13.90(4)
(4) The cochairpersons of the joint committee on legislative organization shall authorize payment of fees entitling the legislature to membership in national organizations from the appropriation under
s. 20.765 (3) (fa).
13.90(5)
(5) The joint committee on legislative organization may contract for the services of persons to advise those building commission members who also are legislators on matters related to the state's issuance of state debt, revenue obligations and operating notes under
ch. 18.
13.90(6)
(6) The joint committee on legislative organization shall adopt, revise biennially and submit to the cochairpersons of the joint committee on information policy and technology, the governor and the secretary of administration, no later than September 15 of each even-numbered year, a strategic plan for the utilization of information technology to carry out the functions of the legislature and legislative service agencies, as defined in
s. 16.70 (6). The plan shall address the business needs of the legislature and legislative service agencies and shall identify all resources relating to information technology which the legislature and legislative service agencies desire to acquire, contingent upon funding availability, the priority for such acquisitions and the justification for such acquisitions. The plan shall also identify any changes in the functioning of the legislature and legislative service agencies under the plan.
13.90(8)
(8) The joint committee on legislative organization may designate a joint committee or another body within the legislative branch to oversee the provision of information technology support and services by the legislative technology services bureau.
13.90(9)
(9) The joint committee on legislative organization may direct the department of administration to take possession of any furnishing to which the department has title under
s. 16.838 (2), to restore any furnishing in the department's possession, if necessary, and to locate any such furnishing at the place in the capitol building specified by the committee.
13.90 History
History: 1971 c. 215;
1973 c. 90;
1975 c. 224,
421;
1977 c. 449;
1979 c. 34 ss.
7d to
7s,
2102 (32) (b);
1981 c. 372 s.
18;
1983 a. 27,
308;
1985 a. 29,
332;
1987 a. 27;
1989 a. 31,
359,
366;
1993 a. 52;
1995 a. 27,
162,
417;
1997 a. 27,
237;
1999 a. 4,
29,
81;
2001 a. 16;
2003 a. 33;
2005 a. 25.
13.905
13.905
Legislative conduct. The joint committee on legislative organization may inquire into alleged misconduct by members or employees of the legislature.
13.91
13.91
Legislative council staff. There is created a bureau known as the "Legislative Council Staff", headed by a director. The legislative council staff shall be strictly nonpartisan and shall at all times observe the confidential nature of the research and drafting requests received by it. The legislative council staff may call upon any state department, agency or officer, or any agency of any political subdivision, for such facilities and data as are available and such departments and agencies shall cooperate with the legislative council staff to the fullest possible extent.
13.91(1)
(1) Duties of the staff. The legislative council staff shall:
13.91(1)(a)
(a) Provide staff services to the joint legislative council under
s. 13.81 and to any of the committees appointed under
ss. 13.82 and
13.83.
13.91(1)(b)
(b) As directed by the joint legislative council, gather information and prepare written studies on topics referred to the council by the legislature or which seem desirable to the council.
13.91(1)(c)
(c) Perform the functions prescribed in
s. 227.15 for the review and resolution of problems relating to administrative rules.
13.91(1)(d)
(d) Provide staff services to assist the legislature in identifying and responding to issues relating to the Wisconsin Retirement System. In the performance of these duties, the legislative council staff shall:
13.91(1)(d)1.
1. Provide legal and research staff services to the joint survey committee on retirement systems under
s. 13.50.
13.91(1)(d)2.
2. Prepare fiscal estimates on bills referred to the joint survey committee on retirement systems.
13.91(1)(d)3.
3. Facilitate communication between the legislature and participants in the Wisconsin Retirement System on issues relating to public employee retirement systems.
13.91(1)(d)4.
4. Every 2 years, prepare a comparative study of major public employee retirement systems in the United States.
13.91(1)(d)5.
5. In consultation with groups representing participants in the Wisconsin Retirement System, suggest to the cochairpersons of the joint legislative council any feasible subjects for study or investigation of public employee retirement issues with respect to which committees may be appointed under
s. 13.82.
13.91(2)
(2) Duties of the director. The director of the legislative council staff shall:
13.91(2)(a)
(a) Supervise and train the personnel assigned to him or her.
