10:00 A.M.
1998 Extraordinary Session
The Senate met.
Committee on Senate Organization
April 20, 1998
In accordance with Joint Rule
81(2), it is moved that the Senate Committee on Organization authorize that the Legislature meet in Extraordinary Session at 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, April 21, 1998, for the consideration of the following legislative business.
1.
Election of Officers for the State Senate;
2.
Ratification of State Employes Contracts;
3.
Consideration of Resolutions and Joint Resolutions offering commendations, congratulations or condolences of an individual;
4.
Consideration of a joint resolution to revive certain proposals from the regular 1997 session;
5.
Consideration of the Budget Review Proposal; and
6.
Consideration of Gubernatorial nominations for appointment.
Committee on Senate Organization (Ayes 5, Noes 0)
Committee on Assembly Organization (Ayes 5, Noes 1)
State of Wisconsin
Elections Board
April 15, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to provide you with a copy of the official canvass of the April 7, 1998, Special Election vote for State Senator, 28th District, along with the determination of the winner by the Chairperson of the State Elections Board.
In addition, I am providing you with the original Certificate of Election for the winner.
If the State Elections Board staff can provide you with any further information or assistance please contact our office.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Kennedy
Executive Director
Statement of Board of State Canvassers
for
State Senator District Twenty-Eight
SPECIAL ELECTION, April 7, 1998
I, David Halbrooks, Chairperson of the State Elections Board, certify that the attached tabular statement, as compiled from the certified returns made to the State Elections Board by the several county clerks in the Twenty-eighth Senate District, contains a correct abstract of the total number of votes given for the election of candidates for State Senator, District 28, at a Special Election held in the several wards and election districts in said counties on the Seventh day of April, 1998.
I DO, THEREFORE, DETERMINE AND CERTIFY the the following candidate, having each received the greatest number of votes, is duly elected State Senator:
Senate District Elected
Twenty-eight Mary A. Lazich
Given under my hand in the City of
Milwaukee, this 15th day of April, 1998.
David Halbrooks
Chairperson, Elections Board
Senator Lazich was given the oath of office April 20, 1998.
The Senate was called to order by Senator Fred Risser.
The roll was called and the following Senators answered to their names:
Senators Breske, Burke, Chvala, Clausing, Cowles, Darling, Decker, Drzewiecki, Ellis, Farrow, Fitzgerald, George, Grobschmidt, Huelsman, Jauch, A. Lasee, Lazich, Moen, Moore, Panzer, Plache, C. Potter, Risser, Roessler, Rosenzweig, Rude, Schultz, Shibilski, Weeden, Welch, Wineke, Wirch and Zien - 33.
Absent - None.
Absent with leave - None.
The Senate stood for a moment of silent mediation.
The Senate remained standing and Senator Rude led the Senate in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
__________________
The committee on Senate Organization reports and recommends:
Senate Resolution 4
Relating to: election of officers of the 1997-98 senate and rereferral of pending business.
Introduction.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Ellis, Rude, Farrow, Chvala and Moen.
Noes, 0 - None.
Michael Ellis
Chairperson
Senate Resolution 4
Relating to: election of officers of the 1997-98 senate and rereferral of pending business.
Read.
Considered as privileged and taken up.
The question was: Shall Senate Resolution 4 be adopted?
The ayes and noes were required and the vote was: ayes, 32; noes, 1; absent or not voting, 0; as follows:
S589
Ayes - Senators Breske, Burke, Chvala, Clausing, Cowles, Darling, Decker, Drzewiecki, Ellis, Farrow, Fitzgerald, Grobschmidt, Huelsman, Jauch, A. Lasee, Lazich, Moen, Moore, Panzer, Plache, C. Potter, Risser, Roessler, Rosenzweig, Rude, Schultz, Shibilski, Weeden, Welch, Wineke, Wirch and Zien - 32.
Noes - Senator George - 1.
Absent or not voting - None.
Adopted.
The President, Brian D. Rude, the President Pro Tempore, Alan Lasee. Having been duly elected by the adoption of the Senate Resolution 4, appeared together before the bar of the Senate, took and subscribed the oath of office which was administered by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon P. Wilcox.
Statement of Senator Brian Rude
Senate President
It is an honor and privilege to once again serve you as your Senate President.
I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank my good friend and predecessor, Senator Fred Risser, for his fair and even-handed role as President these past two years, and in particular for his defense and support of the Senate as an institution.
Fred Risser came to the Senate in 1962, when I was in the second grade. He became the first - and only Democrat - to serve as elected President of the Senate when the constitution was changed by the voters of this state in 1979.
Fred Risser, whose father, grandfather and great grandfather served in this Legislature, is truly an institution and a leader of the first class and I salute him for his good working relationship with me and other Senate Republican leaders, and for the courtesy and fairness he has shown in our transition.
The winds of change have once again swept through the Senate, reminding each of us how quickly fortunes in politics can change. I am reminded of Winston Churchill's observation that the only difference between war and politics is that in war you only die once.
I pledge to you and to the people of this state, as I did in 1993 when I first assumed this office, that I will attempt to conduct the business of the Senate with fairness, with great respect for the rules of this body, and with support for the traditions of a premier legislative body like the Wisconsin Senate.
The 33 of us serving here have two great distinctions: first; we each represent over 150,000 residents of this state who have duly selected us in an election process which has served the people well for 150 years. Second, we are among just under 1,000 of the people in the history of this state to have served in this body. I remind each of us of these important facts.
I was President when we left the State Capitol for our remodeling project. I am pleased I will be President when we return later this year. I think we all would agree that this temporary chamber does not inspire the same sense of majesty and importance as that of our historic Capitol home. All of us have been frustrated by how noisy and unofficial this place has been...during this special and extraordinary session, I will attempt to maintain what dignity and order we can. I am excited, however, about our return to the Capitol. One of this things we need to plan this year is our own observation of the Sesquicentennial...the Assembly began the year of 1998 with their own celebration in Belmont. We will end the year with our own celebration as we return to the Capitol, and any ideas you have to make this observance appropriate would be appreciated.
Three years ago, I cited three personal mentors who had helped me the most in my Senate career: former Senators Ray Bice, Walter John Chilsen and Dan Theno. Senator Bice is no longer with us...he passed away just a few short years ago at the age of 97. At his funeral, I read a statement about politics from Plutarch, a Greek biographer who lived at the time of Christ. It is a fitting message for each of us, and I have asked our messengers to distribute copies. It reads:
"Politics is not a public chore
to be gotten over with.
It is a way of life.
It is the life of a domesticated
political and social creature who
is born with a love for public life,
with a desire for honor,
with a feeling for his fellow,
and it lasts as long as need be.
It is not simply office-holding,
not just keeping your place,
not just raising your voice
from the floor,
not just ranting on the rostrum
