Skip to content
Bills from the 2009–10 session

Assembly Bill 143

Application of the open meetings law to legislative party caucuses

Topics: Legislature, Legislature: Rules: Assembly, Legislature: Rules: Joint, Legislature: Rules: Senate, Open meeting (Governmental)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Mar 13, 2009

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 28, 2010: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Assembly Organization. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

Following saves it on this device. New actions show on your Following page. You can also get updates in a feed reader.

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Currently, under the open meetings law, with certain exceptions, meetings of state and local governmental bodies must be preceded by public notice, must be held in places that are reasonably accessible to the public, and must be open to the public at all times. If a meeting is properly noticed, a governmental body may, by recorded vote of a majority of the members present, convene in closed session for the purpose of considering certain matters specified by law. The open meetings law provides that the law does not apply to any partisan caucus of the senate or assembly, except as provided by legislative rule.

This bill deletes the exception in the open meetings law that makes the law inapplicable to a partisan caucus of the senate or assembly, except as provided by legislative rule. Under the bill, no rule of the senate or assembly and no joint rule of the legislature that exempts a partisan caucus of the senate or assembly from compliance with the open meetings law is valid.

Who's behind it

5 representatives are its ⁠. 3 are Democrats, 1 is a Independent and 1 is a Republican.

2 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 7 names

Authors (5)

Signed on in support (2)

What happened

  1. Apr 28, 2010

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Jun 16, 2009

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Mar 13, 2009

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Assembly Organization.

  4. Mar 13, 2009

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 13, 2009 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Mason, Kaufert, Hintz, Wood and Berceau;Cosponsored by Senator A. Lasee

  2. Mar 13, 2009 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to committee on Assembly Organization

  3. Jun 16, 2009 · Assembly

    Representative Roth added as a coauthor

  4. Apr 28, 2010 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor