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.
Following the Civil War, the Legislative Reference Bureau reports Wisconsin legislators began a tradition of providing support for war veterans. After World War I, the legislature approved innovative bills to help those who served beyond what was provided at the federal level. It was then after World War II, lawmakers created the Postwar Rehabilitation Trust Fund, County Veterans Service Officers and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Wisconsin is known for many other legislative firsts. Early on in the century, Wisconsin lawmakers created the first unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation programs in the country. Legislators later developed the UW System, world-class tech colleges, the first LGBTQ protections in the country, welfare reform, and school choice, just to name a few.
It is our time to make Wisconsin even stronger, and show that we continue to be the national leader our states’ founders envisioned. The crisis before us today is, of course, the pandemic. The coronavirus has taken our loved ones and devastated parts of the economy. I would ask each of you to now rise to pause for a moment of silence to remember those who we have lost during the pandemic.
Those of you who were here, know the legislature approved a bipartisan relief package within the first month of the pandemic. This week, the Assembly should act once again. This afternoon Assembly Bill 1, a second coronavirus relief bill, will be introduced. While it was very disappointing that the Governor walked away from the negotiating table last month, I want to thank our colleagues in the State Senate for continuing our negotiations so we have a final bill that has been agreed to in both chambers. The bill includes many items from our bipartisan discussions with the Governor.
However, our constitution can never be placed on hold, even during a public health emergency. We can’t allow an unelected bureaucrat to rule over communities like a dictator: picking and choosing what businesses should fail or forcing all schools to be virtual.
For some who didn’t already know it, most people now acknowledge that government control over our lives doesn’t make us more prosperous. In fact, we have seen far too many of our friends and acquaintances lose their livelihoods due to government reactions to the coronavirus. The proposal we are introducing today has over 44 provisions to help fight the virus and reopen our economy. So let’s join together to get this bill passed and provide the help Wisconsinites need.
We also must confront the other serious issues facing our state head on. Government spending doesn’t grow the economy and socialism doesn’t make us more free. We can once again have a responsible budget, one that doesn’t break the bank and still invests in shared priorities.
No matter how intense the pressure or how much special interests want us to sacrifice our principles, I promise you over the next two years we will not let state government expand at the expense of our freedoms or our liberties.
Wisconsin also learned over the last year that we must restore confidence in our electoral process. We saw repeated attempts by outside groups to try to change Wisconsin election laws through the courts using the pandemic as their excuse. In some cases, we saw election officials simply ignore the law hoping to give an electoral benefit to their preferred candidate.
We simply can’t have hundreds of thousands of people questioning the integrity of the electoral process in our state. Reforms must be made. I invite every legislator to be part of these important innovations and join us as we set a path forward for Wisconsin.
This Assembly has a tradition of bipartisanship. Every session since I was speaker, we’ve had more than 90 percent of bills approved received bipartisan support. This session should be no different.
Over the course of the past 100 years, the people who sat in this chamber made things happen. Today as we start a new session, each representative has a choice to make. Will you follow the path of national politicians who use explosive, divisive rhetoric on social media, or will you take the time to understand the arguments of those you disagree with?
Let’s choose to debate ideas, instead of cancelling out those who don’t agree with by calling them names and denigrating their views. Let’s discuss our beliefs and establish a greater understanding of each other. Perhaps in this case, we can be a national leader.
Let’s work for all of Wisconsin. We can end the name-calling and personal attacks. And we can bring back civility in politics.
Our state and our nation have many challenges ahead. It is up to us to prove once again that Wisconsin is the national innovator. You are the members of the 105th Wisconsin State Assembly. Let’s work together to get things done. Let’s make our state proud.
God bless you and God Bless the state of Wisconsin.
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Election of Speaker Pro Tempore
Representative Born nominated Representative Tyler August for the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
There being no further nominations, the speaker declared nominations closed.
Representative Steineke asked unanimous consent that a unanimous ballot be cast for Representative Tyler August for Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly. Granted.
For Representative August − 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, Wichgers, Wittke, Zimmerman and Speaker Vos – 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 August was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
The oath of office was administered by Speaker Vos.
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Election of Sergeant at Arms
Representative August nominated Anne Tonnon Byers for the position of Sergeant at Arms of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
There being no further nominations, the Speaker declared nominations closed.
Representative Steineke asked unanimous consent that a unanimous ballot be cast for Anne Tonnon Byers for Assembly Sergeant at Arms. Granted.
For Anne Tonnon Byers – 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, Wichgers, Wittke, Zimmerman and Speaker Vos – 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.
Anne Tonnon Byers was elected Sergeant at Arms of the Assembly for the One-Hundred and Fifth Regular Session of the Legislature.
The oath of office was administered by Speaker Vos.
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Communications
December 3, 2020
Patrick Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Fuller:
