The Eighty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session, and also convened in six special sessions.
This was the only legislative session under the legislative redistricting plan imposed by a panel of federal judges in 1982 in the case Wisconsin State AFL-CIO v. Elections Board. The district plan was intended to be punitive, scrambling the district numbers and putting incumbents in head-to-head contests. During this session, the legislature and governor agreed on a new redistricting plan to supersede the court plan, the only time this has been done in Wisconsin history.
Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first two years of a four-year term. Assembly members were elected to a two-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 2, 1982. Senators representing even-numbered districts were serving the third and fourth year of a four-year term, having been elected in the general election of November 4, 1980.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Democrat Tony Earl, of Marathon County, serving the first two years of a four-year term, having won election in the 1982 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.
Major events
- January 3, 1983: Inauguration of Tony Earl as the 41st Governor of Wisconsin.
- April 5, 1983: Wisconsin state senator William A. Bablitch was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to succeed Bruce F. Beilfuss.
- April 18, 1983: A car bomb detonated in front of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people.
- August 1, 1983: Nathan Heffernan became the 23rd chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court by rule of seniority, at the expiration of the term of chief justice Bruce F. Beilfuss.
- October 23, 1983: Simultaneous truck bombings in Beirut destroyed a United States Marine Corps barracks and a French Army barracks, killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers, and 6 Lebanese civilians.
- November 6, 1984: 1984 United States general election:
- Ronald Reagan (R) re-elected President of the United States
Major legislation
- July 19, 1983: An Act ... relating to redistricting the senate and assembly based on the 1980 federal census of population and making miscellaneous changes in the statutes pertaining to decennial legislative redistricting, 1983 Act 29.
- April 9, 1984: An Act ... relating to establishing a system of marital property shared by husband and wife and providing penalties, 1983 Act 186. Wisconsin's update to marital property laws to default to a shared property standard. Wisconsin was the first state to implement this change.
Party summary
Senate summary
Assembly summary
Sessions
- Regular session: January 3, 1983January 7, 1985
- January 1983 special session: January 4, 1983January 6, 1983
- April 1983 special session: April 12, 1983April 14, 1983
- July 1983 special session: July 11, 1983July 14, 1983
- October 1983 special session: October 18, 1983October 28, 1983
- February 1984 special session: February 2, 1984February 4, 1984
- May 1984 special session: May 22, 1984May 24, 1984
Leaders
Senate leadership
Senate majority leadership
Senate minority leadership
Assembly leadership
Assembly majority leadership
Assembly minority leadership
Members
Members of the Senate
Members of the Senate for the Eighty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:
Members of the Assembly
Members of the Assembly for the Eighty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:
Employees
Senate employees
- Chief Clerk: Donald J. Schneider
- Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel B. Fields
Assembly employees
Changes from the 85th Legislature
New districts for the 86th Legislature were defined in the case of Wisconsin State AFL-CIO v. Elections Board, decided by a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. This was the first time redistricting in Wisconsin was performed by a federal court.
Senate redistricting
Summary of Senate changes
- No districts were left unchanged
- Milwaukee County went from having 7 whole districts and part of two additional districts down to 6 whole districts (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and part of two additional districts (28, 33).
Senate districts
Notes
References
External links