hist125890Senator Bewley, with unanimous consent, asked that the rules be suspended and Senate Substitute Amendment 2 be take up at this time. Senator Bewley, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate stand informal.
hist125891Senator LeMahieu moved that Senate Substitute Amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 1 be rejected. The question was: Rejection of Senate Substitute Amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 1?
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 20; noes, 11; absent or not voting, 1; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Ballweg, Bernier, Bradley, Cowles, Darling, Felzkowski, Feyen, Jacque, Kapenga, Kooyenga, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Petrowski, Roth, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Wanggaard and Wimberger - 20.
Noes - Senators Agard, Bewley, Carpenter, Erpenbach, Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith and Wirch - 11.
Absent or not voting - Senator L. Taylor - 1.
Rejected.
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Senator Carpenter submitted a resolution for introduction as a privileged resolution.
Senator Kapenga, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate stand informal.
Relating to: mandatory wearing of masks in state capitol.
hist125928Senator LeMahieu moved that Senate Resolution 2 be laid on the table. The question was: Tabling of Senate Resolution 2?
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 20; noes, 11; absent or not voting, 1; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Ballweg, Bernier, Bradley, Cowles, Darling, Felzkowski, Feyen, Jacque, Kapenga, Kooyenga, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Petrowski, Roth, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Wanggaard and Wimberger - 20.
Noes - Senators Agard, Bewley, Carpenter, Erpenbach, Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith and Wirch - 11.
Absent or not voting - Senator L. Taylor - 1.
Tabled.
Senator Smith submitted a resolution for introduction as a privileged resolution.
The Chair ruled the resolution was not privileged, pursuant to Senate Rule 69 and will not be taken up. Senator Smith appealed the ruling of the Chair.
The question was: Shall the ruling of the Chair stand as the judgment of the Senate?
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 20; noes, 11; absent of not voting, 1; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Ballweg, Bernier, Bradley, Cowles, Darling, Felzkowski, Feyen, Jacque, Kapenga, Kooyenga, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Petrowski, Roth, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Wanggaard and Wimberger - 20.
Noes - Senators Agard, Bewley, Carpenter, Erpenbach, Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith and Wirch - 11.
Absent or not voting - Senator L. Taylor - 1.
Ruling of the Chair stands.
_____________
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess.
1:37 P.M.
_____________
Recess
2:01 P.M.
The Senate reconvened.
Senate President Kapenga in the chair.
hist125895Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1 be withdrawn and returned to author. hist125896The question was: Adoption of Senate Amendment 2 to Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1? Adopted.
hist125897The question was: Adoption of Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1? The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 29; noes, 2; absent or not voting, 1; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Agard, Ballweg, Bernier, Bewley, Bradley, Carpenter, Cowles, Darling, Erpenbach, Felzkowski, Feyen, Jacque, Johnson, Kapenga, Kooyenga, LeMahieu, Marklein, Petrowski, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roth, Roys, Smith, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Wanggaard, Wimberger and Wirch - 29.
Noes - Senators Larson and Nass - 2.
Absent or not voting - Senator L. Taylor - 1.
Adopted.
hist125899Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the rules be suspended and the bill be given its third reading. Assembly Bill 1
hist125900Read a third time and concurred in as amended. Senators Nass and Larson, with unanimous consent, asked to be recorded as voting “No” on the question of concurrence as amended of Assembly Bill 1.
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that all action be immediately messaged to the Assembly:
Messaged.
_____________
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess until 6:45 P.M. for the purpose of awaiting the Governor’s State of the State address.
2:09 P.M.
_____________
Recess
6:45 P.M.
The Senate reconvened.
Senate President Kapenga in the chair.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Governor Tony Evers delivered his State of the State address virtually. The Senate received the address from the Senate Chamber.
_____________
State of the State Address
“Good evening, Wisconsinites.
Welcome, and thank you for tuning in this evening.
