Wisconsin Legislature: A876

Motion carried.

Representative Green moved that Assembly amendment 39 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 39 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Ayes - Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Brandemuehl, Dobyns, Duff, Foti, Freese, Gard, Goetsch, Green, Grothman, Gunderson, Hahn, Handrick, Harsdorf, Hoven, Huebsch, Hutchison, Jeskewitz, Johnsrud, Kaufert, Kedzie, Kelso, Klusman, Kreibich, Ladwig, F. Lasee, M. Lehman, Lorge, Musser, Nass, Olsen, Ott, Otte, Ourada, Owens, Porter, Powers, Schafer, Skindrud, Spillner, Stone, Sykora, Underheim, Urban, Vrakas, Walker, Ward, Wieckert, Zukowski and Speaker Jensen - 51.

Noes - 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, Ryba, Schneider, Springer, Staskunas, Steinbrink, Travis, Turner, Vander Loop, Wasserman, Williams, Wood, L. Young, R. Young and Ziegelbauer - 46.

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 40 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 40 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 41 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

Speaker Jensen in the chair.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 41 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 43 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 43 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

A876 The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representatives Seratti and Ward - 2.

Motion carried.

Representative Ward asked unanimous consent to be recorded as voting "Aye" on the previous question. Granted.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 45 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 45 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representatives Jensen and Seratti - 2.

Motion carried.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 46 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 46 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 47 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

Speaker Pro Tempore Freese in the chair.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 47 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

A877 Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

Representative Wasserman asked unanimous consent that Assembly amendment 50 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be placed after Assembly amendment 44 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768. Granted.

Representative Foti moved that Assembly amendment 30 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table.

The question was: Shall Assembly amendment 30 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be laid on the table?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

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Ruling on the Point of Order

Speaker Pro Tempore Freese ruled well taken the point of order raised by Representative Klusman that Assembly amendment 25 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 was not properly before the Assembly under s. 13.50(6) of the Wisconsin Statutes:
"I have reviewed Section 13.50(6)(b) which reads "No bill or amendment thereto creating or modifying any system for the retirement of public employes shall be considered by either house until the written report required by par. (a) has been submitted to the chief clerk. Each such bill shall then be referred to a standing committee in the house in which introduced. The report of the joint survey committee shall be printed as an appendix to the bill and attached thereto as are amendments."
In addition, I have reviewed the decision in State ex rel. Lafollette v. Stitt, 114 W (2d) 358, 338 NW (2d) 684 (1983), the previous rulings of the chair, Masons manual, and assembly rule books dating as far back as 1943. I also looked at the relevant Wisconsin Statutes, when they were created and their correlation to the rules of the Legislature. It appears to me, as it did in my previous ruling on Assembly bill 421 in January of this year, that the legislative intent behind the statues was to create a process that had to be followed and was not to be circumvented.
This ruling presents this institution with the same dilemma as the ruling on Assembly Bill 421. If these statues are merely rules that we can easily disregard, then long standing traditions and requirements that this institution has followed will no longer exist.
I believe, as I did earlier this year, that the previous legislatures first created statutes then 14 years later created the same as a rule because they wanted a process that would not allow for certain procedures to be bypassed. The Stitt decision merely supports the notion that it is for the Legislature to decide and enforce its own rules. We clearly have the authority to suspend our own rules with a 2/3 vote or by unanimous consent. It continues to be this chair's ruling that we do not have the authority to suspend the statutes when points of order are made. I believe the precedent that has been established by Speakers Jackamonis and Loftus, the current Chair and President Risser which occurred before and after the Stitt decision still stands.
I find the point of order well taken. We can circumvent our own rules but we cannot ignore the statutes. This decision was based on previous rulings and the precedent that was established by placing both legislative statutes and rules as an order of process for legislation to pass."

Representative Schneider appealed the ruling of the Chair.

The question was: Shall the ruling of the Chair stand as the ruling of the Assembly?

The roll was taken.

The result follows:

Absent or not voting - Representative Seratti - 1.

Motion carried.

A878 Representative Travis asked unanimous consent that Assembly Bill 768 be referred to the joint survey committee on Retirement Systems.
Representative Klusman objected.

Representative Travis asked unanimous consent that Assembly Bill 768 be referred to the joint survey committee on Retirement Systems.
Representative Klusman objected.

__________________

Point of Order

Representative Travis rose to the point of order that Assembly Bill 768 was not properly before the Assembly under s. 13.50(6)(a) of the Wisconsin Statutes.

Representative Travis withdrew his point of order.

Representative Travis asked unanimous consent that Assembly Bill 768 be referred to the joint survey committee on Retirement Systems. Granted.

Representative Travis asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill 768 be withdrawn from the joint survey committee on Retirement Systems and taken up at this time. Granted.

Representative Travis asked unanimous consent that Assembly amendment 25 to Assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 768 be revived and taken up at this time.
Representative Jensen objected.