67th Wisconsin Legislature

67th Wisconsin Legislature
← 66th 68th →
Wisconsin State Capitol ca.1915
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 1, 1945 – January 6, 1947
Election	November 7, 1944
Senate
Members	33
Senate President	Oscar Rennebohm (R)
President pro tempore	Conrad Shearer (R)
Party control	Republican
Assembly
Members	100
Assembly Speaker	Donald C. McDowell (R)
Party control	Republican
Sessions
Regular January 10, 1945 – September 6, 1945
Special sessions
Jul. 1946 Spec. July 29, 1946 – July 30, 1946

The Sixty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 10, 1945, to September 6, 1945, in regular session, and reconvened in a special session in July 1946. ^[1]

This legislative term saw the end of World War II and the establishment of the United Nations. The term also saw the end of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, which formally disbanded at a 1946 convention. ^[2]

Senators representing even-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 even-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 7, 1944. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were serving the third and fourth year of a four-year term, having been elected in the general election of November 3, 1942. ^[1]

Major events

• January 1, 1945: Second inauguration of Walter Samuel Goodland as Governor of Wisconsin.
• January 20, 1945: Fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States.
• February 11, 1945: The Yalta Conference concluded, agreeing to the denazification and postwar partition of Germany, as well as self-determination rights for a liberated Poland.
• April 3, 1945: Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution:
  • Aboliting the office of justice of the peace in first class cities.
  • Allowing the state to take on debt for aeronautical improvements.
• April 12, 1945: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office. Vice President Harry S. Truman immediately succeeded him as the 33rd President of the United States.
• April 28, 1945: Benito Mussolini was executed by partisans in Milan, Italy.
• April 29, 1945: Axis forces in Italy signed an unconditional surrender to the Allies.
• April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin, Germany.
• May 2, 1945: Soviet forces captured Berlin.
• May 8, 1945: Representatives of the German Army signed the German Instrument of Surrender, formally ending Germany's part in World War II.
• June 26, 1945: The Charter of the United Nations was published at the end of the United Nations Conference on International Organization.
• July 16, 1945: The first atomic bomb test took place at the Trinity site in New Mexico.
• July 21, 1945: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed an order approving the use of atomic bombs against Imperial Japan.
• August 6, 1945: U.S. forces detonated an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, killing at least 90,000 people and destroying much of the city.
• August 8, 1945: The United States ratified the Charter of the United Nations, becoming the third nation to ratify the document.
• August 9, 1945: U.S. forces detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki, killing at least 39,000 people.
• August 14, 1945: Emperor Hirohito agreed to the unconditional surrender of Japan to Allied forces, ending major combat in World War II.
• October 24, 1945: The United Nations was established as a sufficient number of nations had ratified the Charter.
• March 17, 1946: At a convention in Portage, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Progressive Party voted to disband. The majority of delegates voted to rejoin the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
• March 19, 1946: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Joseph Martin died in office.
• April 2, 1946: Wisconsin voters rejected an amendment to the state constitution which would have removed term limits from the sheriffs.
• April 6, 1946: Wisconsin governor Walter Samuel Goodland appointed James Ward Rector to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to succeed the deceased justice Joseph Martin.
• April 18, 1946: The League of Nations met for the last time, transferred its mission to the United Nations and disbanded.
• August 14, 1946: Wisconsin's senior United States senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., after the dissolution of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, was defeated in the Republican Party primary by Wisconsin circuit court judge Joseph McCarthy.
• November 5, 1946:
  • Walter Samuel Goodland re-elected Governor of Wisconsin.
  • Joseph McCarthy elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
  • Wisconsin voters ratified two amendments to the state constitution:
    • Removing audit powers from the Secretary of State.
    • Assigning audit powers to the Legislature.
  • Wisconsin voters also rejected an amendment to the state constitution:
    • Allowing public transportation to be used for students to attend private or parochial schools.