13.91(2)(b)
(b) Supervise all expenditures of the legislative council staff.
13.91(2)(c)
(c) Attend all scheduled meetings of the joint legislative council under
s. 13.81, and may attend meetings of any of its committees under
ss. 13.82 and
13.83.
13.91(2)(d)
(d) Attend, personally or through a professional employee of the legislative council staff designated by him or her, all meetings of the commission on uniform state laws under
s. 13.55.
13.91(2)(e)
(e) Attend and participate in, personally or through a designated employee of the legislative council staff, midwest and national meetings in which the commission on uniform state laws participates and that will benefit the operations of the legislative council staff.
13.92
13.92
Legislative reference bureau. There is created a bureau to be known as the "Legislative Reference Bureau," headed by the chief of legislative reference bureau. The legislative reference bureau shall be strictly nonpartisan and shall at all times observe the confidential nature of the reference or drafting requests received by it.
13.92(1)(a)(a)
Reference section. The legislative reference bureau shall perform reference services for all members of the legislature equally and impartially and to the limits of its facilities and staff. Such reference services shall be available also to public officials, students of government and citizens generally. In the performance of its reference services, the bureau shall:
13.92(1)(a)1.
1. Collect, index and make available in the most suitable form to legislators, other public officials, students of government and citizens generally, information relative to governmental subjects which will aid the legislature, other public officials and the citizens generally, to perform their duties in the most efficient and economical manner.
13.92(1)(a)2.
2. Maintain an adequate collection of public documents of Wisconsin and other states and carry out loan arrangements with libraries.
13.92(1)(a)3.
3. Maintain the drafting records of legislation introduced in prior sessions of the legislature and utilize such records to provide information on questions of legislative intent. Such records shall be retained in the offices of the bureau at all times.
13.92(1)(a)4.
4. Utilize the materials assembled in its collection and other suitable materials to prepare studies and reports providing pertinent information regarding subjects which are or may become items of concern to the legislature, other public officials or the public generally, and where warranted publish such reports and studies in the most expeditious manner.
13.92(1)(a)5.
5. Prepare copy for the biennial Wisconsin Blue Book.
13.92(1)(a)6.
6. Beginning with the date of the decennial federal census of population and ending on December 1 of the 2nd year commencing after such census, prepare and publish such street and ward maps of the municipalities in this state as are required to show the boundary lines of congressional and legislative districts based on that census. Following the final approval of the redistricting plans, the bureau shall transfer the maps used to show the district boundaries contained in such plans to the department of administration under
s. 16.96 (3) (b).
13.92(1)(b)
(b)
Drafting section. The legislative reference bureau shall provide drafting services equally and impartially and to the limits of its facilities and staff. In the performance of its drafting services, the bureau shall:
13.92(1)(b)1.
1. Prepare in the proper form all legislation to be introduced in the legislature. Only the following persons may use the drafting services of the bureau for this purpose:
13.92(1)(b)1.a.
a. Any member or member-elect of the legislature and, on behalf of each committee thereof, the chairperson.
13.92(1)(b)1.c.
c. The chief clerk of either house of the legislature for requests pertaining to the operation of the legislature.
13.92(1)(b)2.
2. Prepare in plain language an analysis of each original measure, to be printed with the measure when it is introduced. On the printed measure, the analysis shall be displayed single-spaced between the title and the enacting clause.
13.92(1)(b)3.
3. As a service to the senate and assembly, and as directed by the chief clerks thereof, enroll all measures passed by the legislature.
13.92(1)(b)3.a.
a. Promptly after the passage of any bill, any joint resolution amending the constitution, or any other resolution determined by the chief clerks to require enrollment and, in the case of a bill, before it is presented to the governor for approval, the chief clerk of the house in which the measure originated shall deliver the jacket to the bureau which shall enroll the proposal and return the jacket and the required number of copies, including a camera-ready copy of any proposed constitutional amendment and each resolution requiring newspaper publication, to the chief clerk. The camera-ready original of the enrolled proposal shall be retained in the bureau.
13.92(1)(b)3.b.
b. Of the copies delivered to the chief clerk, one copy shall be used as the official enrolled measure to be authenticated as provided by the rules and, in the case of an enrolled bill, be submitted to the governor for the governor's approval. The remaining copies shall be distributed as provided by the rules and as determined by the chief clerks.
