66th Wisconsin Legislature

The Sixty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular 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 3, 1942. 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 5, 1940.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Republican Walter Samuel Goodland, of Racine County, serving a two-year term, having won the 1942 lieutenant gubernatorial election and then being sworn in as governor following the death of the governor-elect Orland Steen Loomis.

Major events

January 4, 1943: Inauguration of Walter Samuel Goodland as the 31st Governor of Wisconsin.
February 2, 1943: The Battle of Stalingrad came to an end with the surrender of the German 6th Army to Soviet forces.
August 17, 1943: Allied forces completed the invasion of Sicily.
September 3, 1943: The Kingdom of Italy surrendered to Allied forces.
September 23, 1943: The Italian Social Republic was established by German forces in northern Italy as a puppet state of Germany.
December 24, 1943: U.S. Army general D. Eisenhower became Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
January 11, 1944: In his State of the Union, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a second bill of rights for economic and social security.
January 27, 1944: After more than two years, the Siege of Leningrad was lifted as German forces retreated.
April 16, 1944: The battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was commissioned.
June 6, 1944: Allied forces conducted a forced amphibious landing at Normandy, opening a western front against Nazi Germany. It was the largest amphious military operation in history.
July 22, 1944: The Bretton Woods Conference ended with agreements for regulating the international monetary and financial order after the war, leading to the establishment of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the International Monetary Fund.
August 25, 1944: Allied forces completed the Liberation of Paris.
October 7, 1944: The Dumbarton Oaks Conference concluded with an agreement on a set of proposals for the postwar diplomatic and security order.
October 26, 1944: American and Australian naval forces destroyed 28 Japanese warships at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in what was the largest naval battle in history.
November 7, 1944: 1944 United States general election:
* Franklin D. Roosevelt re-elected to a fourth term as President of the United States. The only time a U.S. president was elected to a fourth term.
* Walter Samuel Goodland elected Governor of Wisconsin
* Alexander Wiley re-elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
December 17, 1944: The Green Bay Packers won the 1944 NFL Championship Game.

Major legislation

May 21, 1943: An Act... relating to the creation and operation of a municipal retirement system, . Created Wisconsin's municipal employee pension system.
May 22, 1943: An Act... relating to a retirement system for state employes, and making an appropriation, . Created Wisconsin's state employee pension system.
1943 Joint Resolution 27: First 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 eventually ratified by voters at the April 1945 election.
1943 Joint Resolution 37: First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow the state to take on debt for the development of aeronautical facilities. This amendment was eventually ratified by voters at the April 1945 election.
1943 Joint Resolution 60: First legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to remove audit powers from the Secretary of State and instead grant that authority to the Legislature. This amendment was eventually ratified by voters in two separate parts at the November 1946 election.

Sessions

Regular session: January 13, 1943January 22, 1944

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: --Vacant--
President pro tempore: Conrad Shearer
Majority leader:
* P. Knowles
* John W. Byrnes

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Vernon W. Thomson
Majority leader: Mark Catlin Jr.
Minority leaders:
* Elmer L. Genzmer
* Lyall T. Beggs

Members

Members of the Senate

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

Members of the Assembly

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

Committees

Senate committees

Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and LaborM. R. Laird, chair
Senate Standing Committee on CommitteesM. T. Murray, 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 HighwaysJ. Miller, chair
Senate Standing Committee on the JudiciaryJ. W. Byrnes, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Legislative ProcedureC. Shearer, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Military AffairsB. Gettelman, 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 ManufacturesE. Grassman, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ConservationE. A. Heden, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresG. Benson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on EducationW. H. Goldthorpe, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ElectionsW. J. Nuss, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed BillsH. Youngblood, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled BillsC. M. Nelson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and FeesJ. A. Schmitz, 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 LaborW. E. Cook, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on MunicipalitiesW. F. Double, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on PrintingJ. C. Chapple, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Public WelfareE. W. Hanson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RevisionC. E. Collar, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RulesD. C. McDowell, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on State AffairsA. E. Austin, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TaxationA. R. Ludvigsen, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Third ReadingW. F. Miller, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TransportationD. I. Hammergren, chair

Joint committees

Joint Standing Committee on FinanceH. Lewis & P. B. McIntyre, co-chairs
Joint Standing Committee on Revisions, Repeals, and Uniform LawsG. W. Buchen & W. J. Nuss, co-chairs