Major legislation

• July 30, 1945: An Act ... relating to aeronautics, and making an appropriation, 1945 Act 513. Established Wisconsin's Aeronautics Commission.
• August 27, 1945: An Act ... creating a Wisconsin department of veterans' affairs, providing educational aid, economic aid, medical, hospital, or other remedial care for World War II veterans and their dependents, transferring to said department certain powers, duties, and functions vested in the soldiers' rehabilitation board and adjutant general, and custodian of memorial hall, and making an appropriation, 1945 Act 580. Created the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.
• 1945 Joint Resolution 2: Second 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 ratified by voters at the April 1945 election.
• 1945 Joint Resolution 3: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow the state to take on debt to fund aeronautical improvements.
• 1945 Joint Resolution 47: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to abolish term limits for Wisconsin sheriffs. This amendment was rejected by voters at the April 1946 election.
• 1945 Joint Resolution 73: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to remove audit powers from the Secretary of State and transfer those powers to the Legislature. This amendment was ratified by voters in two separate questions at the November 1946 election.
• 1945 Joint Resolution 78: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow public transportation to be used for students to attend private and parochial schools in addition to existing transportation for public schools. This amendment was rejected by voters at the November 1946 election.

Party summary

Senate summary

Senate partisan composition

  Democratic: 6 seats

  Progressive: 5 seats

  Republican: 22 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	Prog.	Rep.		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	4	6	22	32	1
Start of Reg. Session	6	5	22	33	0
From Mar. 19, 1946 [note 1]			21	32	1
Final voting share	18.75%	15.63%	65.63%
Beginning of the next Legislature	5	1	27	33	0

Assembly summary

Assembly partisan composition

  Democratic: 20 seats

  Progressive: 6 seats

  Republican: 74 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	Prog.	Rep.		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	14	13	73	100	0
Start of Reg. Session	20	6	74	100	0
From Jul. 16, 1945 [note 2]	19			99	1
From Oct. 11, 1945 [note 3]			73	98	2
From Oct. 29, 1945 [note 4]			72	97	3
From Mar. 25, 1946 [note 5]			71	96	4
From May 1, 1946 [note 6]			70	95	5
Final voting share	20%	6.32%	73.68%
Beginning of the next Legislature	12	0	88	100	0

Sessions

• Regular session: January 10, 1945 –September 6, 1945
• July 1946 special session: July 29, 1946 –July 30, 1946

Leaders

Senate leadership

• President of the Senate: Oscar Rennebohm (R)
• President pro tempore: Conrad Shearer (R–Kenosha)
• Majority leader: Warren P. Knowles (R–New Richmond)
• Minority leader: Anthony P. Gawronski (D–Milwaukee)

Assembly leadership

• Speaker of the Assembly: Donald C. McDowell (R–Soldiers Grove)
• Majority leader: Vernon W. Thomson (R–Richland Center)
• Minority leaders:
  • Leland McParland (D–Milwaukee)
  • Lyall T. Beggs (P–Madison)

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Senate for the Sixty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature: ^[3]

