USA > Wisconsin > The Wisconsin blue book 1889 > Part 14
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The drawing of seats by lot has been observed since the Assembly first took possession of the new Assembly Chamber.
The method heretofore pursued is as follows:
The members leave their seats, and take places in the open area behind their seats. The Clerk having placed in a box, slips of paper containing the names of the members respect- ively, a page or messenger draws them therefrom. The Clerk announces each name as it is drawn, and the member named selects his seat, and occupies it until the drawing is com- pleted. In the Senate the seats are usually placed in such manner as will be most agreeable to the Senators.
Compensation.
OF MEMBERS.
Each member of the legislature shall receive for his services for and during a regular session, the sum of five hundred dollars, and ten cents for every mile he shall travel in going to and returning from the place of meeting of the legislature on the most usual route. In case of an extra session of the legislature, no additional compensation shall be allowed to any member thereof, either directly or indirectly, except for mileage, to be computed at the same rate as for a regular session. No stationery, newspapers, postage or other per- quisite, except the salary and mileage above provided, shall be received from the state by any member of the legislature for his services, or in any other manner as such member .- Amendment to Art. IV, section 21, State Constitution.
The presiding officers of the senate and assembly shall issue immediately after the com- mencement of the annual session of the legislature in each year, to each member of the house over which they respectively preside, who is entitled to receive the same, a certificate countersigned by the chief clerk, showing that such member has taken the prescribed offi- cial oath, and the number of miles traveled by him in going to and returning from the place of meeting of the legislature on the most usual route, and thereupon the amount of mileage and salary to which each member is entitled shall be audited and paid out of the state treasury; but when any seat is contested, and notice of such contest has been filed, as required by section one hundred and four, no certificate shall be given, nor shall the secre- tary of state audit any account for salary or mileage to either 'claimant, nor either claim- ant be entitled to receive the same, until the question of the right to such seat shall have been settled. Sec. 110, R. S., 18.8.
OF OFFICERS.
The speaker of the assembly shall be entitled to receive the same compensation. except mileage, allowed to other members of the legislature, for his services as speaker, in addi- tion to his pay as member, to be paid out of the state treasury; but in case of an extra session of the legislature, no extra compensation shall be allowed. Sec. 111, P. S. 1578.
The chief clerks shall receive a salary of eight hundred dollars each, for every regular session, and ten dollars per diem for each special session, and fifty dollars for opening each session, which shall be in full for all services rendered. The other officers and employes of the senate and assembly shall receive pay per diem as follows: The sergeant-at-arins, the assistant clerks and book-keepers, five dollars each; the proof-readers, engrossing, enroll- Ing, transcribing and index clerks, the assistant sergeant-at-arms and the postmaster, four dollars each; the messengers two dollars each, and all other clerks an i employes three dol
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lars each. The copyists shall be paid by the folio, at the rate of fifteen cents per folio for engrossing, and twenty cents per folio for enrolling, and only upon accepted work. Every clerk or employe upon the chief clerk's or sergeant-at-arm's force shall assist when re- quired at any other work in the department than that to which he is regularly assigned, when the good of the service can be promoted thereby. No per diem shall be allowed after the close of the session, except for two days to the transcribing and index clerks, each. whose duty it shall be within that time to satisfactorily and fully complete the indexing and transcribing of the journal. and in case such work is not so completed, a sufficient sum shall be reserved from the pay of the clerk who may make the default to ensure the com- pletion of his work. The chief clerk and sergeant-at-arms of each house shall certify to the secretary of state the names of all persons employed in their respective departments, the capacity employed in, and the amounts respectively due them, which certificate shall be certified to by the presiding officer of the house in which they are employed. Upon such certificates the accounts of the person named therein shall be audited and paid out of the state treasury. At the close of each session of the legislature, the secretary of state shall publish in the official state paper a full list of the accounts so audited. Ch. 408, Laws 1855.
Officers of the Senate and Assembly.
