Assembly Bill 503
Relating to: the enrollment of the charter school established by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Read a third time.
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 20; noes, 12; absent or not voting, 1; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Brown, Cowles, Darling, Ellis, S. Fitzgerald, Harsdorf, Kanavas, Kedzie, A. Lasee, Lazich, Leibham, Moore, Panzer, Plale, Reynolds, Roessler, Schultz, Stepp, Welch and Zien - 20.
Noes - Senators Breske, Carpenter, Chvala, Decker, Erpenbach, Hansen, Jauch, Lassa, M. Meyer, Risser, Robson and Wirch - 12.
Absent or not voting - Senator George - 1.
Concurred in.
Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that all action be immediately messaged to the Assembly.
Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that Senate Bill 253 be withdrawn from the committee on Higher Education and Tourism and referred to the committee on Education, Ethics and Elections.
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State of Wisconsin
October 23, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
As acknowledged by the Senate Leadership, members of both parties broke the rules of the decorum of the Senate last night, October 22, 2003; for being one of them, I extend my sincere and heartfelt apology to the Senate.
I look forward to working with the Senate Leadership on having a deliberative body that not only follows rules of decorum but also allows for the rights of each member to state their views under the protection of fair rules of procedure.
Sincerely,
Tim Carpenter
State Senator
State of Wisconsin
October 23, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
As acknowledged by the Senate Leadership, members of both parties broke the rule of the decorum of the Senate last night, October 22, 2003; for being one of them I extend my sincere regrets to the Senate.
My statement of last evening to the Senate was heartfelt and is enclosed in the body of this letter:
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"Thank you Mr. President. I count as an extreme privilege something that no one, I think, in my life, would ever have expected that I would have earned the extreme pleasure of serving in this august body and become a state senator to have the voice, have a voice for 160,000 people. And Mr. President, I can tell you that I, I was raised to always be at my best behavior. I was raised by parents who taught me Christian charity and taught me to behave and I am not proud, Mr. President, when I, when I am disruptive in the body, Iam not proud of that Mr. President, and I, it is very clear that I allow certain members of this body to push my buttons. I think, I think members pretty much know that I am very intolerant of disrespect. I am very intolerant of being cut off because Mr. President it is not my voice, it is the voice of 160,000 people that I represent. Many of the people that I represent are very poor and they don't, they don't have a voice, they don't have a lot of money to hire lobbyists to come up here and so I'm it. And, given the vacancy that is in the other Senate district currently, I feel even more compelled to represent my, my constituents. And, I can tell you that, that I do treasure my relationships with members of both parties. I think I have had some very constructive dialogue, good relationships with the Senator from the 13th, I'm thinking, of the Senator, just to name a couple of people here. Don't want to exclude anybody, the Senator from the 33rd as we look at ways on a bi-partisan basis, to improve the lot of citizens and I have enjoyed these relationships and I don't want negative stuff to happen on this floor that would endanger or threaten those relationships. Because I value those relationships in order to build a constructive reality for my constituents. Having said that, Mr. President, what I, I want to make a final pitch for my Senate amendment 2 and the reason that I offered this amendment is because I had at least 50 kids pile, jam into my office, to ask me, hysterically, Mr. President, because they have been told by the lobbyist for school choice that if we don't raise this cap that their parents will be forced to disenroll them from various, the very successful choice schools that they're currently in. This amendment, Mr. President, is a direct result of those conversations with my constituents. I think this amendment does address the issue, what it does, again, for those who may not recall, what it does is that it requires the Department of Public Instruction, it gives them a protocol for how to prorate the parental choice student slots once the 15% cap has been reached. Which is current law. It would require them to prioritize those kids who are already in the program and then to extend any additional slots to siblings of those students. I guess had the debate gone the way I would have wanted it to go, I, I you know, I was going to ask the Senator from the 8th or other authors of this bill to explain why this wasn't, why they moved rejection and why this wasn't a reasonable approach. Because I think it, it directly responds to a concern, or an issue that those parents had. And, I, so I think it is time to move on, Mr. President, I won't enflame anyone's temper by asking them to respond to that question. I simply want to share with the body that, that the amendment was offered in sincerity, it was offered to directly deal with a constituent, a problem my constituents are currently dealing with as we approach the enrollment cap. Thank you."