Senate partisan representation

  Democratic: 6 seats

  Progressive: 5 seats

  Republican: 22 seats

Dist.	Counties	Senator	Residence	Party
01	Door, Kewaunee, & Manitowoc	John E. Cashman	Denmark	Prog.
02	Brown & Oconto	Harold A. Lytie	Green Bay	Dem.
03	Milwaukee (South City)	Clement J. Zablocki	Milwaukee	Dem.
04	Milwaukee (Northeast County & Northeast City)	John C. McBride	Milwaukee	Rep.
05	Milwaukee (Northwest City)	Bernhard Gettelman	Milwaukee	Rep.
06	Milwaukee (North-Central City)	Edward Reuther	Milwaukee	Dem.
07	Milwaukee (Southeast County & Southeast City)	Anthony P. Gawronski	Milwaukee	Dem.
08	Milwaukee (Western County)	Allen Busby	West Milwaukee	Rep.
09	Milwaukee (City Downtown)	Robert E. Tehan	Milwaukee	Dem.
10	Buffalo, Pepin, Pierce, & St. Croix	Warren P. Knowles	New Richmond	Rep.
11	Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, & Washburn	Elmer Peterson	Superior	Prog.
12	Ashland, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, & Vilas	Ernest A. Heden	Glidden	Rep.
13	Dodge & Washington	Frank E. Panzer	Oakfield	Rep.
14	Outagamie & Shawano	Gordon A. Bubolz	Appleton	Rep.
15	Rock	Robert P. Robinson	Beloit	Rep.
16	Crawford, Grant, & Vernon	Foster B. Porter	Bloomington	Rep.
17	Green, Iowa, & Lafayette	Melvin Olson	South Wayne	Rep.
18	Fond du Lac , Green Lake & Waushara	Louis J. Fellenz Jr.	Fond du Lac	Rep.
19	Calumet & Winnebago	Taylor G. Brown	Oshkosh	Rep.
20	Ozaukee & Sheboygan	Gustave W. Buchen	Sheboygan	Rep.
21	Racine	Edward F. Hilker	Racine	Rep.
22	Kenosha & Walworth	Conrad Shearer	Kenosha	Rep.
23	Portage & Waupaca	Harley M. Jacklin	Plover	Dem.
24	Clark, Taylor, & Wood	Melvin R. Laird Sr. (died Mar. 19, 1946)	Marshfield	Rep.
25	Lincoln & Marathon	William McNeight	Unity	Rep.
26	Dane	Fred Risser	Madison	Prog.
27	Columbia, Richland, & Sauk	Jess Miller	Richland Center	Rep.
28	Chippewa & Eau Claire	George H. Hipke	Stanley	Rep.
29	Barron, Dunn, & Polk	Charles D. Madsen	Luck	Prog.
30	Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marinette, & Oneida	Philip Downing	Amberg	Rep.
31	Adams, Juneau, Monroe, & Marquette	J. Earl Leverich	Sparta	Prog.
32	Jackson, La Crosse, & Trempealeau	Rudolph Schlabach	La Crosse	Rep.
33	Jefferson & Waukesha	William A. Freehoff	Waukesha	Rep.

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Sixty-Seventh Wisconsin Legislature: ^[3]