The officers of the senate, other than the president ex-officio and the president pro tem- pore, shall be one chief clerk, one assistant clerk, one book-keeper, one proof-reader, one engrossing clerk, one enrolling clerk. one transcribing clerk, one index clerk, one clerk of the judiciary committee, one clerk of the committee on incorporations, one clerk of the joint cominmittee on claims, one sergeant-at-arms, one assistant sergeant.at-arms. one post- master, one assistant postmaster, four door-keepers, one gallery attendant, who shall also act as committee room attendant, one document room attendant, one document clerk, two committee room attendants, one janitor, one porter, one night watchman and eight mes- sengers. The officers of the assembly aside from the speaker, shall be one chief clerk, two assistant clerks, one book-keeper, one proof-reader, one transcribing clerk, one index clerk, one engrossing clerk, one enrolling clerk, one clerk of the judiciary committee, one clerk of the committee on state affairs, one sergeant-at-arms. one assistant sergeant-at-arms, one postmaster, one assistant postmaster, four door-keepers, tiro gallery attendants, who shall also serve as committee room attendants, one general attendant for the assembly chamber who shall act as policeman, one document room attendant, one document room clerk, two committee room attendants, one porter, one night watchinan, one flagman, one wash room attendant, twelve messengers. After the legislature has been in session for twenty days in any year, there may be appointed on the clerical force of the senate and assembly, each, one comparing clerk, one assistant engrossing clerk, one assistant enrolling clerk, one assistant transcribing clerk, one clerk of the committee on engrossed bills. one clerk of the committee on enrolled bills, and one custodian of the engrossing and enrolling rooms, and one clerk of the committee on bills on their third reading in the assembly. The chief clerk of each house may thereafter employ such copyists as the proper and expedi- tious transaction of the business of his house may require. Additional clerks or attendants for committees may be employed upon extraor linary occasions therefor, but then only upon joint resolution of the two houses. Ch. 408, Laws 1855.
Additional Employes.
The chief clerk of the senate is hereby authorized to employ an assistant clerk at a salary of five dollars per diem; one custodian of the engrossing room, and one comparing clerk at three dollars per diem, compensation to be from the first of the session: also one extra comparing clerk at three dollars per diem. compensation to begin after the Arst twenty days of the session. He shall also have authority to pay the clerk of the committee on engrossed bills from the commencement of the session, at the rate of three dollars per diem. The chief clerk of the assembly is hereby authorized to employ one stationery clerk, at four dollars per diem; one custodian of the engrossing room, one assistant tran- scribing clerk, one comparing clark, at three dollars per diem, compensation to commence at the beginning of the present ses'on; also one comparing clerk, at three dollars per diem,
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whose compensation shall begin after the legislature has been in session twenty days. He shall also have authority to pay the assistant engrossing clerk from the first of the session, at the rate of three dollars per diem.
The sergeant-at-arms of the senate shall have authority to appoint two additional mes- sengers, at two dollars per diem, compensation to commence after the legislature has been in session twenty days .- Ch. 7, laws 1SS7.
Revising and Restoring Compensation of Certain Employes.
The compensation of the following named legislative employes is hereby restored to the sum and rate paid per diem to each respectively, according to chapter 346, of the laws of 1883, to wit: To the committee clerks, assistant postmasters, document room clerks, document room attendants and general attendant of the assembly, three dollars and fifty cents per diem. This act shall be construed to apply to such above named employes of the legislature of 1887, from the time of the commencement of their service. Payment is hereby authorized at the rate of three dollars per day for the four additional committee room attendants of the assembly employed under joint resolution number three, assem- bly, for the twelve days at the beginning of the session of 1837, when they were on duty but for which they have received no pay.
This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication .- Ch. 348, laws 1887.
Duties of Officers.
PRESIDENT AND SPEAKER .- The duties of these officers are generally defined in Senate Rules 2, 3, and 4, and Assembly Rule 9.
CIHEF CLERKS .- Senate Rules 11 and 43, and Assembly Rules 14, 15, 16 and 17, set forth the duties of these officers. They have the care and custody of all the papers and records, and arrange in its proper order, from day to day, after its inception, all the business of the two Houses. They must, in order to have a proper knowledge of the affairs of their depart- ments, apportion, systematize and personally supervise the labor of all their subordinates, and, when not called therefrom by more important duties, should officiate in person at the reading desk. The duties of their subordinates are properly their duties, as all are per- formed under their direction, and they are responsible for any deficiencies. It is their duty to prepare and furnish to the public printer, an accurate record of each day's proceedings, and a copy of every bill, report and other thing ordered to be printed. "on the same day such orders are made;" to keep the pay accounts of employes and issue certificates of per diem to them; to deliver the messages of the one House to the other and to sign subpoenas.
It is their duty to prepare an index to the journal, at the close of the session, and to be present at the opening of the next session, and to attend to such preliminary business as may be necessary, and conduct the proceedings therein until a Speaker is elected, and per- form the duties of Clerk thereof until their successors are chosen and qualified.
They are by law responsible for the safe keeping of all the bills and other documents in possession of the Legislature, and for the proper registry of all proceedings: and are required at the close of the session, to deposit all papars in their possession as Chief Clerks properly classified and labeled, with the Secretary of State.
REGULATIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CLERK.
To insure a systematic and correct performance of the duties of their departments, the Chief Clerks of the two Houses have established the following regulations:
THE ASSISTANT CLERKS .- It is their special duty:
1. To keep a record of each day's proceedings, and to correct the proof of the same when printed.
2. To officiate at the reading desk when required by the Clerk, and in case of his absence to perform his duties generally.
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3. To label and file in the appropriate places all papers presented, with proper dates and references.
4. To select each day all papers ordered to be printed, make the list thereof in a book provided for that purpose, and send them to the State Printer, taking his receipt therefor.
5. To keep a list of all absentees on leave, etc.
THE BOOK-KEEPER. - It is his special duty:
1. To keep the register of bills, resolutions, memorials. etc., showing therein, and oppo- site to each title, all action taken and proceedings had, with regard to such papers.
2. to distribute to the proper committee, or officers, all bills, petitions and other papers referred.
3. To make out all certificates of per diem and mileage, ready for the signature of the
4. To prepare the message to be delivered to the other House, and when not otherwise occupied, to help the Journal Clerk in the performance of his duties.
THE ENGROSSING CLERK .- It is his special duty:
1. To engross all bills ordered to a third reading which the rules require to be engrossed. properly placing all amendments adopted prior to the order for their engrossment.
2. By the direction of the Chief or Journal Clerk to perform any necessary service apper- taining to the duties of the other deputies.
THE ENROLLING CLERK .- It is his especial duty:
To make clear, legible copies of all bilis which have been concurred in, without erasures or interlineations.
THE TRANSCRIBING CLERK .- It is his special duty:
To copy the record of the proceedings of the Assembly into a book prepared for that purpose.
GENERAL REGULATIONS.
1. Each deputy when not occupied in the performance of his own special duties, is to render such assistance to the Clerk and to his associate deputies as may be in his power. or as the pressure of duties in a particular department may render necessary.
2. The deputies are expected to notify the Chief Clerk of any interference by members or others with their duties, and of all improper approaches or requests made to them by any person. They are not to exhibit to any person any bill or other document in their possession without leave of the Chief Clerk.
3. Perfect courtesy must at all times be maintained toward members, reporters, associate deputies, and all who have business to transact with the department, but interference with legislation cannot be allowed under any circumstances.
To Members, Officers, and Reporters .- It is especially requested that no member, officer or reporter will interrupt the Assistant Clerk while engaged in keeping the journal. "No journal, record, account or paper," of any kind, must be taken from the desk, unless by ex- press permission of the Clerk.
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SERGEANT-AT-ARMS .- This officer is the executive officer of the house. He has charge of the Post Office and other appurtenant conveniences of the Assembly. He controls the po- lice regulations, attends to the warming of the chambers, serves the subpoenas and war- rants of the Assembly, announces messages from the Governor and from the Senate. provides rooms for committees, receives from the Superintendent of Public Property all public documents ordered or coming in due course. and distributes the same through the Post Office, or otherwise, to members and officers entitled thereto, and keeps the pay roll of the employes in his department. He is to organize his department with such system that each of his subordinates shall know his precise duties, and he is to see that each per- forms his duty promptly, thoroughly and courteously. He is required to keep the chamber open from 8 o'clock, A. M. to 10 o'clock, P. M.
He should have the printed bills and other documents in his possession so classified and ar- ranged that he can at once answer any call upon him for them. His assistant assists him generally in the discharge of his duties, and takes his place when he is absent.
THE POSTMASTER attends to the receipt and delivery of all mail matter coming to members and officers of the Assembly. Each member has a box in the Post Office of the Assembly corresponding with the number of his seat, in which his mail matter is deposited; and the Postmaster must, by himself or assistant, be at his post from 8 o'clock A. M. until 10 o'clock P. M., and until the adjournment of the assembly for the day. He receives and forwards all mail matter deposited in his office by members or officers, in time to be mailed from the
ยท Speaker and Clerk.
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Madison Post Office. He is to prominently post in the cloak and hat room (which is the members' side of the Post Office), a notice of the hours of closing the Assembly mails. He is entitled to the exclusive use of the Post Office, and no one ought to be admitted thereto except the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Speaker.
THE ASSISTANT-POSTMASTER brings the mail to and from the Madison Post Office, and as- sists the Postmaster generally in his duties.
THE DOORKEEPERS attend to the principal door: open and close it for the entry and exit of all persons: maintain order in the lobby and vestibule; see that visitors are seated, and that the regulations of the House, in their department are strictly enforced.
The assistant sergeant-at-arms, postmaster, assistant postmaster, porter, watchman, doorkeepers, and gallery, committee-room, and wash-room attendants, are appointed by the sergeant-at-arms, and are responsible to him.
The messengers are appointed by the Speaker, except those in particular attendance upon the Chief Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms, who are appointed by said officers respectively.
DUTIES OF MESSENGERS.
1. To be in attendance from 8 o'clock A. M., until 10 o'clock P. M., every day (Sunday ex- cepted), whether the Assembly is in session or not.
2. To receive the journals and printed bills from the Sergeant-at-Arms, and arrange them in order on the file of each member.
3. Not to leave the Assembly Chamber during the morning hour, or absent themselves from the session of the Assembly during an entire das, except upon leave of the Speaker. Clerk or Sergeant-at-Arms.
4. During the morning hour to take the positions assigned to them by the Clerk, and. standing up, so as to see and be seen, hold themselves in readiness to bring all bills, resolu- tions, etc., from the several members to the Clerk, when presented.
5. After the expiration of the morning hour. when not engaged in filing bills, etc., for the members they have in charge, to answer promptly any call, and render assistance to any member requiring it.
6. To refrain from throwing any paper balls, darts, or other missiles; to move lightly across the Assembly Chamber, and demean themselves respectfully towards every member and officer of the Assembly. .
Stationery.
The superintendent of public property shall furnish at the opening of every session of the legislature stationery as follows: To the lieutenant governor such quantity as shall be necessary to the discharge of his duties. not exceeding thirty dollars in value. Also sufti- cient stationery for the proper transaction of the business of the Senate and Assembly. to be delivered to the chief clerks upon their written request, specifying the quantity and kind of stationery required, and the department and purpose for which the same is drawn. Chap. 153, Laws 1882.
Post-Office Arrangements.
The Assembly post-office is in charge of a postmaster appointed by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Each member has a separate box; and all inail matter deposited with the postmaster is sent to the Madison post-office by the post-office messenger, at regular hours, corresponding with the hours of closing the mails at the Madison office.
Process of Passing Bills.
