Assembly

ar52(2)(b) (b) Solely for the purpose of amending, senate amendments presented to the assembly for concurrence are treated like proposals; therefore, an amendment to a simple amendment to a senate amendment is in order.

ar52(3) (3) Every amendment received by the chief clerk shall be provided as provided by the assembly rules.

ar52(4) (4) An amendment to a report of a committee of conference may not be offered.

[(2)(b) am. 1989 A.Res. 2]
[(3) am. 1995 A.Res. 2; 1999 A.Res. 3]
[(4) cr. 2001 A.Res. 3]
[(1) am. 2015 A.Res. 3]

ar53 Assembly Rule 53. Drafting of amendments. Except as authorized in sub. (2), amendments shall be drafted by the legislative reference bureau before being offered for consideration to the assembly, or to any committee by a person other than a member thereof. An amendment prepared by the legislative reference bureau may not be received for consideration if changes have been made to the draft prepared by the bureau. Amendments may be deposited at the chief clerk's office on any day of the legislative session for the purpose of allowing them to be provided before the 2nd reading stage for the proposals to which the amendments pertain.

ar53(1) (1) Every amendment shall show the number of the bill or resolution it proposes to amend. The name of each member or committee sponsoring the amendment shall be entered in the history file for the bill. The chief clerk shall number amendments in the order received.

ar53(2) (2) When a proposal is under active consideration by an assembly committee or by the assembly on 2nd reading, floor amendments may be drafted by members as provided by the chief clerk.

ar53(3) (3) Whenever a floor amendment on a form is adopted in committee, the chairperson shall forward a copy to the legislative reference bureau for review and redrafting. When the version of the amendment drafted by the legislative reference bureau is in satisfactory form, the chairperson shall deposit it in the chief clerk's office and the clerk shall substitute it for the original version.

[(intro.), (1), (2), (3) and (4)(intro.) and (b) am. 1995 A.Res. 2]
[(intro.), (2) and (4)(intro.) and (b) am. 1999 A.Res. 3]
[(intro.) am. 2001 A.Res. 3]
[(4) rp. 2013 A.Res. 3]

ar54 Assembly Rule 54. Germaneness of assembly amendments.

ar54(1) (1) General statement: The assembly may not consider any assembly amendment or assembly substitute amendment that relates to a different subject or is intended to accomplish a different purpose than that of the proposal to which it relates or that, if adopted and passed, would require a relating clause for the proposal which is substantially different from the proposal's original relating clause or that would totally alter the nature of the proposal.

ar54(2) (2) Procedure: The presiding officer shall rule on the admissibility of any assembly amendment or assembly substitute amendment when the question of germaneness is raised, but any such question is not in order once the amendment is adopted.

ar54(3) (3) Assembly amendments that are not germane include:

ar54(3)(a) (a) One individual proposition amending another individual proposition.

ar54(3)(b) (b) A general proposition amending a specific proposition.

ar54(3)(c) (c) An amendment substantially similar to an amendment already acted upon.

ar54(3)(d) (d) An amendment: 1) amending a statute or session law when the purpose of the bill is limited to repealing the law; or 2) repealing a statute or session law when the purpose of the bill is limited to amending the law.

ar54(3)(e) (e) An amendment that negates the effect of another assembly amendment previously adopted.

ar54(3)(f) (f) An amendment that substantially expands the scope of the proposal.

ar54(3)(g) (g) An amendment to a bill when legislative action on that bill is by law limited to passage, concurrence, indefinite postponement, or nonconcurrence as introduced.

ar54(3)(h) (h) An amendment to a resolution confirming a nomination for appointment under rule 51m.

ar54(4) (4) Amendments that are germane include:

ar54(4)(a) (a) A specific provision amending a general provision.

ar54(4)(b) (b) An amendment that accomplishes the same purpose in a different manner.

ar54(4)(c) (c) An amendment limiting the scope of the proposal.

ar54(4)(d) (d) An amendment adding appropriations necessary to fulfill the original intent of a bill.

ar54(4)(e) (e) An amendment relating only to particularized details.

ar54(4)(f) (f) An amendment that changes the effective date of a repeal, reduces the scope of a repeal, or adds a short-term nonstatutory transitional provision to facilitate a repeal.

ar54(5) (5) An amendment to an amendment must be germane to both the amendment and the original proposal.

