66th Wisconsin Legislature

The Sixty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 13, 1943, to January 22, 1944, in regular session.

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 3, 1942. 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 5, 1940.

Major events

 * January 4, 1943: Inauguration of Walter Samuel Goodland as the 31st Governor of Wisconsin.
 * February 2, 1943: The Battle of Stalingrad came to an end with the surrender of the German 6th Army to Soviet forces.
 * August 17, 1943: Allied forces completed the invasion of Sicily.
 * September 3, 1943: The Kingdom of Italy surrendered to Allied forces.
 * September 23, 1943: The Italian Social Republic was established by German forces in northern Italy as a puppet state of Germany.
 * December 24, 1943: U.S. Army general Dwight D. Eisenhower became Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
 * January 11, 1944: In his State of the Union, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a second bill of rights for economic and social security.
 * January 27, 1944: After more than two years, the Siege of Leningrad was lifted as German forces retreated.
 * April 16, 1944: The battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was commissioned.
 * June 6, 1944: Allied forces conducted a forced amphibious landing at Normandy, opening a western front against Nazi Germany. It was the largest amphious military operation in history.
 * July 22, 1944: The Bretton Woods Conference ended with agreements for regulating the international monetary and financial order after the war, leading to the establishment of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the International Monetary Fund.
 * August 25, 1944: Allied forces completed the Liberation of Paris.
 * October 7, 1944: The Dumbarton Oaks Conference concluded with an agreement on a set of proposals for the postwar diplomatic and security order.
 * October 26, 1944: American and Australian naval forces destroyed 28 Japanese warships at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in what was (by some measures) the largest naval battle in history.
 * November 7, 1944: 1944 United States general election:
 * Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) re-elected to a fourth term as President of the United States. The only time a U.S. president was elected to a fourth term.
 * Walter Samuel Goodland (R) elected Governor of Wisconsin
 * Alexander Wiley (R) re-elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
 * December 17, 1944: The Green Bay Packers won the 1944 NFL Championship Game.

Major legislation

 * May 21, 1943: An Act ... relating to the creation and operation of a municipal retirement system, 1943 Act 175. Created Wisconsin's municipal employee pension system.
 * May 22, 1943: An Act ... relating to a retirement system for state employes, and making an appropriation, 1943 Act 176. Created Wisconsin's state employee pension system.
 * 1943 Joint Resolution 27: First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to abolish the office of justice of the peace in first class cities. This amendment was eventually ratified by voters at the April 1945 election.
 * 1943 Joint Resolution 37: First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow the state to take on debt for the development of aeronautical facilities. This amendment was eventually ratified by voters at the April 1945 election.
 * 1943 Joint Resolution 60: First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to remove audit powers from the Secretary of State and instead grant that authority to the Legislature. This amendment was eventually ratified by voters in two separate parts (removal from Secretary of State and authorization to the Legislature) at the November 1946 election.

Sessions

 * Regular session: January 13, 1943 –January 22, 1944

Senate leadership

 * President of the Senate: --Vacant--
 * President pro tempore: Conrad Shearer (R–Kenosha)
 * Majority leader:
 * Warren P. Knowles (R–New Richmond) (until Apr. 30, 1943)
 * John W. Byrnes (R–Green Bay) (after Apr. 30, 1943)

Assembly leadership

 * Speaker of the Assembly: Vernon W. Thomson (R–Richland Center)
 * Majority leader: Mark Catlin Jr. (R–Appleton)
 * Minority leaders:
 * Elmer L. Genzmer (D–Mayville)
 * Lyall T. Beggs (P–Madison)

Members of the Senate
Members of the Senate for the Sixty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:

Members of the Assembly
Members of the Assembly for the Sixty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:

Senate committees

 * Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Labor –M. R. Laird, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Committees – M. T. Murray, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – T. G. Brown, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and Taxation – M. T. Murray, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public Welfare – W. A. Freehoff, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Highways – J. Miller, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary – J. W. Byrnes, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Legislative Procedure – C. Shearer, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Military Affairs –B. Gettelman, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government – R. Schlabach, chair

Assembly committees

 * Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture – O. R. Rice, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Manufactures – E. Grassman, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Conservation – E. A. Heden, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – G. Benson, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Education – W. H. Goldthorpe, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Elections – W. J. Nuss, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills – H. Youngblood, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills – C. M. Nelson, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees – J. A. Schmitz, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Highways – D. C. McDowell, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking – J. C. McBride, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary – M. Catlin, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Labor – W. E. Cook, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities – W. F. Double, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Printing – J. C. Chapple, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare – E. W. Hanson, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Revision – C. E. Collar, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Rules – D. C. McDowell, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs – A. E. Austin, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation – A. R. Ludvigsen, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Third Reading – W. F. Miller, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation – D. I. Hammergren, chair

Joint committees

 * Joint Standing Committee on Finance –H. Lewis (Sen.) & P. B. McIntyre (Asm.), co-chairs
 * Joint Standing Committee on Revisions, Repeals, and Uniform Laws –G. W. Buchen (Sen.) & W. J. Nuss (Asm.), co-chairs

Senate employees

 * Chief Clerk: Lawrence R. Larsen
 * Assistant Chief Clerk: Thomas M. Donahue
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Emil A. Hartman (died Oct 30, 1943)
 * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Harold Damon

Assembly employees

 * Chief Clerk: Arthur L. May
 * Assistant Chief Clerk: Edward J. Walden
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Norris J. Kellman
 * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Phillip K. Lalor