86th - John Spiros
1406 East Fillmore
Marshfield 54449
Republican
87th - James Edming
N4998 Edming Road
Glen Flora 54526
Republican
88th - John Macco
1874 Old Valley Road
De Pere 54115
Republican
89th - Vacant
90th - Kristina Shelton
1019 Emilie Street
Green Bay 54301
Democrat
91st - Jodi Emerson
519 Chauncey Street
Eau Claire 54701
Democrat
92nd - Treig E. Pronschinske
559 North Jackson Street
Mondovi 54755
Republican
93rd - Warren L. Petryk
Eau Claire 54701
Republican
94th - Steve Doyle
N5525 Hauser Road
Onalaska 54650
Democrat
95th - Jill Billings
1403 Johnson Street
La Crosse 54601
Democrat
96th - Loren Oldenburg
E4299 County Road Y
Viroqua 54665
Republican
97th - Scott Allen
Waukesha 53189
Republican
98th - Adam Neylon
1357 Lake Park Court
Pewaukee 53072
Republican
99th - Cindi S. Duchow
N22 W 28692 Louis Avenue
Pewaukee 53072
Republican
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Oath of Office
The Bible used today to swear in the Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly was accompanied by Christian Overland of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
This Bible was used to swear in the very first Governor of Wisconsin, Henry Dodge. Congress organized the Territory of Wisconsin on July 3, 1836, when Michigan became a state. The following day, John S. Horner, Secretary of the former Michigan Territory, was sworn in as Secretary of Wisconsin Territory, and on that same Independence Day, Horner used this Bible to administer the oath of office to the newly appointed Governor of Wisconsin, Henry Dodge, at Mineral Point. In the same ceremony, Horner used this Bible to swear in three of Wisconsin’s new Supreme Court judges, William C. Frasier, David Irvin and Charles Dunn (father-in-law of the first Governor of the State of Wisconsin, Nelson Dewey). This historic Bible, published in 1829, marks the very beginning of Wisconsin’s government.
Pursuant to Article IV, Section 28 of the Wisconsin Constitution, the Honorable Chief Justice Patience Drake Roggensack of the Wisconsin Supreme Court administered the oath of office to the members en masse.
The attendance roll was called by the clerk, and the members, as their names were called, came to the desk to sign the Oath of Office book.
The roll was taken.
The result follows:
Present – Representatives Allen, Armstrong, August, Born, Brandtjen, Brooks, Cabral-Guevara, Callahan, Dallman, Dittrich, Duchow, Edming, Gundrum, Jagler, James, Katsma, Kerkman, Kitchens, Knodl, Kuglitsch, Kurtz, Loudenbeck, Macco, Magnafici, Moses, Murphy, Mursau, Neylon, Novak, Oldenburg, Petersen, Petryk, Plumer, Pronschinske, Ramthun, Rodriguez, J., Rozar, Sanfelippo, Skowronski, Snyder, Sortwell, Spiros, Steineke, Summerfield, Swearingen, Tauchen, Thiesfeldt, Tittl, Tranel, VanderMeer, Vorpagel, Vos, Wichgers, Wittke and Zimmerman – 55.
Absent with leave – Representatives Anderson, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings, Bowen, Brostoff, Cabrera, Conley, Considine, Doyle, Drake, Emerson, Goyke, Haywood, Hebl, Hesselbein, Hintz, Hong, Horlacher, Krug, McGuire, Meyers, Milroy, Moore Omokunde, Myers, Neubauer, Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Pope, Riemer, Rodriguez, S., Schraa, Shankland, Shelton, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Steffen, Stubbs, Subeck, Tusler, Vining and Vruwink – 43.
Vacancies – 89th Assembly District – 1.
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Election of Speaker
Representative Kuglitsch nominated Representative Robin Vos for the position of Speaker of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
There being no further nominations, the Chair declared nominations closed.
Representative Steineke asked unanimous consent that a unanimous ballot be cast for Representative Robin Vos for Speaker of the Assembly. Granted.
For Representative Vos − Representatives Allen, Armstrong, August, Born, Brandtjen, Brooks, Cabral-Guevara, Callahan, Dallman, Dittrich, Duchow, Edming, Gundrum, Jagler, James, Katsma, Kerkman, Kitchens, Knodl, Kuglitsch, Kurtz, Loudenbeck, Macco, Magnafici, Moses, Murphy, Mursau, Neylon, Novak, Oldenburg, Petersen, Petryk, Plumer, Pronschinske, Ramthun, Rodriguez, J., Rozar, Sanfelippo, Skowronski, Snyder, Sortwell, Spiros, Steineke, Summerfield, Swearingen, Tauchen, Thiesfeldt, Tittl, Tranel, VanderMeer, Vorpagel, Vos, Wichgers, Wittke and Zimmerman – 55.
Absent with leave – Representatives Anderson, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings, Bowen, Brostoff, Cabrera, Conley, Considine, Doyle, Drake, Emerson, Goyke, Haywood, Hebl, Hesselbein, Hintz, Hong, Horlacher, Krug, McGuire, Meyers, Milroy, Moore Omokunde, Myers, Neubauer, Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Pope, Riemer, Rodriguez, S., Schraa, Shankland, Shelton, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Steffen, Stubbs, Subeck, Tusler, Vining and Vruwink – 43.
Representative Vos was elected Speaker of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
The oath of office was administered by the Honorable Chief Justice Patience Drake Roggensack of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Speaker Vos in the chair.
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Remarks by the Speaker
Good afternoon and congratulations to the members of the 105th Wisconsin State Assembly. With the start of each legislative session, we share a new hope to accomplish even more for the state.
While we couldn’t accommodate everyone in the chambers this year, we know our family and friends are here in spirit, and many are watching on WisconsinEye.
Before we can begin serving our districts, we should first thank our family and friends who made us who we are and helped us in our journey to the Assembly. Let’s show them our appreciation.
On a personal note, I want to thank my family, especially my wife, Michelle, and my Mom and Dad who had wanted to be here today. Your love and support mean the world to me.
To the members of the Assembly, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to again serve as Speaker of this great institution.
Since we last gathered, much has happened in our nation and in our state. Who would have thought when we left here last April that so many things we take for granted would now be in question? The ability for free movement. The ability to work, worship, educate your children or simply visit a sick relative.
Each time I have been elected to the State Assembly, I take some time before we are inaugurated to re-read the Wisconsin Constitution. This is the document that not only gives us our ability to represent our constituents, but it also protects the liberties our constituents enjoy and provides for the delineation of powers between the branches.
Over the last few months, we have clearly seen how this careful balance between the branches has been tested and in some cases, found to be lacking while in other circumstances, it has held the test of time.
Our system of checks and balances reflects an understanding about a republican form of government, held by many Founders that the legislative branch should be the superior branch. They reasoned that this is the case because “We the People” govern ourselves through the laws we enact through our elected representatives in the legislative branch. Some observers maintain that this idea of the legislative branch as the preeminent one is obsolete in modern times. The executive and judicial branches have expanded their powers significantly beyond the Founders’ expectations through the use of ideas such as executive orders or simply refusing to carry out the law as enacted by the state Legislature. The next two years are going to be critical as we work tirelessly to strengthen our republic and rebuild the foundation of government through the basic principle of the consent of the governed.
Did you notice I said republic and not democracy? Our republic is built on the recognition that no single part of the community has a monopoly on justice. Each of us must remember that as we strive to balance our desire for an outcome we might prefer, we must remember the oath we took today to uphold our constitution and the role each of us plays in our state’s history.
Today, we celebrate Wisconsin and our historical bonds. Not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Wisconsinites. We celebrate all that is good in our state that unites us. We celebrate the front line workers of the pandemic and our first responders who worked through the holidays protecting and serving the communities across Wisconsin. We celebrate every single worker who went to their job to produce the food we eat, the products we consume and the safety we enjoy.
As state representatives, we have been afforded an amazing responsibility. The citizens of Wisconsin have chosen us to be their advocates in state government. Each of us represents the voices of roughly 57,000 people. Today we welcome 16 new members who will be called state representative for the first time. They join 5,086 people who have served in the Assembly since Wisconsin statehood in 1848.
Three years into statehood, Wisconsin adopted the official state motto: Forward. The Wisconsin Historical Society says the motto was chosen to be a reflection of Wisconsin’s continuous drive to be a national leader.
As we move forward beyond the pandemic, we can look to previous legislators who set an example of taking action in response to a problem. We don’t celebrate the names of people who passed a bill. We celebrate the policies they succeeded in enacting.
