86th Wisconsin Legislature

The Eighty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 3, 1983, to January 7, 1985, 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.

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.

Sessions

 * Regular session: January 3, 1983 –January 7, 1985
 * January 1983 special session: January 4, 1983 –January 6, 1983
 * April 1983 special session: April 12, 1983 –April 14, 1983
 * July 1983 special session: July 11, 1983 –July 14, 1983
 * October 1983 special session: October 18, 1983 –October 28, 1983
 * February 1984 special session: February 2, 1984 –February 4, 1984
 * May 1984 special session: May 22, 1984 –May 24, 1984

Senate leadership

 * President of the Senate: Fred Risser (D–Madison)
 * President pro tempore: William A. Bablitch (D–Stevens Point) (until July 31, 1983)

Senate majority leadership

 * Majority Leader: Timothy Cullen (D–Janesville)
 * Assistant Majority Leader: Paul Offner (D–La Crosse) (until Jan. 3, 1984)
 * John Norquist (D–Milwaukee) (after Jan. 11, 1984)

Senate minority leadership

 * Minority Leader: James Harsdorf (R–River Falls)
 * Assistant Minority Leader: Susan Engeleiter (R–Menomonee Falls)

Assembly leadership

 * Speaker of the Assembly: Thomas A. Loftus (D–Sun Prairie)
 * Speaker pro tempore: David Clarenbach (D–Madison)

Assembly majority leadership

 * Majority Leader: Gary K. Johnson (D–Beloit)
 * Assistant Majority Leader: Richard Shoemaker (D–Menomonie)

Assembly minority leadership

 * Minority Leader: Tommy Thompson (R–Elroy)
 * Assistant Minority Leader: Robert S. Travis Jr. (R–Platteville)

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:

Senate employees

 * Chief Clerk: Donald J. Schneider
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel B. Fields

Assembly employees

 * Chief Clerk: Joanne M. Duren
 * Sergeant-at-Arms: Lewis T. Mittness

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.

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).