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How the State Senate voted Thursday:
Republicans voting yes (18):
Brown, Eau Claire; Cowles, Green Bay; Darling, River Hills; Ellis, Neenah;
Fitzgerald, Juneau; Harsdorf, River Falls; Kanavas, Brookfield; Kedzie,
Elkhorn; Lasee, DePere; Lazich, New Berlin; Leibham, Sheboygan; Panzer,
West Bend; Reynolds, Wauwatosa; Roessler, Oshkosh; Schultz, Richland Center;
Stepp, Sturtevant; Welch, Redgranite; Zien, Eau Claire
Democrats voting yes (5):
Decker, Schofield; Breske, Town of Eland; Lassa, Stevens Point; Plale, South
Milwaukee; Wirch, Kenosha
Republicans voting no: 0
Democrats voting no (10):
Carpenter, Milwaukee; Chvala, Madison; Coggs, Milwaukee; Erpenbach, Middleton;
Hansen, Green Bay; Jauch, Poplar; Meyer, LaCrosse; Moore, Milwaukee; Risser,
Madison; Robson, Beloit
What's Next:
The question now goes to the 99-member Assembly. A two-thirds vote also is required there. The original Assembly vote to pass the bill was 64-35.
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Senate Overrides Doyle's Veto on Concealed Weapons
Assembly vote still needed, By Steven Walters
Taken from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel Online Website - Originally Posted: Jan. 22, 2004
In one of the most dramatic and emotional votes in years, the state Senate voted today to override Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a bill that would allow adults to carry concealed weapons
The 23-10 vote - which won one more vote than the minimum bill supporters needed - means the Assembly will decide whether Wisconsin repeals its 1870 ban on concealed weapons.
After a lengthy debate that went into the wee hours of Nov. 6, the Assembly passed the bill, 64-35 - two short of the two-thirds majority needed.
The override votes of several Assembly members were in doubt Thursday, making it uncertain whether the governor's veto would be overturned. The Legislature has not overridden a governor's veto since 1985.
"We need a lot of help in the Assembly," admitted the bill's chief Senate sponsor, Sen. Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire). "We need prayers. We need God-fearing people to say their prayers" and ask for divine help that the override vote also passes the Assembly.
If any of the seven Assembly Democrats who voted for the bill in November change their votes when the Assembly takes up the override next week, "they will have blood on their hands," Zien said.
He said that he pushed the bill for Wisconsin's 100,000 members of the National Rifle Association and noted that law-abiding citizens need to be allowed to legally carry handguns and other weapons to protect themselves, their families and their property.
"If 46 states have it, how can we be against it?" Zien said.
But Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) said the northwestern Wisconsin residents that he represents don't "sit at their kitchen table" and talk about how they need to be armed to conduct their daily lives.
"The special-interests won today," Jauch said. "The NRA won today."
"I think this is all about fear," added Jauch. He said key Democrats - whom he refused to name - were intimidated into their votes by gun owners and other activists pushing the bill. "We don't need any more fear in our society."
The vote was originally scheduled for Wednesday, just before Doyle gave his annual State of the State speech. But fearing the override vote would embarrass the governor on his day in the spotlight, Senate Democrats stalled the vote, pushing it into today.
Doyle was traveling the state Thursday morning, signing a bill that would streamline the process of issuing air and water quality permits to businesses. Doyle views the measure as a victory for himself and bipartisanship, which has been rare in his first year in office.
But if a two-thirds majority of the Assembly also overrides the veto, and the concealed weapons bill becomes law, it would be Doyle's biggest political setback since he took office.
Three key Democratic senators - Russ Decker of Schofield, Julia Lassa of Stevens Point and Bob Wirch of Kenosha - did not switch their votes from last fall as Doyle had hoped. Instead, they sided again with the Senate's 18 Republicans, giving the measure the two-thirds majority needed.
Two other Senate Democrats - Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee and Roger Breske of the Town of Eland - had indicated early on that they would stand firm and vote to override the governor.
Today's vote came quickly, with no debate, and one day after dozens of uniformed police, sheriff's deputies and State Patrol officers lobbied against the bill.
At the same time, dozens of gun owners gathered in the Capitol hoping to win support for the measure.
Complete coverage of this story will appear online later today and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the morning.