63rd Wisconsin Legislature
The Sixty-Third Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session, and reconvened in a special session from to.
This was the high water mark for the power of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, as they controlled both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor's office.
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 3, 1936. 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 6, 1934.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Progressive Philip La Follette, of Dane County, serving his third two-year term, having won re-election in the 1936 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.
Major events
- January 4, 1937: Third inauguration of Philip La Follette as Governor of Wisconsin.
- January 20, 1937: Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States. The first presidential inauguration to take place on January 20.
- May 6, 1937: The commercial airship LZ 129 Hindenburg was destroyed in an accidental fire while attempting to dock at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, in New Jersey, killing 35 passengers and crew.
- July 7, 1937: The Marco Polo Bridge Incident between forces of the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, ignited the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- July 22, 1937: The United States Senate rejected U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's proposal to add seats to the United States Supreme Court.
- October 16, 1937: Wisconsin lieutenant governor Henry Gunderson resigned.
- March 13, 1938: German leader Adolf Hitler declared the annexation of Austria.
- May 16, 1938: Herman Ekern was appointed lieutenant governor of Wisconsin to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry Gunderson.
- September 29, 1938: The Munich Agreement was signed by German, Italian, French, and British delegates, resolving the Sudetenland crisis by allowing Germany to annex the contested territory from Czechoslovakia.
- November 8, 1938: 1938 United States general election:
- * P. Heil">Wisconsin Progressive Party">P. Heil elected Governor of Wisconsin.
- * Alexander Wiley 1938 [United States Senate election in Wisconsin|elected] United States senator from Wisconsin.
- November 9, 1938: Nazi activists and paramilitaries in Germany engaged in a nationwide pogrom against Jewish businesses and religious spaces, known as Kristallnacht.
- December 17, 1938: Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of Uranium.
Major legislation
- 1937 Act 51: Created the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board.
Sessions
Regular session: January 13, 1937July 2, 1937September 1937 special session: September 15, 1937October 16, 1937Leaders
Senate leadership
- President of the Senate: Henry Gunderson
- * Herman Ekern
- President pro tempore: Walter J. Rush
Assembly leadership
Members
Members of the Senate
Members of the Senate for the Sixty-Third Wisconsin Legislature:Members of the Assembly
Members of the Assembly for the Sixty-Third Wisconsin Legislature:Committees
Senate committees
- Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and LaborJ. E. Leverich, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on CommitteesE. M. Rowlands, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresR. E. Kannenberg, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and TaxationW. J. Rush, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public WelfareP. E. Nelson, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on HighwaysF. E. Panzer, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on the JudiciaryH. J. Severson, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Legislative ProcedureW. J. Rush, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on State and Local GovernmentA. L. Zimny, chair
Assembly committees
- Assembly Standing Committee on AgricultureH. W. Schilling, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and ManufacturesE. W. Blomquist, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on ConservationP. A. Hemmy, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresJ. L. Sieb, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on EducationA. A. Hitt, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on ElectionsA. D. Kelly, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed BillsB. B. Kroenke, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled BillsM. Franzkowiak, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and FeesA. J. Balzer, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on HighwaysE. D. Hall, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and BankingJ. W. Grobschmidt, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on the JudiciaryB. M. Vaughan, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on LaborD. Sigman, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on MunicipalitiesM. H. Hall, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on PrintingT. Swanson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Public WelfareE. H. Kiefer, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on RevisionJ. L. Barber, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on RulesH. B. Wegner, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on State AffairsJ. D. Millar, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on TaxationH. S. Halvorsen, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Third ReadingM. O. Kryszak, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on TransportationJ. T. Pritchard, chair
Joint committees
- Joint Standing Committee on FinanceE. M. Rowlands & E. J. Hoesly, co-chairs
Employees
Senate employees
- Chief Clerk: Lawrence R. Larsen
- * Assistant Chief Clerk: Arno C. Handel
- Sergeant-at-Arms: Emil A. Hartman
- * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Albert E. Daley
Assembly employees
- Chief Clerk: Lester R. Johnson
- Sergeant-at-Arms: Gustave Rheingans
- * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Phillip K. Lalor