Dear Representative Freese:
As you are aware, I have accepted a position in the Governor's Cabinet as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The position necessitates that I resign my current position as State Representative and Speaker of the Assembly. Therefore, Please allow this letter to serve as my official notice of resignation from the Wisconsin State Assembly. I am resigning my post as Speaker and, concurrently as State Representative effective Sunday, November 2 at 5:00 p.m.
I have enjoyed my 11 years in state service, particularly the last 11 months as Speaker. Thank you for your time and fellowship during my tenure.
Sincerely,
Ben Brancel
Assembly Speaker
42nd Assembly District
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November 3, 1997
Charles Sanders
Assembly Chief Clerk
402 Main Street
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Charlie:
I have just received notice of Ben Brancel's resignation as speaker of the assembly.
As speaker pro tempore of the assembly, under Assembly Rule 3(2), I may now exercise all the powers and shall carry out all the duties of the speaker.
I am hereby notifying you, as Assembly Chief Clerk, that I am scheduling an election to fill the vacancy of speaker of the assembly for November 4, 1997 at 10:01 a.m. Under Assembly Rule 1, a midterm vacancy in such an office shall be filled by an election scheduled by the acting speaker as a special order of business. I am requesting that this special order of business be placed on the calendar for November 4.
Sincerely,
Stephen J. Freese
Acting Speaker
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SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS
AT 10:01 A.M. ON
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
ELECTION OF SPEAKER
Representative Owens nominated Representative Jensen for the position of Speaker of the Assembly.
Representative Murat nominated Representative Schneider for the position of Speaker of the Assembly.
There being no further nominations, the chair declared nominations closed.
The clerk called the roll.
The result follows:
For Representative Jensen - Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Brandemuehl, Dobyns, Duff, Foti, Freese, Gard, Goetsch, Green, Grothman, Gunderson, Hahn, Handrick, Harsdorf, Hoven, Huebsch, Hutchison, Jensen, Jeskewitz, Johnsrud, Kaufert, Kedzie, Kelso, Klusman, Kreibich, Ladwig, F. Lasee, Lazich, M. Lehman, Lorge, Musser, Nass, Olsen, Ott, Otte, Ourada, Owens, Porter, Powers, Schafer, Seratti, Skindrud, Sykora, Underheim, Urban, Vrakas, Walker, Ward, Wieckert and Zukowski - 51.
A382 For Representative Schneider - Representatives Baldwin, Baumgart, Black, Bock, Boyle, Carpenter, Coggs, Cullen, Dueholm, Gronemus, Hanson, Hasenohrl, Hebl, Huber, Hubler, Kreuser, Krug, Krusick, Kunicki, La Fave, J. Lehman, Linton, Meyer, Morris-Tatum, Murat, Notestein, Plale, Plouff, R. Potter, Reynolds, Riley, Robson, Rutkowski, Ryba, Schneider, Springer, Staskunas, Steinbrink, Travis, Turner, Vander Loop, Wasserman, Williams, Wood, L. Young, R. Young and Ziegelbauer - 47.
Absent or not voting - None.
Representative Jensen was elected Speaker of the Assembly.
Representatives Albers and Hanson escorted Representative Jensen to the rostrum.
The oath of office was administered by Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis.
Speaker Jensen in the chair.
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REMARKS BY THE SPEAKER
"Thank you very much for the faith you have shown in me by electing me Speaker. This is a great responsibility and a rare privilege. For in the century and a half we have been a state, only seventy men have been elected Speaker, and only three of those have reached this post by a special election. (In fact, Governor Thompson reminded me the other day that the job of Speaker of the Assembly was the one job he always wanted in government but never achieved. I naturally suggested we trade jobs but he naturally said no.)
I am both humbled and honored by the presence here of three of my immediate predecessors - Speaker Kunicki, Speaker Prosser, and Speaker Brancel. Though the state's constitution and its statutes give each Speaker the same powers, each has exercised them in their own way. Speaker Kunicki masterfully used the rules of the Assembly to achieve his agenda; Speaker Prosser inspired us with his scholarship, his passion and his vision Speaker Brancel showed us the way towards bi-partisan achievement. In the days to come I will surely draw upon the lessons in leadership they have taught us. And today I would like you to join me in expressing our gratitude to them for their dedication and service.
This is "The People's House". We have a proud tradition here of energy, activity, and vision. And today, as we approach a new millennium we are in a race with our own history; to ensure that the ideals and accomplishments that have distinguished our proud past will also illuminate our hopeful future.
