A new legislative session in Madison, with Democrats cementing their November wins

By Alexandria Staubach

On Monday, Wisconsin’s 107th legislative session kicked off with the swearing in of 34 new members, 90% of whom are Democrats.
 
This is the first legislative session impacted by the new district maps signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers in early 2024, ending more than a decade of extreme partisan gerrymandering.
 
Fifteen senators were sworn into office. Six are embarking on their first full term. Five of those six are women, all are Democrats, and two served in the Assembly last term.
 
Thirty new members were sworn into the Assembly, 76% of them Democrats.
 
The new session sees the narrowest advantage Republicans have held since 2011. The Senate includes 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats. The Assembly has 54 Republicans and 45 Democrats.
 
The two bodies got straight to work.
 
The Assembly took its first action of consequence, sending to committee AJR 1, a proposed constitutional amendment requiring valid photo identification to vote in an election. If the resolution passes, it will be the proposed amendment’s second trip through the Legislature. If it passes quickly, it could then appear on the April election ballot.
 
Both chambers voted on structure and schedules.
 
In the Assembly, Rep. Kalan Haywood (D-Milwaukee) unsuccessfully nominated Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) for speaker, as an alternative to Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester). Vos has served in the role for more than a decade.  
 
Haywood suggested the Assembly ditch Vos because the chamber should not be “an experimental national right-wing Republican testing ground.” He encouraged his peers to abandon “the stagnation of the status quo.”  “Compromise is what will lead to productivity and results,” he said.
 
“We’ve strayed so far from Wisconsin’s long-standing tradition of transparent government with the current leadership,” said Haywood.
 
Vos was ultimately elected with 52 votes of the possible 54 Republican votes.
 
Afterward, Vos gave a speech that included predictions about what will occur during this legislative session. He anticipates a tax cut “focused on those who pay taxes in Wisconsin” and emphatically stated the money set aside from any such cut would not be spent by the treasury.
 
He vowed not to create any new government programs because “socialism, in any form does not make us more free.”
 
Vos also said he would demand “accountability and measurable results for any funding we provide.”
 
He predicted that the newly created Assembly Committee on Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency would “lead the way” in innovating how government operates in the state.
 
Ceremonies took place simultaneously at the Capitol in the two legislative chambers. Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley administered the oath of office in the Assembly. District II Court of Appeals Judge Maria Lazar administered the oath of office in the Senate.