The Fifty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 14, 1925, to June 29, 1925, in regular session, and reconvened in a special session in April 1926.[1]
| 57th Wisconsin Legislature | |||||
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 Wisconsin State Capitol ca.1915 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Wisconsin Legislature | ||||
| Meeting place | Wisconsin State Capitol | ||||
| Term | January 5, 1925 – January 3, 1927 | ||||
| Election | November 4, 1924 | ||||
| Senate | |||||
| Members | 33 | ||||
| Senate President | Henry Huber (R) | ||||
| President pro tempore | Howard Teasdale (R) | ||||
| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Assembly | |||||
| Members | 100 | ||||
| Assembly Speaker |
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| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
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| Special sessions | |||||
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This was the first session in the history of the Wisconsin Legislature with female legislators. There were three in this session: Mildred Barber, Hellen M. Brooks, and Helen F. Thompson.
Senators representing even-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first two years of a four-year term. Assembly members were elected to a two-year term. Assembly members and even-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 4, 1924. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were serving the third and fourth year of a four-year term, having been elected in the general election of November 7, 1922.[1]
Major events
edit- January 5, 1925: Third inauguration of John J. Blaine as Governor of Wisconsin.
- March 4, 1925: Second inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge.
- April 7, 1925: E. Ray Stevens was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
- June 18, 1925: Wisconsin's senior United States senator, Robert M. La Follette, died in Washington, D.C.
- June 24, 1925: A statue of Hans Christian Heg was unveiled on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol.
- August 8, 1925: Roughly 30,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan paraded through Washington, D.C.
- September 18, 1925: The Green Bay Packers played their first game at City Stadium.
- September 29, 1925: Robert M. La Follette Jr. won a special election to succeed his father as United States senator from Wisconsin.
- December 31, 1925: Wisconsin Assembly speaker Herman W. Sachtjen resigned from the Assembly after being appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge.
- March 16, 1926: Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.
- May 20, 1926: The Air Commerce Act was signed into law by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, establishing the first flight safety regulations in the United States.
- November 2, 1926: 1926 United States general election:
- Fred R. Zimmerman elected Governor of Wisconsin.
- Incumbent Wisconsin governor John J. Blaine elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution:
- Allowing the Governor's salary to be set by legislation rather than fixed in the constitution.
- Allowing the recall of elected officials to be initiated by public petition.
- November 11, 1926: The United States Numbered Highway System was established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Major legislation
edit- May 21, 1925: An Act ... relating to the minimum wage for women and minor employes, 1925 Act 176. Created new regulatory and permitting powers for the Wisconsin Industrial Commission to ensure adequate compensation for women and children in the workplace.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 7: Joint Resolution ratifying an amendment to the constitution of the United States relating to child labor. Wisconsin's ratification of the Child Labor Amendment.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 16: Joint Resolution to create section 12 of article XIII of the constitution, relating to the recall of elective public officers. Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to enable the recall of public officials, initiated by public petition. This amendment was ratified at the November 1926 election.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 24: Joint Resolution memorializing congress to provide for earlier seating of senators and representatives elect. Endorsed moving the start of congressional sessions from March to January.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 26: Joint Resolution to amend sections 2 and 3 of article VII of the constitution, relating to the jurisdiction of the judiciary over acts of the legislature. In an attempted power grab by the Legislature, this amendment to the state constitution was proposed to require a two-thirds majority of the state supreme court to find an act of the legislature unconstitutional. This amendment was never ratified.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 29: Joint Resolution memorializing the congress to propose an amendment to the constitution of the United States providing for the election of president and vice-president by popular vote.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 33: Joint Resolution to amend section 21 of article IV of the constitution, relating to compensation of members of the legislature. First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to update the legislator salary to $1,000 per term. This amendment was rejected by voters in 1927.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 52: Joint Resolution to amend section 5 of article V of the constitution, relating to the compensation of the governor. Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow the governor's pay to be set by legislation rather than fixed in the constitution. This amendment was ratified at the November 1926 election.
- 1925 Joint Resolution 61: Joint Resolution to amend section 1 of article VIII of the constitution, relating to taxation of forests and minerals and of forest and mineral lands. First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to adjust taxation of forest land. This amendment was ratified by voters in 1927.
