65th Wisconsin Legislature

The Sixty-Fifth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session.
This legislative term coincided with the United States entrance into World War II. This session also represents the first time the Legislature failed to pass a redistricting act on schedule. Ultimately, no redistricting would occur in Wisconsin in the 1940s.
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 5, 1940. 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 8, 1938.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Republican P. Heil">Wisconsin Progressive Party">P. Heil, of Milwaukee County, serving his second two-year term, having won re-election in the 1940 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

Major events

January 6, 1941:
* Second inauguration of Julius P. Heil as Governor of Wisconsin.
* At his State of the Union address, U.S. President D. Roosevelt">Democratic Party (United States)">D. Roosevelt presented his Four Freedoms as fundamental human rights.
January 20, 1941: Third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States.
January 21, 1941: The keel of the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was laid down at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
March 11, 1941: The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
April 1, 1941: Wisconsin voters ratified an amendment to the state constitution allowing real estate taxes to be paid in installments.
May 27, 1941:
* U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed an unlimited national emergency.
* The Germany Navy battleship Bismarck was scuttled and sunk after being damaged in battle with British Navy off the coast of France.
June 14, 1941: All German and Italian assets in the United States were frozen.
June 22, 1941: Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union and breaking their non-aggression pact.
July 1, 1941: Commercial television was authorized in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission.
July 8, 1941: Wisconsin U.S. representative Stephen Bolles died in office.
August 14, 1941: The United States and United Kingdom issued the Atlantic Charter, describing their goals for a postwar world.
October 30, 1941: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt approved a $1 billion lend-lease aide package for the Soviet Union.
December 7, 1941: Naval forces of the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor.
December 8, 1941: The United States United States [declaration of war on Japan|declared war on Japan].
January 7, 1942: The German Army abandoned their attempt to take Moscow after a three-month battle.
January 20, 1942: At the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, officers of the Nazi German government decided that the Final Solution to the "Jewish Problem" would be deportations to extermination camps.
March 9, 1942: The first prisoners of war arrived at Wisconsin's Fort McCoy.
March 18, 1942: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9102, creating the War Relocation Authority.
April 26, 1942: The German Reichstag met for the last time, dissolving and declaring Adolf Hitler supreme judge of the German people.
May 8, 1942: Imperial Japanese forces completed the conquest of the Philippines, taking roughly 100,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war.
June 4, 1942: United States Navy aviators sank all four of Japan's fleet carriers present at the Battle of Midway.
November 3, 1942: Orland Steen Loomis elected Governor of Wisconsin.
November 8, 1942: About 100,000 men of the United States and allied nations under the command of Dwight D. Eisenhower landed at various points along the coast of North Africa.
November 9, 1942: German Army forces controlled roughly 90% of the city of Stalingrad, representing the closest the Germans would come to capturing the city.
December 2, 1942: At a lab below Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, a team led by Enrico Fermi created the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction as part of the Manhattan Project.
December 7, 1942: Wisconsin governor-elect Orland Steen Loomis died of a heart attack.
December 11, 1942: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice George B. Nelson resigned.
December 12, 1942: Wisconsin governor Julius P. Heil appointed Elmer E. Barlow to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to succeed the retired justice George B. Nelson.
December 29, 1942: In a unanimous decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the lieutenant governor-elect, Walter S. Goodland, would be sworn in as the next governor in place of the deceased governor-elect.

Major legislation

1941 Joint Resolution 18: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow payment of real estate taxes in installments. This amendment was ratified by voters at the April 1941 election.

Sessions

Regular session: January 8, 1941June 6, 1941

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Walter S. Goodland
President pro tempore: Conrad Shearer
Majority leader: Maurice Coakley
Minority leader: Cornelius T. Young

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Vernon W. Thomson
Majority leader: Mark Catlin Jr.
Minority leaders:
* Andrew Biemiller
* Robert Emmet Tehan

Members

Members of the Senate

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

Members of the Assembly

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

Committees

Senate committees

Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and LaborF. R. Fisher, chair
Senate Standing Committee on CommitteesM. Coakley, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresT. G. Brown, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and TaxationM. T. Murray, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public WelfareW. A. Freehoff, chair
Senate Standing Committee on HighwaysM. Mack, chair
Senate Standing Committee on the JudiciaryJ. Peters, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Legislative ProcedureC. Shearer, chair
Senate Standing Committee on State and Local GovernmentR. Schlabach, chair

Assembly committees

Assembly Standing Committee on AgricultureO. R. Rice, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and ManufacturesB. M. Engebretson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ConservationF. N. Graass, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresE. Grassman, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on EducationW. H. Goldthorpe, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ElectionsR. H. Burns, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed BillsH. Youngblood, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled BillsC. M. Nelson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and FeesE. F. Hilker, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on HighwaysD. C. McDowell, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and BankingJ. C. McBride, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on the JudiciaryM. Catlin, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on LaborA. R. Ludvigsen, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on MunicipalitiesL. T. Niemuth, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on PrintingC. W. Fowell, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Public WelfareE. W. Hanson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RevisionC. F. Westfahl, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RulesM. Catlin, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on State AffairsA. E. Austin, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TaxationE. A. Heden, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Third ReadingW. F. Miller, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TransportationD. I. Hammergren, chair

Joint committees

Joint Standing Committee on FinanceO. Mueller & P. B. McIntyre, co-chairs

Employees

Senate employees

Chief Clerk: Lawrence R. Larsen
* Assistant Chief Clerk: Thomas M. Donahue
Sergeant-at-Arms: Emil A. Hartman
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Winford H. Johnson

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