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63rd Wisconsin Legislature
← 62nd 64th →
Wisconsin State Capitol ca.1915
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 4, 1937 – January 2, 1939
Election	November 3, 1936
Senate
Members	33
Senate President	Henry Gunderson (P) (resigned Oct. 16, 1937) Herman Ekern (P) (from May 16, 1938)
President pro tempore	Walter J. Rush (P)
Party control	Progressive
Assembly
Members	100
Assembly Speaker	Paul Alfonsi (P)
Party control	Progressive
Sessions
Regular January 13, 1937 – July 2, 1937
Special sessions
Sep. 1937 Spec. September 15, 1937 – October 16, 1937

The Sixty-Third Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 13, 1937, to July 2, 1937, in regular session, and reconvened in a special session from September 15, 1937, to October 16, 1937.

This was the high water mark for the power of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, as they controlled both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor's office.

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 3, 1936. 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 6, 1934.

Major events

• January 4, 1937: Third inauguration of Philip La Follette as Governor of Wisconsin.
• January 20, 1937: Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States. The first presidential inauguration to take place on January 20.
• May 6, 1937: The commercial airship LZ 129 Hindenburg was destroyed in an accidental fire while attempting to dock at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, in New Jersey, killing 35 passengers and crew.
• July 7, 1937: The Marco Polo Bridge Incident between forces of the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, ignited the Second Sino-Japanese War.
• July 22, 1937: The United States Senate rejected U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's proposal to add seats to the United States Supreme Court.
• October 16, 1937: Wisconsin lieutenant governor Henry Gunderson resigned.
• March 13, 1938: German leader Adolf Hitler declared the annexation of Austria.
• May 16, 1938: Herman Ekern was appointed lieutenant governor of Wisconsin to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry Gunderson.
• September 29, 1938: The Munich Agreement was signed by German, Italian, French, and British delegates, resolving the Sudetenland crisis by allowing Germany to annex the contested territory from Czechoslovakia.
• November 8, 1938: 1938 United States general election:
  • Julius P. Heil (R) elected Governor of Wisconsin.
  • Alexander Wiley (R) elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
• November 9, 1938: Nazi activists and paramilitaries in Germany engaged in a nationwide pogrom against Jewish businesses and religious spaces, known as Kristallnacht.
• December 17, 1938: Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of Uranium.

Major legislation

• 1937 Act 51: Created the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board.

Party summary

Senate summary

Assembly summary

Sessions

• Regular session: January 13, 1937 – July 2, 1937
• September 1937 special session: September 15, 1937 – October 16, 1937

Leaders

Senate leadership

• President of the Senate: Henry Gunderson (P) (resigned Oct. 16, 1937)
  • Herman Ekern (P) (appointed May 16, 1938)
• President pro tempore: Walter J. Rush (P–Neillsville)

Assembly leadership

• Speaker of the Assembly: Paul Alfonsi (P–Pence)

Members

Members of the Senate

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

Members of the Assembly

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

Committees

Senate committees

• Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Labor – J. E. Leverich, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Committees – E. M. Rowlands, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – R. E. Kannenberg, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Corporations and Taxation – W. J. Rush, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public Welfare – P. E. Nelson, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Highways – F. E. Panzer, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary – H. J. Severson, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on Legislative Procedure – W. J. Rush, chair
• Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government – A. L. Zimny, chair

Assembly committees

• Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture – H. W. Schilling, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Manufactures – E. W. Blomquist, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Conservation – P. A. Hemmy, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – J. L. Sieb, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Education – A. A. Hitt, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Elections – A. D. Kelly, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills – B. B. Kroenke, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills – M. Franzkowiak, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees – A. J. Balzer, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Highways – E. D. Hall, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking – J. W. Grobschmidt, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary – B. M. Vaughan, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Labor – D. Sigman, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities – M. H. Hall, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Printing – T. Swanson, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare – E. H. Kiefer, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Revision – J. L. Barber, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Rules – H. B. Wegner, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs – J. D. Millar, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation – H. S. Halvorsen, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Third Reading – M. O. Kryszak, chair
• Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation – J. T. Pritchard, chair

Joint committees

• Joint Standing Committee on Finance – E. M. Rowlands (Sen.) & E. J. Hoesly (Asm.), co-chairs

Employees

Senate employees

• Chief Clerk: Lawrence R. Larsen
  • Assistant Chief Clerk: Arno C. Handel
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Emil A. Hartman
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Albert E. Daley

Assembly employees

• Chief Clerk: Lester R. Johnson
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Gustave Rheingans
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Phillip K. Lalor

Notes

1. Republican Nels Larson (Winnebago County) died.

References

1. ^ Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2021). "Historical Lists" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2021–2022 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 468, 471, 475, 479–480. ISBN 978-1-7333817-1-0. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
2. ^ Ohm, Howard F.; Bryhan, Leone G., eds. (1937). "Members of the Legislature". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1937 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. pp. 23–70. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
3. ^ Ohm, Howard F.; Bryhan, Leone G., eds. (1937). "Officers of the Senate and Assembly". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1937 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. pp. 541–546. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• 1937: Related Documents from Wisconsin Legislature

• 1937 in Wisconsin
• 1938 in Wisconsin
• 1937 U.S. legislative sessions
• 1938 U.S. legislative sessions
• Wisconsin legislative sessions