Next week, both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature are expected to meet and to take up Republican leaders’ proposals for legislative and congressional redistricting. The Senate is expected to be in session on Monday, November 8, while the Assembly is expected to meet the following Thursday, November 11. The Legislature’s current floor session ends on November 11; the next regularly scheduled session is January 18 through 27 of next year.

Governor Tony Evers (D) has publicly stated that he will veto the Republican-led redistricting bills, meaning that the issue will ultimately be resolved in court, likely by the Wisconsin Supreme Court or by a panel of federal judges. Earlier this year, Gov. Evers appointed his own advisory body, the “People’s Maps Commission,” which recently released its final report and draft maps. Gov. Evers has indicated he will support the commission’s proposed maps in court.

As we reported last month, Republican legislative leaders announced their proposals for new state legislative and congressional districts on October 20. The proposals have been introduced as AB 624/SB 621 and AB 625/SB 622, both authored by Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).

On November 4, the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection voted 3-2 along party lines to recommend the bills for passage. The Assembly Committee on State Affairs is scheduled to meet on November 8 to vote on the bills. The two committees previously held a joint public hearing on the proposals on October 28.

In September and October, the Wisconsin Legislature held its first regular floor periods since the passage of the state budget in late June. Both the Senate and Assembly have now met three times each since the summer to vote on a variety of measures. Both houses met on September 28; we covered the Assembly’s floor calendar here and the Senate’s here. All of the items on each house’s calendar that day were passed.