13.92(1)(b)3.c.
c. Each enrolled proposal, or printed copy thereof, shall carry a heading "State of Wisconsin" as do bills and joint resolutions.
13.92(1)(b)3.d.
d. After passage of any bill that, if enacted, would create congressional districts under
ch. 3, in enrolling the bill for presentation to the governor for approval, the legislative reference bureau shall attach to the bill an appendix containing the population statistics for the congressional districts created under the bill; a statewide map of the congressional districts created under the bill; a map of the congressional districts created under the bill that are in Milwaukee County; and, for any city, village, or town that, under the bill, is divided among 2 or more congressional districts, except a city or village located in more than one county if the district line follows the county line, a detail map illustrating the division of the city, village, or town among the congressional districts.
13.92(1)(b)4.
4. Publish each act on its date of publication. Upon receipt of notice from the secretary of state under
s. 14.38 (10) (a), the bureau shall enter the act number, date of enactment and date of publication of each act on the camera-ready copy and deliver it to the contract printer for reproduction. The copy shall identify material deleted from existing law by stricken type, and material inserted into existing law by underscored type. In any act published "vetoed in part", the material subject to the veto shall be displayed in full but shall be identified by distinguishing marks. The bureau shall make copies available on or before the date of publication of the act. The number of copies printed, and the quality of paper used, shall be as provided in the joint rules and as further determined by the joint committee on legislative organization.
13.92(1)(b)5.
5. In cooperation with the revisor of statutes, prepare a biennial list of numerical cross-references in the statutes to other parts of the statutes.
13.92(1)(c)
(c)
Drafting records; when confidential. While the legislature remains in session the drafting section shall maintain the files for all drafting requests received during such session, but after final adjournment the drafting records to legislation introduced shall be turned over to the reference section under
par. (a) 3. Records of drafting requests which did not result in legislation introduced shall remain confidential at all times and may be maintained by the drafting section in such form as will facilitate its operations.
13.92(1)(e)
(e)
Legislative documents. Payments for the following costs shall be administered by the legislative reference bureau:
13.92(1)(e)1.
1. Providing printing and duplicating services to the legislature and its service agencies.
13.92(1)(e)2.
2. Printing of legislative proposals or amendments and, when so ordered by either house, engrossed or enrolled proposals, under
s. 35.05.
13.92(1)(e)5.
5. Microfilming, optical imaging or electronic formatting of reference materials and legislative drafting records under
par. (a) 1. and
3.
13.92(1)(e)6.
6. Acquisition of materials and information for legislative service agency libraries and legislative document production.
13.92(2)
(2) Duties of the chief. The chief of the legislative reference bureau shall:
13.92(2)(a)
(a) Employ, supervise and train the personnel assigned to the chief.
13.92(2)(b)
(b) Supervise all expenditures of the legislative reference bureau.
13.92(2)(c)
(c) Serve as editor of the biennial Wisconsin Blue Book.
13.92(2)(d)
(d) Cooperate with the legislative service agencies of other states and foreign countries toward the better exchange of information.
13.92(2)(f)
(f) Attend, personally or through a professional employee under
sub. (1) (b) designated by the chief, all meetings of the commission on uniform state laws under
s. 13.55 and the midwest and national meetings in which the commission participates.
13.92(2)(g)
(g) Cooperate with the revisor of statutes in systematically examining and revising the statutes and session laws under
s. 13.93 (2) (j).
13.92(2)(h)
(h) Recommend to the joint committee on legislative organization prices for subscriptions to the legislative document distribution service under
s. 35.87, including any portion of the service provided separately.
13.92(3)
(3) Treatment of certain legislative reference bureau employees. Notwithstanding
s. 230.08 (2) (fc), those employees holding positions in the classified service at the legislative reference bureau on June 16, 1998, who have achieved permanent status in class before that date, shall retain, while serving in the unclassified service at the legislative reference bureau, those protections afforded employees in the classified service under
ss. 230.34 (1) (a) and
230.44 (1) (c) relating to demotion, suspension, discharge, layoff or reduction in base pay. Such employees shall also have reinstatement privileges to the classified service as provided under
s. 230.33 (1). Those employees of the legislative reference bureau holding positions in the classified service on June 16, 1998, who have not achieved permanent status in class in any position at the legislative reference bureau on that date are eligible to receive the protections, privileges and rights preserved under this subsection if they successfully complete service equivalent to the probationary period required in the classified service for the position which they hold on that date.
