Wisconsin State Legislature | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Houses |
Senate Assembly |
Leadership | |
Senate Majority Leader
|
|
House Majority Leader
|
|
Structure | |
Seats |
132 voting members: 33 Senators 99 Representatives |
Senate political groups
|
Republican (19) Democratic (14) |
Assembly political groups
|
Republican (63) |
Authority | Article IV, Wisconsin Constitution |
Salary | $50,950 + $153 per diem |
Elections | |
Senate last election
|
November 4, 2014 |
Senate next election
|
November 2, 2016 |
Meeting place | |
Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison | |
Website | |
http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov |
Republican (19)
Republican (63)
The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Wisconsin State Senate and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican majorities since January 2011. With both houses combined, the legislature has 132 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. The Legislature convenes at the state capitol in Madison.
The land that would become Wisconsin became part of the United States in 1783 and was first organized under the Northwest Ordinance. It became the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and the state of Wisconsin on May 29, 1848. The 1850s saw an influx of European immigrants.
Women's rights groups in support of temperance and suffrage formed in Wisconsin in the 1860s. The Wisconsin Women's Suffrage Association was formed in 1869. Suffrage bills were introduced in 1855 and 1867 but both failed. However, the state legislature did pass a law allowing women to run for school boards and elective school offices in 1869. It was not until June 10, 1919, that Wisconsin became the first state to ratify the 19th amendment granting national suffrage to women.
Wisconsin was dominated alternately by the Republican and Progressive parties in the first century of its existence, but has been more competitive since then. The Republicans gained majority control in both houses in the 1995 Legislature, the first time since 1969. In 2009, the Democratic Party gained control of both houses for the first time since 1993.