68th Wisconsin Legislature

The Sixty-Eighth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session, and reconvened in a special session in July 1948.
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 5, 1946. 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 7, 1944.
The governor of Wisconsin at the start of this legislative term was Republican Walter Samuel Goodland, of Racine County, serving the first months of his third two-year term, having won re-election in the 1946 Wisconsin gubernatorial election. Goodland died of a heart attack on March 12, 1947. At that time, the lieutenant governor, Republican Oscar Rennebohm, of Dane County, then ascended to become governor for the remainder of this legislative term.

Major events

January 6, 1947: Third inauguration of Walter Samuel Goodland as Governor of Wisconsin.
February 20, 1947: The U.S. Army Hermes program launched the Blossom I rocket into space, carrying plants and fruit flies. These were first the living things launched into space by humans.
March 12, 1947:
* U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine to Congress, stating that it would be U.S. policy to defend democracies against authoritarian threats.
* Wisconsin governor Walter Samuel Goodland died in office. He was immediately succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Oscar Rennebohm as the 32nd governor of Wisconsin.
April 1, 1947: Judge Henry P. Hughes was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating incumbent justice James Ward Rector.
April 16, 1947: The first use of the term Cold War to describe the postwar tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
May 22, 1947: U.S. President Harry Truman signed an act of Congress implementing his Truman doctrine and providing military and economic aide to Turkey and Greece.
June 23, 1947: The U.S. Congress overrode President Harry Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act, restricting the powers of labor unions.
July 26, 1947: U.S. President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, creating the United States Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the United States National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
October 5, 1947: U.S. President Harry Truman delivered the first televised presidential address.
October 14, 1947: U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager was the first man to travel faster than the speed of sound, piloting the Bell X-1 rocket plane.
October 30, 1947: The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed by 23 nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
November 24, 1947: The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten" for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
November 29, 1947: The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was approved by the United Nations General Assembly.
January 30, 1948: Indian anti-colonial peace activist Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi.
March 8, 1948: In the case McCollum v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public schools violated the U.S. Constitution.
April 3, 1948: U.S. President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan into law.
April 8, 1948: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Chester A. Fowler died in office.
June 1, 1948: Wisconsin Governor Oscar Rennebohm appointed John E. Martin to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to succeed the deceased justice Chester A. Fowler.
June 24, 1948: The Soviet Union implemented a blockade of West Berlin.
June 26, 1948: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Elmer E. Barlow died in office.
July 26, 1948: U.S. President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces
November 2, 1948: 1948 United States general election:
* Harry S. Truman elected President of the United States.
* Oscar Rennebohm elected Governor of Wisconsin.
* Wisconsin voters rejected an amendment to the state constitution to repeal the section on municipal eminent domain.
November 12, 1948: Wisconsin Governor Oscar Rennebohm appointed Grover L. Broadfoot to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to succeed the deceased justice Elmer E. Barlow.
December 9, 1948: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
December 10, 1948: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Major legislation

June 26, 1947: An Act... relating to records of state officers and making an appropriation, . Created the Committee on Public Records within the Wisconsin Historical Society.
July 16, 1947: An Act... providing for a commissioner of banks, a commissioner of saving and loan associations, a supervisor of credit unions, and a credit union review board, abolishing the banking commission, transferring files and personnel, making an appropriation, and providing penalties, . Reorganized the Wisconsin Department of Banking and related agencies.
1947 Joint Resolution 48: Second legislative passage of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to repeal the section on municipal eminent domain. This amendment was rejected by voters at the November 1948 election.

Sessions

Regular session: January 8, 1947September 11, 1947July 1948 special session: July 19, 1948July 20, 1948

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Oscar Rennebohm
President pro tempore: Frank E. Panzer
Majority leader: Warren P. Knowles
Minority leader: Robert Emmet Tehan

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Donald C. McDowell
Majority leader: Vernon W. Thomson
Minority leader: Leland McParland

Members

Members of the Senate

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

Dist.	Counties	Senator	Residence	Party
01	Door, Kewaunee,		Two Rivers	Rep.
02	Brown		Green Bay	Dem.
03	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Dem.
04	Milwaukee (Northeast County		Milwaukee	Rep.
05	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Rep.
06	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Dem.
07	Milwaukee (Southeast County		Milwaukee	Dem.
08	Milwaukee		West [Milwaukee, Wisconsin\|West Milwaukee]	Rep.
09	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Dem.
10	Buffalo, Pepin, Pierce,		New Richmond	Rep.
11	Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas,		Superior	Rep.
12	Ashland, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer,		Glidden	Rep.
13	Dodge		Oakfield	Rep.
14	Outagamie		Appleton	Rep.
15	Rock		Beloit	Rep.
16	Crawford, Grant,		Bloomington	Rep.
17	Green, Iowa,		South Wayne	Rep.
18	,		Fond du Lac	Rep.
19	Calumet		Oshkosh	Rep.
20	Ozaukee		Sheboygan	Rep.
21	Racine		Racine	Rep.
22	Kenosha		Kenosha	Rep.
23	Portage		Stevens Point	Rep.
24	Clark, Taylor,		Marshfield	Rep.
25	Lincoln		Merrill	Rep.
26	Dane		Madison	Prog.
27	Columbia, Richland,		Richland Center	Rep.
28	Chippewa		Stanley	Rep.
29	Barron, Dunn,		Luck	Rep.
30	Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marinette,		Amberg	Rep.
31	Adams, Juneau, Monroe,		Sparta	Rep.
32	Jackson, La Crosse,		La Crosse	Rep.
33	Jefferson			Rep.

Members of the Assembly

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

Committees

Senate committees

Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and ConservationM. Olson, chair
Senate Standing Committee on CommitteesJ. Miller, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresE. F. Hilker, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public WelfareR. P. Robinson, chair
Senate Standing Committee on HighwaysJ. Miller, chair
Senate Standing Committee on the JudiciaryG. W. Buchen, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Labor and ManagementL. J. Fellenz, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Legislative ProcedureF. E. Panzer, chair
Senate Standing Committee on State and Local GovernmentR. Schlabach, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Veterans AffairsF. B. Porter, chair

Assembly committees

Assembly Standing Committee on AgricultureO. R. Rice, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and ManufacturingC. R. Barnard, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ConservationJ. E. Youngs, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresJ. M. Mleziva, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on EducationW. W. Clark, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ElectionsC. E. Collar, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed BillsC. Ebert, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled BillsE. L. Rundell, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and FeesW. S. Fisher, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on HighwaysH. A. Harper, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and BankingB. M. Engebretson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on the JudiciaryV. W. Thomson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on LaborE. L. Genzmer, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on MunicipalitiesP. A. Luedtke, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on PrintingG. J. Woerth, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Public WelfareE. W. Hanson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RevisionT. Holtebeck, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RulesF. Pfennig, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on State AffairsR. H. Runden, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TaxationJ. A. Canniff, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Third ReadingF. H. Frank, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TransportationA. Van De Zande, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Veterans and Military AffairsC. C. Christensen, chair

Joint committees

Joint Standing Committee on FinanceG. H. Hipke & J. Spearbraker, co-chairs
Joint Standing Committee on Revisions, Repeals, and Uniform LawsJ. C. McBride & M. F. Burmaster, co-chairs
Joint Legislative CouncilW. P. Knowles, chair