Jon B. Erpenbach (born January 28, 1961) is an American politician currently serving as chairman of the Wisconsin Parole Commission in the administration of Governor

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers ( ; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of p ...

. He previously served as a Democratic member of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

, representing the 27th District from 1999 to 2023.

Early life, education and career

Erpenbach was born in Middleton,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and graduated from Middleton High School. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UWO) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to around 13,0 ...

from 1979 to 1981. He worked as a

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

on two

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

area radio stations and also worked for a

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

station. He subsequently worked in both the State Assembly and Senate in media relations and as communications director.Erpenbach's State Senate biography
/ref>

Wisconsin Senate

Erpenbach was elected to represent the 27th Senate District in November 1998 and was re-elected in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. He retired from the Senate in 2023. He served as the Democratic Minority Leader from 2003 to 2005. He authored Wisconsin's No Call List legislation that was passed and signed into law in 2001. The legislation was a forerunner of the federal government's Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003.

Bills and policy positions

The achievement that Senator Erpenbach is most well known for is his extremely successful and popular Do Not Call legislation, passed and signed into law in 2001. The bill had bipartisan support in both the Senate and Assembly. The consumer protections in the bill include: allowing consumers to add their land or cellular telephones to the Do Not Call list, creating a prohibition for unsolicited faxes, and Increasing the penalties for violations from the current maximum of $100 to amounts between $1,000 and $10,000. The bill was a forerunner of the federal government's Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003. Erpenbach is well known for his Healthy Wisconsin bill. official WI Senate website
/ref> Erpenbach authored the Traveling Sales Crew Regulation bill, also known as Malinda's Law, which would give traveling sales crew members similar employment rights that part-time workers in Wisconsin are currently guaranteed by state law. The bill would also require all crews to register with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection before going door to door in state communities. By registering members of the crew, alerts for members with outstanding warrants in other states can be identified and criminals detained. The bill passed last session in the State Senate but was stopped in the Assembly. It is expected that the bill will become law this legislative session.

2011 Wisconsin protests

During the protests in Wisconsin, Erpenbach fled to Illinois along with the 13 other Democratic State Senators to attempt to deny the State Senate a quorum on Governor Scott Walker's Budget Repair legislation, ultimately unsuccessfully.

Wisconsin Parole Commission

Erpenbach did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2022 and on January 13, 2023 was appointed chairman of the Wisconsin Parole Commission by Governor

, a fellow Democrat.

References

External links

Profile
at the

Campaign website
*
27th Senate District, Senator Erpenbach
in the

Wisconsin Blue Book The ''Wisconsin Blue Book'' is a biennial publication of the Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau. The ''Blue Book'' is an almanac containing information on the government, economics, demographics, geography and history of the state of Wisc ...

(2005–2006)
Senator Jon Erpenbach
(archive) at the

Wisconsin State Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...

*
constituency site
(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Erpenbach, Jon B. 1961 births Employees of the Wisconsin Legislature Living people People from Middleton, Wisconsin Politicians from Dane County, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature