WAPL 2006: What Are They Doing at the Capitol?

This session was presented by Michael J. Keane, Senior Legislative Analyst, Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. He gave an informative program about the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, which is a service agency that is the main source of information for legislative business. The LRB has a statutory obligation to serve the public.

For answers to your questions you can call them at 608-266-0341 or find what you need at the LRB web site http://www.legis.state.wi.us/.

On the LRB web site you can find answers to:

• What committee hearings are going on?
• Can I listen to the legislature online? Yes, real-time audio of floor debates, etc. is available.
• What's going on in the legislature right now?
• How did my legislator vote on a bill?
• Who represents me; who are my legislators? You can find his/her name, photo, email address and web site
• What district do I live in? Legislative districts change based on population shifts.
• How can I follow a piece of legislation?

Sign up for the Legislative Notification Service to receive an email message each time there's action on a bill. You can sign up to keep up on the status of a particular bill, the author of a bill, a committee or a topic.

The Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight is a summary of what has recently happened.

The Wisconsin Legislature Infobase is a keyword-searchable database of bills and proposals, from 1995 to today. Prior to 1995 the information is available in hardcopy only; the LRB will make photocopies for just about anyone.

Wisconsin State Statutes are searchable online by keyword; if you're looking for the "lemon law" or "minimum markup law" they're searchable by their popular names.

The Wisconsin Law Archive has scanned copies of acts and statutes back to 1969, and they're continuing to add more.

Every State of Wisconsin Blue Book is available online, back to 1997.

Also available is a glossary of legislative terms.

The Eye on Lobbying shows you who's lobbying, what they're lobbying about and what organizations with which they're associated. Find which bills had the most lobbying effort.