The Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly is the presiding officer of the

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 ...

State Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

, the lower house of the

Wisconsin 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 Republ ...

. Article IV of the

Constitution of Wisconsin The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin is the governing document of the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It establishes the structure and function of state government, describes the state boundaries, and declares the rights of state citizens. The ...

, ratified in 1848, establishes the legislature and specifies the election of officers. The role and responsibilities of the speaker are defined in the Assembly Rules, originally in Rule 1, and also, under the present rules, Rule 3.

Selection

The speaker is chosen by a majority vote of the Assembly members at the start of each session or whenever a vacancy occurs in the role during a session, as such, the speaker is almost always the ''de facto'' leader of the Assembly's majority party. A speaker pro tempore is elected concurrent with the election of the speaker, to carry out the speaker's duties in his or her absence. Unlike the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, the rules of the Assembly require that the speaker and speaker pro tempore be elected from among the members of the Assembly.

Powers and duties

The speaker is empowered to make all Assembly

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

assignments and office assignments for members, and supervises all officers of the Assembly. The speaker is required to authenticate all acts, orders, or proceedings from the Assembly, and, with the countersignature of the chief clerk, issues all

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

s on behalf of the Assembly or its committees.

Current Speaker

The current Speaker of the Assembly for the

105th Wisconsin Legislature The One Hundred Fifth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session. The Legislature also held two extraordinary sessions and six special sessions during the term. Senators representing even-numbered districts were newly electe ...

Robin Vos Robin Joseph Vos (born July 5, 1968) is an American businessman and Republican politician and the 79th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving in that role since 2013. He has been a member of the Assembly since 2005, representing mos ...

of Burlington,

Racine County, Wisconsin Racine County ( ) is a County (United States), county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine, Wisconsi ...

. He is the 79th speaker since the establishment of the State Assembly and the 75th person to hold the office. He is currently serving his fourth term as speaker, first elected to the role on January 7, 2013. The Speaker pro tempore is Representative

Tyler August Tyler August (born January 26, 1983) is an American Republican politician from Walworth County, Wisconsin. He is the majority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2023 and previously served as the chamber's speaker pro tempore. He repre ...

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

Walworth County, Wisconsin Walworth County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 106,478. Its county seat is Elkhorn, Wisconsin, Elkhorn. The county was created in ...

. This is his third full term in the role after being elected by the caucus in the October 2013.

Selection

Powers and duties

Current Speaker

List of speakers

Wisconsin Territory (1836–1848)

Wisconsin State Assembly (1848–Present)

See also

References