint program of the National
14Conference of State Legislatures and the U.S. State Department's Middle East
15Partnership Initiative; and
SJR8,3,2216 Whereas, Pam regards as particular highlights of her 32-year legislative career
17her collegial working relationship with the Legislative Audit Bureau and the Joint
18Audit Committee, her tenure as director of the Rules Clearinghouse, her mentoring
19and supervision of younger colleagues at the Legislative Council (including assisting
20in the production of some famously raucous scenes in Legislative Council holiday
21party films), and her role in helping legislative offices to respond to open records
22requests; and
SJR8,4,223 Whereas, Pam's Council colleagues will sorely miss her in-office collaborative
24efforts, her thorough and timely work product, her approachability and willingness

1to lend a hand, and, in the tradition of her Council forbears, her persnickety, yet
2welcome, editing style; and
SJR8,4,63 Whereas, many of Pam's colleagues have become lifelong friends, have shared
4peak life experiences with her, and have turned to her for advice and wisdom on all
5topics ranging from Lebanese cooking and world travel to college selection and elder
6care options; and
SJR8,4,97 Whereas, Pam is especially proud to have worked alongside both of her children
8when they served as senate staffers, carrying on the family's tradition of public
9service exemplified by their late grandmother, Dorothy Shannon; and
SJR8,4,1310 Whereas, Pam's retirement plans include working with her 94-year-old father
11to complete his World War II memoirs, traveling to the four states she has yet not
12visited, assisting with her daughter's wedding planning, and visiting family in
13Arizona, Oregon, and Washington; now, therefore, be it
SJR8,4,17 14Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the members of the
15legislature honor and commend Pam Shannon for her 32 years of devoted service to
16the Wisconsin legislature and wish her many fruitful, active, and enjoyable years in
17retirement; and, be it further
SJR8,4,20 18Resolved, That the senate chief clerk shall provide copies of this joint
19resolution to Pam and her husband, Doug; her daughter, Summer; her son, Ian; and
20her father, Ted Shannon.
SJR8,4,2121 (End)
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