78th Wisconsin Legislature

The Seventy-Eighth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 11, 1967, to January 6, 1969, in regular session.

This session saw the culmination of Governor Warren P. Knowles state government reorganization and modernization plan, including the passage of the signature government reorganization law, which consolidated 85 executive branch agencies into 32 executive departments, and the passage of twelve amendments to the state constitution (the most in any single legislative 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 8, 1966. 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 3, 1964.

Major events

 * January 2, 1967: Second inauguration of Warren P. Knowles as Governor of Wisconsin.
 * January 15, 1967: The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl I.
 * January 27, 1967: An accidental fire destroyed Apollo 1 during a launch rehearsal at Cape Canaveral, killing all three astronauts assigned to the mission.
 * February 10, 1967: The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution came into force when a sufficient number of states ratified.
 * March 4, 1967: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Myron L. Gordon resigned after he was confirmed as a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
 * March 13, 1967: Wisconsin governor Warren P. Knowles appointed county judge Connor Hansen to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to succeed Myron L. Gordon.
 * April 4, 1967: 1967 Wisconsin Spring election:
 * Robert W. Hansen was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating incumbent chief justice George R. Currie. He was the only Wisconsin chief justice ever defeated seeking re-election.
 * Wisconsin voters ratified eight amendments to the state constitution:
 * Combining the election of governor and lieutenant governor into a single ticket election rather than two separate elections.
 * Doubling the term of the governor and lieutenant governor to four years from two.
 * Doubling the term of the secretary of state to four years from two.
 * Doubling the term of the attorney general to four years from two.
 * Doubling the term of the state treasurer to four years from two.
 * Abolishing term limits for sheriffs.
 * Adding section 23 to Article I of the constitution, establishing that the prohibition on sectarian instruction in public education should not prevent state entities from paying for transportation for children to attend private schools.
 * Allowing for judicial salary increases to take effect during the immediate term, rather than waiting until after the next election.
 * July 30, 1967: A fight between teenagers in Milwaukee escalated into the 1967 Milwaukee riot&mdash;one of 159 race riots which swept the country in the long, hot summer of 1967.
 * August 30, 1967: The United States Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, making him the first African American to serve on the court.
 * October 18, 1967: A student anti-war protest on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison devolved into a riot, injuring 76 people.
 * December 31, 1967: The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the 1967 NFL Championship Game. The game was referred to as "the Ice Bowl" due to the game-time temperature of −15 °F (−36 °F wind chill).
 * January 1, 1968: E. Harold Hallows became the 20th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court by rule of seniority, at the expiration of the term of chief justice George R. Currie.
 * January 14, 1968: The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl II.
 * March 31, 1968: U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson announced, during a speech about the status of the Vietnam War, that he would not run for another term as president.
 * April 2, 1968: 1968 Wisconsin Spring election:
 * Wisconsin voters ratified four amendments to the state constitution:
 * Allowing the legislature to hold more than one session per biennium.
 * Allowing the legislature to set a uniform retirement age for state judges.
 * Clarifying that a judge may serve in a temporary role by appointment beyond the retirement age.
 * Allowing for appropriations for forestry improvements from funding sources other than a property tax.
 * April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
 * June 6, 1968: Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, California.
 * November 5, 1968: 1968 United States general election:
 * Richard Nixon (R) elected President of the United States.
 * Warren P. Knowles (R) re-elected to a third term as Governor of Wisconsin.
 * Gaylord Nelson (D) re-elected United States senator from Wisconsin.

Major legislation

 * July 19, 1967: An Act to provide for the functional reorganization of the executive branch of Wisconsin state government by the orderly transfer of all functions now assigned by law to the 91 separate departments of the executive branch into a streamlined new structure of constitutional offices, operating departments, and independent institutions and agencies, and to make appropriations, 1967 Act 75. This was the signature legislative package of the major executive branch reorganization, championed by governor Warren P. Knowles.  It reorganized the state executive branch into 32 executive agencies, down from 85 (or 91 by some measures).

Sessions

 * Regular session: January 11, 1967 –January 6, 1969

Senate leadership

 * President of the Senate: Jack B. Olson (R)
 * President pro tempore: Robert P. Knowles (R–New Richmond)
 * Majority leader: Jerris Leonard (R–Milwaukee)
 * Minority leader: Fred Risser (D–Madison)

Assembly leadership

 * Speaker of the Assembly: Harold V. Froehlich (R–Appleton)
 * Speaker pro tempore: Elmer C. Nitschke (R–Beaver Dam)
 * Majority leader: J. Curtis McKay (R–Thiensville)
 * Minority leader: Robert T. Huber (D–West Allis)

Members of the Senate
Members of the Senate for the Seventy-Eighth Wisconsin Legislature:

Members of the Assembly
Members of the Assembly for the Seventy-Eighth Wisconsin Legislature:

Senate committees

 * Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture –F. E. Panzer, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Conservation – C. Krueger, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Education – H. Rasmusen, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Governmental and Veterans Affairs –W. Draheim, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Highways – R. La Fave, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Interstate Cooperation – F. E. Panzer, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary – A. Busby, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Labor, Taxation, Insurance, and Banking –G. Lorge, chair
 * Senate Standing Committee on Public Welfare –A. Meunier, chair
 * Senate Special Committee on Committees –R. Bice, chair
 * Senate Special Committee on Legislative Procedure –R. P. Knowles, chair
 * Senate Special Committee on Senate Organization –J. Leonard, chair

Assembly committees

 * Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture – N. Nuttelman, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Manufactures – L. H. Johnson, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Conservation – P. Alfonsi, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Education – D. R. Wartinbee, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Elections – E. F. McEssy, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees – F. E. Shurbert, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Highways – W. J. Hutnik, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking – K. Kenyon, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary – G. K. Anderon, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Labor – N. Soik, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities – J. C. McKay, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Printing – F. C. Schroeder, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare – H. F. Gee, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs – B. Lewison, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation – F. M. Jahnke, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation – E. C. Nitschke, chair
 * Assembly Standing Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs – H. W. Clemens, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Assembly Organization – H. V. Froehlich, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Contingent Expenditures – G. J. Bock, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Engrossed Bills – E. Doughty, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Enrolled Bills – R. Uehling, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Revision – H. L. Gessert, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Rules – W. J. Hutnik, chair
 * Assembly Special Committee on Third Reading – C. Blanchard, chair

Joint committees

 * Joint Standing Committee on Finance –W. G. Hollander (Sen.) & B. F. Wackett (Asm.), co-chairs
 * Joint Standing Committee on Legislative Organization –R. P. Knowles (Sen.) & H. V. Froehlich (Asm.), co-chairs
 * Joint Standing Committee on Revisions, Repeals, and Uniform Laws –E. Keppler (Sen.) & G. B. Belting (Asm.), co-chairs
 * Joint Legislative Council –J. Leonard, chair

Senate employees

 * Chief Clerk: William P. Nugent
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry O. Levander (died Nov. 16, 1967)
 * Kenneth Nicholson (from Nov. 16, 1967)

Assembly employees

 * Chief Clerk: Arnold W. F. Langner (res. May 2, 1967)
 * Wilmer H. Struebing (from May 16, 1967)
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Louis C. Romell