I’m Tony Evers, and I’m incredibly proud to be the 46th governor of the great state of Wisconsin and to deliver my 2021 State of the State Address to you tonight.
The Wisconsin Constitution requires that each year the governor communicate the condition of our state. Now, tonight is probably the first time in our state’s history a governor has delivered a state of the state address virtually and without a live audience. That means there’s good news and bad news: the bad news is there won’t be any applause or boos here tonight, but the good news is that means tonight’s speech will take a heckuva lot less time and since you’re watching at home, you can be as rowdy as you’d like from the comfort of your couch.
To begin tonight, I’d like to acknowledge some individuals who aren’t here with us. The first person’s name is Ben Belzer.
Ben worked in my office, traveling with me about everywhere I went during my first two years as governor. If you’ve seen me out and about, there’s a good chance Ben was by my side—you might’ve even talked to him. And for a good portion of this pandemic, Ben was also in my circle of five until we lost him tragically this past summer. My team and I think of him often, striving always to be more like Ben in word, in deed, and in service. We sure wish he could be with us here tonight. We miss him every day.
Also not with us tonight are the more than 5,000 Wisconsinites who have died due to COVID-19. They were firefighters, healthcare workers, nuns, educators, entrepreneurs, community pillars, students, veterans, volunteers, bird watchers, card players, and Packers, Brewers, and Bucks fans. They were moms and dads, brothers and sisters, friends, and coworkers, and they are loved and missed by many.
So, tonight, I’d like to dedicate this address to those who we’ve lost this year and the families—the sons and daughters, moms and dads, grandparents and grandkids, friends, and neighbors left behind—who, on top of everything else this past year, have had to mourn the loss of someone they love.
And I’d ask you to join me briefly in a moment of silence to honor the lives of these Wisconsinites we lost to COVID-19.
Thank you.
As I stood before you and delivered my second state of the state address last year, the world and our state looked much different than it does now.
We were coming off a successful year making a down payment on our priorities like fully funding our public schools, fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, and making healthcare more accessible and affordable. We put $330 million in general school aids—the largest in more than a decade— and funded a $97-million increase for special education—the largest ever. We provided more than
$465 million in new funding for our local roads, highways, and transit aids. And even though my efforts to expand healthcare were rejected by Republicans in the Legislature, we made critical investments in improving mental health treatment, supporting our direct care workforce, and increasing funding for our rural healthcare providers.
So, we began 2020 with our sights set high.
We were announcing a three-pronged plan to address our dairy crisis and support rural communities across our state. We were looking ahead to redistricting on the horizon, creating the People’s Maps Commission to draw our state’s next maps after the 2020 Census and ensure that people choose their elected officials, not the other way around. We were pushing to return to our state’s commitment to two-thirds funding for our kids and our schools, and we were going to increase aid to our most rural school districts while providing $130 million toward reducing property taxes through equalization aid.
Then things changed overnight.
We were going about our daily lives when a novel coronavirus hit, and we had to take urgent, necessary steps to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading.
Suddenly, states and countries were asking folks to shelter in place, kids and educators were learning and teaching from their kitchen tables, and so many began working from home, and those that weren’t were worried about what this virus might mean for them if they went to work each day.
When I delivered my last state of the state address, no one could have predicted the rest of the year would go quite like it did. What we now know about 2020 is that it was among the most unrelenting years many of us have ever experienced.
If someone had said then that our special sessions to address our dairy crisis and provide funding for our schools and property tax relief would be met with inaction—if someone had said then that after visiting all 72 counties my first year in office, last year we’d only be visiting each other virtually and learning to use a thing called Zoom—if someone had said then that in a year’s time, we’d have lost more than 5,000 of our family members, friends, and neighbors due to the worst public health crisis in a century—we wouldn’t have believed them.
I said then that the year would challenge the depth of our empathy and the strength of our selflessness—and it did, but in more and different ways than we could have ever imagined.
