With the New Year comes a new legislative session here in Wisconsin.
A biennial session begins in the first week of each odd-numbered year. The first days of the new session are dedicated to the inauguration of the members and organization of the legislature. In late January, the governor submits his proposed state budget to the legislature. While the Joint Committee on Finance begins work on the budget, other committees begin work on other legislation, and the legislature will meet several times to act on these bills. However, the focus of the legislature remains largely on the budget until its passage, usually in late June. This information and much more can be found in “A Citizen’s Guide to Participation in the Wisconsin State Legislature” by the Wisconsin Legislative Council. The guide can be found at http://lc.legis.wisconsin.gov/media/1038/citizen_intro.pdf.
All legislative sessions and committee hearings can be viewed on wiseye.org.
In the upcoming session, I will be serving on the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, the Committee on Elections and Local Government and the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. I will also have the pleasure of serving on the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, the Small Business Environmental Council, the Council on Military and State Relations and the Joint Legislative Council.
I look forward to continuing my work for the hard-working people of Wisconsin and Senate District 16. We have a lot of work to do in the upcoming legislative session.
If you have any questions or comments about the budget or legislation in the coming session, you can contact my office by phone at 266-9170 or email sen.miller@legis.wi.gov.