I look forward to working with my fellow Senators in a deliberative manner and following the rules of decorum. However, the rights of each member of this body should be respected and should be protected by fair rules.
Sincerely,
Gwendolynne S. Moore
State Senator
State of Wisconsin
October 23, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
The written motion provided to the media today following the meeting of the Senate Committee on Organization related to the committee's action regarding Senators Moore and Carpenter was a draft document that was not intended to be released.
The committee, instead, offered a verbal motion that was changed in great detail from the document that was mistakenly released.
I am truly sorry and I take full responsibility for the error.
Below is a copy of the verbal statement that was voted on in Senate Organization. It is the verbal statement that was made and voted on by the full committee.
"Senators Moore and Carpenter will submit letters of apology for their action yesterday by the end of todays' session. these comments will be spread upon the Journal."
This motion was adopted by the committee on Senate Organization by a vote of Ayes 3, Noes 2, October 23, 2003.
Sincerely,
Senator MAry PanzER
Senate Majority Leader
State of Wisconsin
October 24, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
As you know, I was granted a temporary leave of absence from the Wisconsin State Senate on Friday, October 24, 2003 in order to attend the funeral of a family member. At this time I respectfully request that my votes on the following items be added to the record of proceedings for the day.
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 1 to Senate amendment 1 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 1 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye adoption of Senate amendment 2 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted No on rejection of Senate amendment 3 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 4 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted No on rejection of Senate amendment 5 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted No on rejection of Senate amendment 6 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Sincerely,
Senator Jeff Plale
State Senator
State of Wisconsin
October 24, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
Senator Welch would like the journal to show how he would have voted had he been present for the following votes;
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 1 to Senate amendment 1 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 1 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye adoption of Senate amendment 2 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on rejection of Senate amendment 3 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on adoption of Senate amendment 4 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on rejection of Senate amendment 5 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
Voted Aye on rejection of Senate amendment 6 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to Senate Bill 214.
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Voted Aye on rejection of Senate amendment 7 to Senate substitute amendment 2 to
Senate Bill 214.
Voted No on referral of Senate Bill 214 to the committee on Homeland Security, Veterans and Military Affairs and Government Reform.
Sincerely,
Senator Robert Welch
State Senator
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Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Kelly Rindfleish of her staff who is celebrating a birthday this weekend.
Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Dorothy "Tina" Gonnering of West Bend also celebrating a birthday this weekend.
Senator Welch, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor and memory of Green Lake County Deputy Sheriff Bruce Williams who was killed in the line of duty responding to a report of domestic abuse on October 19, 2003.
Senator Wirch, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Amber Meyer of his staff and Ryan Smith who will be getting married this weekend in the Senate Parlor.
Senator Wirch, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Kenosha Police Lt. Kristine Fonk, on being named the 2003 Woman Officer of the Year by the Wisconsin Association of Women Police.
Senator Wirch, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Vanda and Alfredo Kindermann who will be honored along with their three grown daughters as the Hispanic Family of the Year at the United Migrant Opportunity Services banquet being held in Milwaukee on Saturday, October 25, 2003.
Senator Plale, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of his Aunt Mary Plale.
Senator Darling, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of Jessica Tormey's birthday.
Senator Hansen, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of the page staff for working through the night during the recess and during stressful times. Throughout the course of our duties we rely on these young people to keep the wheels of democracy turning. Oftentimes it is a thankless job. Last night was a perfect example. I'm not sure how many of you realized it, I know I didn't, but because we recessed last night instead of adjourning, that meant members of the Sergeant's staff had to stay overnight until we reconvened this morning.
Senator Hansen, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in memory of his Uncle John Kreuser who was laid to rest Thursday, October 23, 2003.
Senator Hansen, with unanimous consent, asked that when the Senate adjourn, it do so in honor of his Grandson Bret Bicoy Jr.'s 5th birthday.
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Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Adjourned.
6:06 P.M.