In this session and the last, the Assembly has accomplished many great things. But in the days ahead, the challenges will require even more from us. Last session, we cut property taxes by $1.2 billion and this session we have enacted a series of income tax cuts which will save Wisconsin's working families $1.1 billion over the next five years. And yet, too many families in our state are working too hard to pay taxes that are too high. We must always remember that forcing families to make sacrifices to pay unnecessarily high taxes is not only economically damaging, it is morally wrong.
Later today we will continue our efforts to reduce the burden of taxes on our families and small businesses. Though these tax cuts are modest - just over $30 million in this biennium - they signal our continuing commitment to keep reducing our state's taxes until they are finally in line with our families' ability to pay.
We must also work to restore civility and safety to all of our neighborhoods. Though crime is on the decline, its specter still haunts too many of our citizens and robs too many neighborhoods of an environment where the social bonds of community and responsibility naturally flourish and last. For much of this month, and most of next year, we will adopt tough laws which show no tolerance for violence, compassionate laws which will demand respect for the rights of victims, and heartbreakingly essential laws which will protect innocent children from horrifying crimes.
As a child, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a small Wisconsin town where village life revolved around church dinners and homecoming parades, high school football games and the volunteer fire department. I am thankful to have grown up in a loving family in a supportive community where every child was encouraged to chase their dreams. Many of you sit in this chamber today because you were similarly blessed by the good influences of faith, family, and friends.
But sadly, too many children today grow up in families without fathers, in homes without faith, in neighborhoods without friendships. Therefore, we must work together, all of us, to strengthen our families, reinvigorate our neighborhoods and protect and enrich our children's lives. We must work together to restore the American Promise of ensuring that each generation's future is brighter than the last. In the days ahead, we will measure our progress in this chamber by this clear and compelling standard: Do our actions increase the opportunities for children and families to succeed?
The most remarkable legislative session in our state's history occurred in 1911. In that session. Progressive Republicans worked with Social Democrats to create the social welfare state. A vision for the times so compelling that the rest of the nation followed our lead over the course of a generation.
The fire of those ideas glowed so brightly that a series of distinguished national speakers including Booker T. Washington and former President Theodore Roosevelt were drawn here by its light.
One year after speaking in this chamber from this rostrum Theodore Roosevelt praised the Wisconsin Idea saying:
"The Wisconsin reformers have accomplished the extraordinary results for which the nation owes them so much, primarily because they have not confined themselves to dreaming dreams and then talking about them. They had the power to see the vision, of course; if they did not have in them the possibility of seeing visions they could accomplish nothing. But they have tried to make their ideals realizable, and then they have tried - with an extraordinary measure of success - to actually realize them."
A383 Nearly a century has passed since that remarkable session but the opportunity to shape the debate about the nation's future from this chamber remains within our grasp. Today, we share the faith of that progressive legislature in the power of education and the importance of conservation, But unlike our forbearers, we will not strive to strengthen government, we will endeavor to empower individuals. We will not make the tax system more progressive by raising taxes on the rich; we will make it more progressive by cutting taxes on the poor and the middle class. We will not burden hardworking families with an even more expensive and suffocating welfare state; Instead, we will create a brighter future for all our citizens through the liberating forces of an opportunity society.
Together, this legislature can light the way for a new progressive era in the 21st Century.
Thank you very much."
The Benediction was given by Brother Bob Smith.
Representative Foti introduced a privileged resolution.
Assembly Resolution 8
Relating to: notifying the senate and the governor of the election of a speaker of the assembly.
By Representative Foti .
The question was: Shall Assembly Resolution 8 be adopted?
Motion carried.
Representative Green asked unanimous consent that the assembly stand recessed for until 1:00 P.M. Granted.
The Assembly stood recessed.
11:28 A.M.
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RECESS
1:08 P.M.
The Assembly reconvened.
Speaker Pro Tempore Freese in the chair.
__________________
Calendar of Tuesday, November 4
Assembly Bill 551
Relating to: the definition of the internal revenue code for the income tax and the franchise tax.
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message from the senate
By Donald J. Schneider, Senate Chief Clerk.
Mr. Speaker:
I am directed to inform you that the Senate has:
Passed and asks concurrence in:
Senate Bill 316
Senate Bill 323
Senate Bill 327
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Action on the senate Message
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Senate Bill 316 be withdrawn and taken up at this time. Granted.
Senate Bill 316
Relating to: the definition of the internal revenue code for the income tax and the franchise tax.
By Senators Burke, Chvala and Ellis; cosponsored by Representatives M. Lehman, Wood and Brancel.
The question was: Shall Senate Bill 316 be ordered to a third reading?
Motion carried.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Senate Bill 316 be given a third reading. Granted.
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