Assembly partisan composition

  Democratic: 20 seats

  Progressive: 6 seats

  Republican: 74 seats

Milwaukee County districts

Senate Dist.	County	Dist.	Representative	Party	Residence
31	Adams & Marquette		Robert M. Long	Rep.	Westfield
12	Ashland		John C. Chapple (died May 1, 1946)	Rep.	Ashland
29	Barron		Charles H. Sykes	Rep.	Cameron
11	Bayfield		Samuel E. Squires	Rep.	Mason
02	Brown	1	Robert E. Lynch	Dem.	Green Bay
		2	William J. Sweeney	Dem.	De Pere
10	Buffalo & Pepin		Grover L. Broadfoot	Rep.	Mondovi
11	Burnett & Washburn		Guy Benson	Rep.	Spooner
19	Calumet		Charles R. Barnard	Rep.	Brillion
28	Chippewa		Arthur L. Padrutt	Prog.	Chippewa Falls
24	Clark		Walter E. Cook	Rep.	Unity
27	Columbia		Arthur E. Austin	Rep.	Rio
16	Crawford		Donald C. McDowell	Rep.	Soldiers Grove
26	Dane	1	Lyall T. Beggs	Prog.	Madison
		2	Earl Mullen	Prog.	Blooming Grove
		3	Rudy W. Roethlisberger	Rep.	Verona
13	Dodge	1	Elmer L. Genzmer	Dem.	Mayville
		2	Jesse A. Canniff	Rep.	Beaver Dam
01	Door		Alex Meunier	Rep.	Sturgeon Bay
11	Douglas	1	Frank D. Sheahan	Prog.	Superior
		2	Arthur Lenroot Jr.	Rep.	Superior
29	Dunn		Earl W. Hanson	Rep.	Elk Mound
28	Eau Claire		John T. Pritchard	Rep.	Eau Claire
30	Florence, Forest, & Oneida		Walter S. Fisher	Rep.	Minocqua
18	Fond du Lac	1	William J. Nuss	Rep.	Fond du Lac
		2	Alfred Van De Zande	Rep.	Campbellsport
16	Grant	1	William H. Goldthorpe	Rep.	Cuba City
		2	Hugh A. Harper	Rep.	Lancaster
17	Green		Harry A. Keegan	Rep.	Monroe
18	Green Lake & Waushara		Halbert W. Brooks	Rep.	Green Lake
17	Iowa		Glenn H. James	Rep.	Montfort
12	Iron & Vilas		Alex J. Raineri	Rep.	Hurley
32	Jackson		Casper D. Waller	Prog.	Black River Falls
33	Jefferson		Palmer F. Daugs	Dem.	Lake Mills
31	Juneau		Pat W. Brunner	Rep.	Lyndon Station
22	Kenosha	1	Frederick Pfennig	Rep.	Kenosha
		2	Matt G. Siebert	Dem.	Salem
01	Kewaunee		Joseph M. Mleziva	Rep.	Luxemburg
32	La Crosse	1	Edward C. Krause	Rep.	La Crosse
		2	Ernest F. Storandt	Rep.	West Salem
17	Lafayette		Henry Youngblood	Rep.	Wiota
30	Langlade		Clair Finch	Rep.	Antigo
25	Lincoln		James H. Hamlin	Rep.	Merrill
01	Manitowoc	1	Otto A. Vogel	Prog.	Manitowoc
		2	Frank E. Riley	Rep.	Two Rivers
25	Marathon	1	Martin C. Lueck	Rep.	Hamburg
		2	Paul A. Luedtke	Rep.	Wausau
30	Marinette		Orin W. Angwall	Rep.	Marinette
09	Milwaukee	1	Charles P. Greene	Dem.	Milwaukee
06		2	Michael F. O'Connell	Dem.	Milwaukee
08		3	Alfred Swendson	Dem.	Greendale
09		4	Frank E. Schaeffer Jr.	Dem.	Milwaukee
03		5	Mary O. Kryszak (died Jul. 16, 1945)	Dem.	Milwaukee
09		6	Le Roy Simmons	Dem.	Milwaukee
06		7	Clyde Follansbee	Rep.	Milwaukee
08		8	Douglas C. Steltz	Dem.	Milwaukee
05		9	Edward L. Graf	Rep.	Milwaukee
07		10	Leland McParland	Dem.	Cudahy
03		11	Ervin J. Ryczek	Dem.	Milwaukee
07		12	Peter Pyszczynski	Dem.	Milwaukee
04		13	William Nawrocki	Dem.	Milwaukee
		14	John R. Devitt	Rep.	Milwaukee
05		15	Charles E. Collar	Rep.	Milwaukee
06		16	Ernest L. Riebau	Rep.	Milwaukee
07		17	Roman R. Blenski	Dem.	Milwaukee
06		18	Charles M. Fisher	Dem.	Milwaukee
05		19	Charles F. Westfahl	Rep.	Milwaukee
08		20	Milton F. Burmaster	Rep.	Wauwatosa
31	Monroe		Alex L. Nicol	Rep.	Sparta
02	Oconto		John E. Youngs	Rep.	Oconto
14	Outagamie	1	Fred H. Frank	Rep.	Appleton
		2	Gustave Hanges	Rep.	Kimberly
20	Ozaukee		Fred L. Feierstein (died Oct. 29, 1945)	Rep.	Random Lake
10	Pierce		Selmer W. Gunderson	Rep.	Spring Valley
29	Polk		Raymond A. Peabody	Rep.	Milltown
23	Portage		John Kostuck	Dem.	Stevens Point
12	Price		Mike Cummings	Rep.	Fifield
21	Racine	1	Carl C. Christensen	Rep.	Racine
		2	Willis Frazell	Rep.	Racine
		3	Randolph H. Runden	Rep.	Union Grove
27	Richland		Vernon W. Thomson	Rep.	Richland Center
15	Rock	1	Edward Grassman	Rep.	Edgerton
		2	Burger M. Engebretson	Rep.	Beloit
12	Rusk & Sawyer		Nicholas Christman	Rep.	Tony
27	Sauk		George J. Woerth	Rep.	Prairie du Sac
14	Shawano		Charles Ebert	Rep.	Gresham
20	Sheboygan	1	John Schneider Jr.	Dem.	Sheboygan
		2	Henry W. Timmer	Rep.	Waldo
10	St. Croix		Elmer L. Rundell	Rep.	Roberts
24	Taylor		Carl M. Nelson	Rep.	Medford
32	Trempealeau		Chauncey E. Heath	Rep.	Osseo
16	Vernon		Jerome H. Wheelock	Rep.	Viroqua
22	Walworth		Ora R. Rice	Rep.	Delavan
13	Washington		Theodore Holtebeck	Rep.	West Bend
33	Waukesha	1	Frederic Woodhead	Rep.	Waukesha
		2	Alfred R. Ludvigsen	Rep.	Hartland
23	Waupaca		Julius Spearbraker	Rep.	Clintonville
19	Winnebago	1	Edward M. Schneider (died Mar. 25, 1946)	Rep.	Oshkosh
		2	James C. Fritzen (died Oct. 11, 1945)	Rep.	Neenah
24	Wood		William W. Clark	Rep.	Vesper