13.92 Annotation
Reports or comments of nonlegislative committees incorporated in the LRB analysis under sub. (1) (b) 2. are valid aids in interpreting a statute that originated from the committee. In re Estate of Haese,
80 Wis. 2d 285,
259 N.W.2d 54 (1977).
13.93
13.93
Revisor of statutes bureau. There is created a bureau to be known as the "Revisor of Statutes Bureau," headed by a chief known as the "Revisor of Statutes" under the classified service. The revisor of statutes bureau shall be strictly nonpartisan.
13.93(1)
(1) Duties of the bureau. The revisor of statutes bureau shall prepare copy for the biennial Wisconsin statutes, and for this purpose it:
13.93(1)(a)
(a) Shall formulate and prepare a definite plan for the order, classification, arrangement, printing and binding of the statutes, and prepare and at each session of the legislature present bills to the law revision committee of the joint legislative council containing such consolidation, revision and other matter relating to the statutes as time permits.
13.93(1)(b)
(b) May renumber any chapter or section of the statutes for the purpose of revision, and shall change reference numbers to agree with any renumbered chapter or section. Where the term "preceding section" or similar expressions are used in the statutes the revisor of statutes may change the same by inserting the proper section or chapter reference.
13.93(1)(c)
(c) May, where the application or effect of a statute, by its terms, depends on the time when the act creating the statute took effect, substitute the actual effective date for the various forms of expression which mean that date, such as "when this act (or chapter, or section) takes effect", or "after (or before) the effective date of this act (or chapter, or section)", in preparing copy for the biennial printing of the Wisconsin statutes.
13.93(1)(d)
(d) May delete useless words such as "of the statutes", "of this section", "hereof", "immediately above", "inclusive" and the like, where such words appear immediately after a chapter, section or subsection reference.
13.93(1)(e)
(e) May delete useless words in statutory references such as "any of the provisions of" or "any of the requirements of" and the like when they appear immediately before a reference to a chapter, section, subsection or paragraph of the statutes.
13.93(1)(f)
(f) May delete the word "hereby" wherever used in connection with the verbs "consents", "grants", "gives" or "declares" or other verbs.
13.93(1)(g)
(g) May substitute the word "deems" for the words "may deem".
13.93(1)(h)
(h) May substitute the word "may" for the phrase "is hereby authorized to" or similar phrases.
13.93(1)(i)
(i) May substitute "this state" for the phrase "the state of Wisconsin".
13.93(1)(j)
(j) May change an incorrect form of a pronoun to the correct form.
13.93(1)(k)
(k) May insert the USC citations for federal acts.
13.93(1)(L)
(L) May delete surplus words and modernize language in penalty provisions to correspond to current drafting style. No such change shall have the effect of increasing or decreasing any penalty.
13.93(1)(m)
(m) Shall, whenever any statute is affected by any act of the legislature, and may, at the revisor's discretion, ensure that the statutory language does not discriminate on the basis of sex by making the following corrections, which shall have no substantive effect:
13.93(1)(m)1.
1. Delete any masculine or feminine pronoun or adjective, except where the statute clearly applies to one sex only, and replace it, if necessary, with terminology which does not discriminate on the basis of sex.
13.93(1)(m)2.
2. Replace words of male or female gender, such as man, wife and widow, with terms such as person, spouse and surviving spouse, except where the statute clearly applies to one sex only.
13.93(1)(m)3.
3. Make other corrections to remove from the statutes or to replace terminology which discriminates on the basis of sex.
13.93(1)(n)
(n) Shall prepare for introduction in the legislature legislation substituting English terms for Latin terms in the statutes.
13.93(1)(o)
(o) Shall identify for deletion by the legislature provisions that have no legal effect.
13.93(1)(p)
(p) Shall include an index of statutes of limitation and statutes establishing procedures for assertion of claims against governmental units or their employees in
ch. 893 of each biennial edition of the Wisconsin statutes.