Party summary
editSenate summary
edit
Socialist: 3 seats
Republican: 30 seats
| Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dem. | Soc. | Rep. | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Legislature | 0 | 3 | 29 | 32 | 1 |
| Start of Reg. Session | 0 | 3 | 30 | 33 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 9.09% | 90.91% | |||
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 0 | 2 | 31 | 33 | 0 |
Assembly summary
edit
Democratic: 1 seat
Socialist: 7 seats
Republican: 92 seats
| Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dem. | Soc. | Ind. | Rep. | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Legislature | 1 | 10 | 0 | 88 | 99 | 1 |
| Start of Reg. Session | 1 | 7 | 0 | 92 | 100 | 0 |
| From Apr. 15, 1925[note 1] | 91 | 99 | 1 | |||
| From Dec. 31, 1925[note 2] | 90 | 98 | 2 | |||
| From Jan. 3, 1926[note 3] | 89 | 97 | 3 | |||
| From Aug. 20, 1926[note 4] | 88 | 96 | 4 | |||
| Final voting share | 8.33% | 91.67% | ||||
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 2 | 8 | 1 | 89 | 100 | 0 |
Sessions
edit- Regular session: January 14, 1925 – June 29, 1925
- April 1926 special session: April 15, 1926 – April 16, 1926
Leaders
editSenate leadership
edit- President of the Senate: Henry Huber (R)
- President pro tempore: Howard Teasdale (R–Sparta)
Assembly leadership
edit- Speaker of the Assembly: Herman W. Sachtjen (R–Madison) (until Dec. 31, 1925)
- George A. Nelson (R–Milltown) (from April 15, 1926)
Members
editMembers of the Senate
editMembers of the Senate for the Fifty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature:[2]
Socialist: 3 seats
Republican: 30 seats
Members of the Assembly
editMembers of the Assembly for the Fifty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature:[2]
Democratic: 1 seat
Socialist: 7 seats
Republican: 92 seats
Committees
editSenate committees
edit- Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Labor, and Industries – H. J. Severson, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Committees – A. E. Garey, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – H. J. F. Bilgrien, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and Taxation – O. H. Johnson, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public Welfare – C. B. Casperson, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Highways – J. E. Cashman, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary – M. W. Heck, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government – J. L. Barber, chair
Assembly committees
edit- Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture – A. Holly, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Manufactures – A. M. Warden, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – H. W. Stokes, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Education – G. Slack, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Elections – A. Beversdorf, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills – E. E. Royce, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills – T. Swanson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees – G. W. Meggers, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Fish and Game – F. E. Moul, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Highways – F. A. Frederick, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking – C. G. Price, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary – J. W. Eber, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Labor – A. M. Miller, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities – T. Engel, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Printing – G. Zittlow, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare – M. Koenigs, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Revision – C. Hillman, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Rules – C. G. Price, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs – J. Goodman, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation – G. W. Schmidt, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Third Reading – R. Naumann, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation – E. B. Minier, chair
Joint committees
edit- Joint Standing Committee on Finance – G. Staudenmayer (Sen.) & G. A. Nelson (Asm.), co-chairs
Employees
editSenate employees
edit- Chief Clerk: F. W. Schoenfeld[3]
- Assistant Chief Clerk: Charles E. Mullen
- Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles A. Leicht
- Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Carl A. Pfeiffer
- Postmaster: William A. Kuehl
Assembly employees
edit- Chief Clerk: C. E. Shaffer[3]
- Journal Clerk: Max H. Albertz
- Sergeant-at-Arms: C. E. Hanson
- Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Stephen P. Saunders
- Postmaster: Frank C. Densmore
Notes
edit- ^ Republican Frank Roemhild (Barron County) died.
- ^ Republican Herman W. Sachtjen (Dane County) resigned.
- ^ Republican Erick H. Johnson (Burnett & Washburn counties) died.
- ^ Republican Robert Naumann (Manitowoc County) died.
References
edit- ^ a b Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2021). "Historical Lists" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2021–2022 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 467, 471, 475, 479–480. ISBN 978-1-7333817-1-0. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ a b "Biographical". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1925 (Report). Wisconsin State Printing Board. 1925. pp. 636–683. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ^ a b "Legislative". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1925 (Report). Wisconsin State Printing Board. 1925. pp. 626–629. Retrieved July 23, 2023.