[(1) am. 1995 A.Res. 2]

ar55 Assembly Rule 55. Sequence of considering amendments.

ar55(1) (1) Before a proposal is ordered engrossed and read the 3rd time, amendments to that proposal shall be considered in the following sequence:

ar55(1)(a) (a) Substitute amendments offered before the present consideration of the proposal shall be considered beginning with the substitute amendment most recently received.

ar55(1)(b) (b) If the first substitute amendment is offered during the consideration of simple amendments to the proposal, the substitute amendment shall be considered before the next simple amendment to the proposal is taken up.

ar55(1)(c) (c) Substitute amendments offered during the consideration of a substitute amendment to the proposal shall be considered in the sequence in which received, but only if another substitute amendment has not been adopted.

ar55(1)(d) (d) Simple amendments shall be considered in numerical sequence.

ar55(2) (2)

ar55(2)(a) (a) Whenever a substitute amendment is before the assembly, simple amendments to it shall be considered in numerical sequence before action on the substitute amendment.

ar55(2)(b) (b) Whenever a simple amendment is before the assembly, amendments to it shall be considered in numerical sequence before action on the simple amendment.

ar55(3) (3) The adoption of one substitute amendment precludes consideration of any other substitute amendment to the proposal.

[(1)(a), (c) and (d) am.; (b) cr. 1989 A.Res. 2]

Chapter 7:
GENERAL RULES OF DEBATE

ar55m Assembly Rule 55m. Scheduling time limits for floor debate.

ar55m(1) (1) Before the committee on rules establishes a calendar for any session day, the majority leader and the minority leader shall meet to adopt reasonable recommendations for time limits and schedules for floor debate for each proposal on the proposed calendar for that day. If the majority leader and the minority leader reach agreement, the committee on rules shall include the time limits and schedules for floor debate for each proposal in the recommendations on the calendar for that day. If the majority leader and the minority leader do not reach agreement, the committee on rules shall establish time limits and schedules for floor debate for each proposal in the recommendations on the calendar for that day. The schedules and time limits shall be announced by the presiding officer before floor consideration of each proposal.

ar55m(2) (2) The presiding officer shall ensure that time limits and schedules established under sub. (1) are strictly enforced.

[cr. 2015 A.Res. 3]
[(1) am. 2019 A.Res. 12]

ar56 Assembly Rule 56. Recognition.

ar56(1) (1) Any member who desires to speak in debate or submit any matter to the assembly shall rise in his or her assigned place and respectfully address the presiding officer. Upon being recognized, the member shall confine his or her remarks to the question before the assembly and shall avoid personalities. A member may be recognized or addressed only by the number of the member's district or by the county or municipality in which the member resides.

ar56(2) (2) When 2 or more members rise at the same time, the presiding officer shall announce the order that the members may speak. Any such decision is final.

ar56(3) (3) All efforts to be recognized shall be through the presiding officer, including recognition to ask a question or secure the floor from a member addressing the assembly.

ar56(4) (4) The presiding officer is not required to recognize any member who is in violation of rule 26 (9).

[(1) am. 1991 A.Res. 3]
[(1) and (2) am. 1995 A.Res. 2]
[(1) am. 2001 A.Res. 3]
[(4) cr. 2013 A.Res. 4]

ar57 Assembly Rule 57. Interruptions.

ar57(1) (1) Once a member has been recognized and has the floor, the member may speak without interruption unless questions arise that require immediate consideration. Such questions are:

ar57(1)(a) (a) A question of assembly privilege [rule 61 (1)].

ar57(1)(b) (b) A question of personal privilege [rule 61 (2)].

ar57(1)(c) (c) Raising a point of order and appeals therefrom [rule 62].

ar57(1)(d) (d) Raising a question of quorum [rule 30].

ar57(1)(e) (e) Rising to make a parliamentary inquiry.

ar57(1)(f) (f) Rising to ask whether the member who has the floor will yield to a proper question. The member who has the floor may yield to a proper question even if the member obtained the floor for the purpose of making a motion or raising a question that is not debatable.

ar57(1)(g) (g) Calling for a special order of business [rule 32].

ar57(1)(h) (h) Requesting a division of the question [rule 80].

ar57(2) (2) At the conclusion of any interruption under sub. (1), the floor returns to the interrupted member unless the question on which the member was speaking is no longer before the assembly.