Some diversity of practice exists herein, but the ordinary method in the Assembly is as follows:
A member having prepared a bill and indorsed the title thereof, together with his name. upon the back of it, rises to his feet, at such times as the introduction of bills is in order. and says:
" Mr. Speaker :
If recognized the Speaker responds :
" The gentleman from -
The member announces :
" I ask leave to introduce a bill."
The bill is then sent to the Chief Clerk by a Messenger. The Clerk then reads the title of the bill, and the Speaker announces :
" First reading of the bill."
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If it is a bill appropriating money, the Clerk reads the bill at length; if not, by its title only; when the Speaker announces :
"Second reading of the bill."
And refers the same to some standing committee, suggested by the member, or, if desired, to a select committee; or to the general file, or, as is usual, the Speaker, of his own motion, makes the reference to such committee as seems to him appropriate.
The bill is, in due course, reported back to the Assembly by the committee, when it is placed in what is called the General File.
Bills in the General File are considered in Committee of the Whole in the exact order in which they are placed upon the file. Proceedings in Committee of the Whole will be else- where considered.
After a Committee of the Whole has completed its action upon any bill, and reported the same back to the Assembly, and any recommendation made by the committee passed upon, it is taken up in its order, when the Speaker puts the following question :
"Shall this bill be engrossed and read a third time? "
If decided affirmatively, the bill is sent by the Chief Clerk to the Engrossing Clerk for engrossment. Upon its return engrossed, the original and engrossed bills are placed in the hands of the Committee on Engrossed Bills, who compare them and correct any errors which they may find. When found correct, or made so, the Committee report them to the House as correctly engrossed, when the original is filed by the Chief Clerk, and the engrossed bill goes into the order of " bills ready for a third reading."
When, under the order of business. the bill is reached, the bill (unless it appropriates money) is read by its title, when the Speaker says as follows :
" This bill having been read three several times, the question is, shall the bill pass?"
If the bill passes it is taken to the Senate, with a message announcing its passage by the Assembly, and asking the concurrence of the Senate therein.
Going through with a similar process in the Senate, it is returned with a message an- nouncing the action there had upon it.
If the Senate concurs, the bill is sent to the Enrolling Clerk, who makes a copy thereof, as is elsewhere described. When enrolled it goes to the Committee on Enrolled Bills. who compare it with the engrossed bill; when found or made correct, they report the bill to the Assembly as correctly enrolled: the engrossed bill is filed by the Chief Clerk: the enrolled bill is then indorsed by the Chief Clerk as having originated in the Assembly (for the in- formation of the Governor in case he vetoes it); then it is signed by the Speaker, ani sent by the Chief Clerk to the President of the Senate, desiring the signature of the President of the Senate thereto. The Committee on Enrolled Bills of the two Houses, acting jointly, then present the bill, duly signed, to the Governor, for his approval, and report that fact to the House. The Governor, if he approves the bill, informs the House in which it origi- nated, of the fact, and that he has deposited it with the Secretary of State.
This is the ordinary process of a bill through all its stages until it becomes a law. A bill of great interest or importance, or one which is warmly contested, may, by reason of ma- jority and minority reports, special orders, recommitment, amendments, substitutes. com- mittees of conference, and various other parliamentary appliances, pass through a vast variety of stages not before enumerated.
Senate bills coming into the Assembly, after passing the Senate, are read twice by title (unless they appropriate money, when they must be read at length) and then referred to the appropriate committee.
After consideration in Committee of the Whole, the recommendation of the Committee is acted upon in the Assembly - the question being after recommendations are disposed of. " Shall this bill be ordered to a third reading?"
If it is decided affirmatively, the bill passes into the order of "bills on third reading." and when reached in that order the question is,
"Shall this bill bo concurred in? "
If concurred in, the bill is returned to the Senate, with the message informing it of that fact.
If it is desired to hasten the passage of the bill, it is done by motion as follows:
: " I move to suspend all rules which will interfere with the unmediate passage of bill No. -, Assembly, entitled ' a bill to -. ""
If this motion prevails, which requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present, the question will be put on the passage of the bill, and If passed it will go at onde to the Senate.
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Committee of the Whole .*
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