Committees

Senate committees

• Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Labor –M. R. Laird, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Committees –W. P. Knowles, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Conservation –T. G. Brown, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures –E. F. Hilker, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and Taxation –L. J. Fellenz, 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 –G. W. Buchen, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Legislative Procedure –C. Shearer, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government –B. Gettelman, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs –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 –J. E. Youngs, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures –A. A. Lenroot, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Education –W. W. Clark, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Elections –C. E. Collar, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills –H. Youngblood, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills –F. E. Riley, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees –F. Pfennig, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Highways –H. A. Keegan, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking –B. M. Engebretson, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary –V. W. Thomson, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Labor –G. Benson, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities –E. C. Krause, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Printing –J. C. Chapple, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare –E. W. Hanson, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Rules –W. J. Nuss, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs –A. E. Austin, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation –J. A. Canniff, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Third Reading –F. L. Feierstein, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation –A. Van De Zande, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs –C. C. Christensen, chair

Joint committees

• Joint Standing Committee on Finance –G. H. Hipke (Sen.) & J. Spearbraker (Asm.), co-chairs
• Joint Standing Committee on Revisions, Repeals, and Uniform Laws –G. W. Buchen (Sen.) & C. F. Westfahl (Asm.), co-chairs

Employees

Senate employees

• Chief Clerk: Lawrence R. Larsen ^[4]
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Harold Damon
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Kenneth Hoard

Assembly employees

• Chief Clerk: Arthur L. May ^[4]
  • Assistant Chief Clerk: Joseph S. Einberger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Norris J. Kellman
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: J. Irvin Thomas

Notes

1. Republican Melvin R. Laird Sr. (24th District) died.
2. Democrat Mary O. Kryszak (Milwaukee County) died.
3. Republican James C. Fritzen (Winnebago County) died.
4. Republican Fred L. Feierstein (Ozaukee County) died.
5. Republican Edward M. Schneider (Winnebago County) died.
6. Republican John C. Chapple (Ashland County) died.

References

1. Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2021). "Historical Lists" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2021–2022 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 468, 471, 475, 479–480. ISBN   978-1-7333817-1-0 . Retrieved August 5, 2023.
2. "Progressives Reluctantly go Republican". The Capital Times . March 18, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved July 26, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. Ohm, Howard F.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1946). "Members of the Legislature". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1946 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. pp. 23–70. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
4. Ohm, Howard F.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1946). "The State Government: Legislative Branch". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1946 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. pp. 251–258. Retrieved August 9, 2023.

External links

• 1945: Related Documents from Wisconsin Legislature