Read a third time.
The question was: Passage of Senate Bill 989?
The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 22; noes, 10; absent or not voting, 0; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Ballweg, Bradley, Cabral-Guevara, Cowles, Felzkowski, Feyen, Hutton, Jacque, Jagler, James, Kapenga, Knodl, LeMahieu, Marklein, Nass, Quinn, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Testin, Tomczyk, Wanggaard and Wimberger - 22.
Noes - Senators Agard, Carpenter, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Roys, Smith, Spreitzer and Wirch - 10.
Absent or not voting - None - 0.
Passed.
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 Agard, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
Senator Larson, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of Russian resistance leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny was just 47 years old when he died in prison on Friday, February 16th. Navalny dedicated his life to fighting corruption and providing Russian citizens with an alternative to the despotic reign of Vladimir Putin. This peaked with his campaign to unseat Putin in the 2011 elections - an election which saw the largest mass protests in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. For his troubles, Navalny was arrested on numerous occasions by Putin’s corrupt regime, served several prison terms, and was famously the victim of a near-fatal poisoning in 2020. He was a hero to millions and his decision to return to Russia from Germany in 2021, knowing he’d likely be arrested immediately, showed a kind of bravery that is all too rare in public figures. The circumstances surrounding Alexei Navalny’s death are murky, and we may never know truly what happened, but all signs point to this being yet another example of Putin’s strategy of revenge and retribution to any who would question his authority. For all the talk of attacks on free speech that have graced the airwaves of conservative talk radio in recent times, the United States still allows criticism and dissent of its leaders. Depending on what happens in this year’s Presidential election, the United States may have its own Alexei Navalny before we know it. Rest in peace Mr. Navalny, and may your example be an inspiration for pro-democracy forces all across the world who push back against corrupt, repressive regimes - wherever they may be.
Senator Smith, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of Agnes (Borton) Smith, the matriarch of the Smith Funeral Home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She is a first generation American and Senator Smith had the pleasure of growing up two doors down from her. On Tuesday, February 20th, 2024, Agnes turned 104 years old.
Senator Hesselbein, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn in honor of her mother, who died last week. Carol Sauk was born in 1938, she was one of eight kids. You can imagine both her mom and her dad each had families of eight kids, they all married, that means 16 marriages, 16 aunts and uncles, some of them got divorced, lots of cousins and everybody. But the Senator’s mom was one of the first people in her family to graduate from UW-Madison and she got a business degree. She is so proud of that. At the time, very few women were going to the UW and very few were getting a business degree. She put herself through school and she was taking shorthand. And she remembers a professor telling her: “Oh Carol, you’re going to make a great secretary for one of your colleagues.” Well, that never happened and now you know why Senator Hesselbein is the way that she is. She worked for the state for a few years. She met her husband after they had both graduated, at a bar in Madison – how apropos. And, funny story as they started talking and her husband looked at her and he said: “You know what? I think I was your paperboy.” And indeed he was, and her mom later that year married her paperboy. They had a great marriage. The Senator’s dad died in 2011, they had three kids. A huge thank you to the nurses at St. Mary’s, who are angels, for helping take care of her mom. To all her colleagues, thank you so much for your cards and your prayers, it has meant so much to her. Senator Hesselbein is very fortunate to have a great brother and sister. They were there the entire time, for an entire week, at their mom’s bedside, so she never spent one minute alone. What a blessing that was. Thank you to everybody for understanding that’s where Senator Hesselbein needed to be. In her memory and in her honor, if you are fortunate enough to have a parent that is living – the Senator encourages you to give them a call. She encourages you to try to spend time with them. Because they’re not here forever. Senator Hesselbein will miss her phone calls, she will miss her sense of humor, and she will miss every single time when she voted. Senator Hesselbein knows she is bummed she didn’t get to vote for Joe Biden coming up. And so, talk to your parents and thank you very much.
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Adjournment
Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate stand adjourned until Thursday, February 22, 2024.
Adjourned.
4:06 P.M.
