The Senate remained standing and Senator Feyen led the Senate in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
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Leaves of Absence
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that Senator Felzkowski be granted a leave of absence for today's session.
Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (6), the Chief Clerk made the following entries under the above date. _____________
Chief Clerk's Entries
Amendments Offered
hist184777Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 549 offered by Senator Cabral-Guevara. hist184778Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 608 offered by Senator Knodl. hist184772Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 669 offered by Senator Tomczyk. hist184773Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 826 offered by Senator Ballweg. hist184804Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 415 offered by Senator LeMahieu. _____________
Petitions and Communications
hist184794Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (5), Representative Brooks added as a cosponsor of Senate Bill 918. _____________
Second reading and amendments of assembly joint resolutions and assembly bills
Assembly Bill 415
Relating to: legislative redistricting.
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Senator Hesselbein, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess.
3:10 P.M.
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Recess
4:18 P.M.
The Senate reconvened.
Senate President Kapenga in the chair.
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Leaves of Absence
Senator Hesselbein, with unanimous consent, asked that Senator Roys be granted a leave of absence for the balance of today's session.
hist184811The question was: Adoption of Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 415? The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 18; noes, 13; absent or not voting, 2; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Ballweg, Cabral-Guevara, Cowles, Feyen, Hutton, Jacque, Jagler, James, Knodl, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Quinn, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Tomczyk and Wanggaard - 18.
Noes - Senators Agard, Bradley, Carpenter, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Kapenga, Larson, Pfaff, Smith, Spreitzer, Taylor, Wimberger and Wirch - 13.
Absent or not voting - Senators Felzkowski and Roys - 2.
Adopted.
hist184813Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the rules be suspended and the bill be given its third reading. Read a third time.
The question was: Concurrence as amended of Assembly Bill 415?
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 17; noes, 14; absent or not voting, 2; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Cabral-Guevara, Cowles, Feyen, Hutton, Jacque, Jagler, James, Knodl, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Quinn, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Tomczyk and Wanggaard - 17.
Noes - Senators Agard, Ballweg, Bradley, Carpenter, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Kapenga, Larson, Pfaff, Smith, Spreitzer, Taylor, Wimberger and Wirch - 14.
Absent or not voting - Senators Felzkowski and Roys - 2.
Concurred in as amended.
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that all action be immediately messaged to the Assembly:
Messaged.
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Announcements, Adjournment Honors, and Remarks Under Special Privilege
Senator Wanggaard, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of Jack Manders who served the state of Wisconsin with the division of motor vehicles for decades. Jack passed away December 18, 2023, and will be missed by family, extended family and friends.
Senator Taylor, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of her mother, Lena J. Taylor, who passed away December 19, 2023.
Senator Tomczyk, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of his father, Dennis Tomczyk, who passed away this morning.
Senator Marklein, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of his father, Ray Marklein. He would have been 100 years old today. Ray was a Marine during World War II. He farmed all his life. He milked cows on the day he died. Senator Marklein still misses him
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President Kapenga appointed Senators James and Spreitzer to escort his Excellency, the Governor, to the Joint Convention.
Senator Feyen, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess until 6:45 p.m. and proceed as a body to the Assembly Chamber to meet in Joint Convention to receive the Governor’s State of the State Address, and further, that the Senate stand adjourned upon the rising of the Joint Convention.
4:50 P.M.
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Recess
The Senate proceeded in a body to the Assembly Chamber to meet in Joint Convention to receive the State of the State Message.
6:45 P.M.
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In Assembly Chamber
In Joint Convention
7:00 P.M.
Senate President Kapenga in the chair.
The Committee to wait upon the Governor appeared with his Excellency, the Honorable Governor Tony Evers, who delivered his message as follows:
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State of the State Address
“Good evening, Wisconsinites!
Honorable Supreme Court Justices, Tribal Nation leaders, constitutional officers, members of the Wisconsin National Guard and active and retired members of our armed forces, cabinet members, Senate President Kapenga, Majority Leader LeMahieu, Minority Leader Hesselbein, Speaker Vos, and Minority Leader Neubauer, legislators, distinguished guests, and Wisconsinites joining us here and from afar, thank you for being with us here tonight.