[(1)(h) cr. 1989 A.Res. 2]

ar58 Assembly Rule 58. Calling a member to order.

ar58(1) (1) During debate, a member may question the orderliness of the remarks made by another member or whether the other member, in the manner of discussion or conduct, has violated the rules of the assembly.

ar58(2) (2) When the presiding officer calls a member to order, the member may not speak, except in explanation, until it is determined whether or not the member is in order.

ar58(3) (3) When the orderliness of remarks made by a member is questioned under sub. (1) based on the alleged use of improper or disorderly language, the member questioning the orderliness, upon the request of the presiding officer, shall give the presiding officer a written statement containing the specific words to which exception has been taken, thus enabling the presiding officer better to be able to judge whether the words spoken were in violation of the assembly rules.

[(3) am. 2003 A.Res. 3]

ar59 Assembly Rule 59. Conduct during debate. Unless permission is given by unanimous consent or the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present, a member may not:

ar59(1) (1) Speak when not in his or her assigned place.

ar59(2) (2) Speak more than twice on the same question, even if the question is continued to another day.

ar59(3) (3) Display documents or exhibits or read aloud from documents other than from the proposal under debate or any amendment thereto, or from any statute, session law, constitutional provision, assembly rule, or joint rule directly related to the proposal or its amendments.

[(3) am. 1995 A.Res. 2]

ar60 Assembly Rule 60. Debate on delayed calendars.

ar60(1) (1) Whenever the assembly has one or more calendars pending of a later date than the calendar on which the assembly is working, debate is limited, as follows:

ar60(1)(a) (a) A member may not speak for more than 5 minutes on any question.

ar60(1)(b) (b) A question may not be considered for more than 20 minutes.

ar60(2) (2) The limitations under sub. (1) do not apply to proposals made a special order of business by the adoption of a resolution offered by the committee on rules.

ar61 Assembly Rule 61. Questions of privilege. Questions of privilege are under the immediate control of the presiding officer and the assembly. Such questions pertain to the rights, integrity, and safety of the assembly collectively, to the rights, reputation, or conduct of members of the assembly in their representative capacity, or to the conduct of government in general.

ar61(1) (1) “Assembly privilege": With recognition by the presiding officer, any member may raise and discuss a question pertaining to the safety, dignity, decorum, comfort, rights, organization, or officers of the assembly that requires immediate attention.

ar61(2) (2) “Personal privilege": With recognition by the presiding officer, any member may rise to explain a personal matter that affects the rights, reputation, and conduct of the member in his or her representative capacity. A pending question may not be discussed in the explanation.

ar61(3) (3) “Special privilege": Any member desiring to make a statement on a matter other than one of assembly or personal privilege may rise and, with recognition by the presiding officer and within any time limits determined by the presiding officer or the assembly, may discuss any subject relative to state or local government, the conduct of public officials in relation to their official duties, or other matters concerning the public welfare, or any question pertaining to the rights of the assembly collectively, its safety, dignity, or the integrity of its proceedings.

ar61(4) (4)

ar61(4)(a) (a) A member may raise a question of assembly or personal privilege at any time. Questions of assembly privilege take precedence over questions of personal privilege and both take precedence over all other questions except a motion to adjourn, a call of the assembly, a motion to lift a call of the assembly, or a motion to recess.

ar61(4)(b) (b) Questions of special privilege may not be raised when any matter is under consideration by the assembly.

ar61(5) (5) Questions of assembly or personal privilege have precedence only insofar as they require immediate consideration and are not dilatory.

ar61(6) (6) Once a question of privilege is before the assembly, it is subject to debate and to all proper motions. When the question of privilege has been disposed of, the business of the assembly is resumed at the point at which it was interrupted.