I’m Tony Evers, and I’m proud to be here tonight as the 46th governor of the great state of Wisconsin to deliver my 2024 State of the State address.
My daughter, Katie, and my grandson, Keyton, are here with us. And if you’ll bear with me for a minute, I’d like to give a special shoutout to my better half, Kathy, who’s here as well. Kathy was named a 2023 Caregiver Hero by Lutheran Social Services, which is awarded in honor of our good friend, former Governor Marty Schreiber. Kathy was recognized for her advocacy around Alzheimer’s and other dementias, including making the Executive Residence a dementia-friendly location. Kathleen Frances, I am so proud of you, and I love you so much—please join me in recognizing Kathy up in the gallery.
Wisconsin, it’s been one heck of a year. And I have much to report.
When I delivered my 2023 State of the State address a year ago, we were kicking off Wisconsin’s 175th birthday and celebrating the fact that, in 175 years of statehood, Wisconsin had never been in a better fiscal position.
Wisconsin, I begin tonight with even better news. As we enter 2024, our state has never been in a better fiscal position than we are today—better than last year, better than when I took office, and better than any year in Wisconsin’s 176 years of statehood.
We began this biennium in the best fiscal position in our state’s history. We set out to prepare a breakthrough budget—a rare opportunity to define our posterity. And together we did. We needed to take responsibility for some of our state’s most important obligations. But we still couldn’t afford to be careless or reckless. We needed to make investments in priorities long neglected. But we still had to save where we could. We needed to stay prudent and well within our means while still marching forward toward the future we’re working hard to build together.
Our bipartisan efforts on housing are a good example. I completed my fourth 72-county tour of Wisconsin this past December. I’ve been to every county at least four times, some many more. And no matter who I’m talking to or where I go—our largest communities or our smallest towns and villages—Wisconsinites tell me, “We need more affordable housing.” And I agree.
Building affordable housing in every corner of our state is critical to making sure that Wisconsin is prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century workforce in a 21st-century economy. Since I took office, we’ve invested in building nearly 15,000 affordable housing units—nearly 2,500 last year alone—and more than 24,000 housing units total. And we’re not stopping there. This past year, we worked together to invest more than $500 million in workforce housing—one of the largest investments in our state’s history.
We’re working every day to make sure our workforce, economy, and infrastructure are ready to meet the needs of the 21st century. Part of that is making sure kids, families, workers, farmers, and manufacturers have the infrastructure they need to get from Point A to Point B safely.
When I took office, years of disinvestment had caused our roads and bridges to crumble into disrepair. So, you’re darn right we’ve been fixing the darn roads. Since 2019, we’ve improved over 7,424 miles of road and 1,780 bridges, including over 900 miles of road and over 200 bridges last year alone.
We’ve also worked with our Minnesota and federal partners to secure over $1 billion in federal funding to support our effort to replace the Blatnik Bridge in Superior. It’s a critical economic driver for our state and supports the largest port on the Great Lakes. And I’ll tell you this: we got this done because there is no one—no one—who’s been fighting harder in Washington to bring this investment back home than Wisconsin’s senator, Tammy Baldwin.
When I was here four years ago, I announced a three-pronged plan to address our state’s dairy crisis. I later proudly signed a bipartisan bill creating the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports. We’re working to meet our ambitious goal of increasing the value of Wisconsin’s agricultural exports by at least 25 percent by mid-2026. So, we worked together last year to invest $2 million to help promote Wisconsin milk and dairy, meat, crop, and other products around the world.
I’m also proud that our administration worked with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Menominee and the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Nations last year on a new effort to preserve and restore wild rice in Wisconsin. Wild rice has been harvested here for thousands of years, but it’s threatened by the effects of changing climate and water quality. We secured nearly $2 million to support researching and developing strategies to help conserve this important cultural resource for future generations.
Conserving and protecting our natural resources and land continues to be a top priority for my administration. I’m also excited to announce tonight I’m approving the largest forest conservation effort in state history. In partnership with the Biden Administration and the Conservation Fund, we’ve approved the conservation easement for the Pelican River Forest’s remaining acres to protect the forest for generations of future Wisconsinites to use and enjoy. This is a big deal, folks.
