Wisconsin Emergency Plan Calls for Secret Succession List

Wisconsin lawmakers would submit secret lists of emergency successors under a bill a state disaster committee adopted Wednesday.

The Legislative Council Special Committee on Emergency Management and Continuity of Government has been working to revise and update state emergency and disaster laws.

Under the legislation the panel unanimously adopted Nov. 12, lawmakers would secretly choose three to seven people to replace them every two years and give the list to the chief clerks of each house. The list would not be subject to Wisconsin’s open records law.

The presiding officers would choose the successors in the order they’re listed whenever more than nine vacancies arise in the Senate or 25 vacancies occur in the Assembly. The replacements would have full voting powers and would serve until a special election could be held.

The bill would have to pass the full Legislature and get the governor’s signature before it could become law.

Robert Dreps, a Madison attorney who specializes in open records, said lawmakers have the authority to carve out exceptions to the law. He said a need probably exists for temporary legislative successors, but not knowing who they would be is “flatly undemocratic.”

“To suggest the information shouldn’t be public strikes me as completely unnecessary,” Dreps said.

Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, the committee’s chairman, said the new procedure would be used only in emergencies, such as a pandemic that incapacitates large numbers of lawmakers. The committee wanted to keep the successors secret to avoid “an unhealthy political debate” about their identities, he said.

“It is a little bit of an awkward proposal,” Jauch said. “But you’re talking about extraordinary circumstances. It’s designed to make sure you have a functioning government.”

If the picks were public, committee member Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, added, someone might try to kill them to create a power void.

“These are scenarios that aren’t out of the realm of possibility in this day and age,” Jauch said.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called that far-fetched.

“I don’t see that there’s a public policy justification for secrecy. We don’t in fact live in a world where members of the Legislature are routinely picked off by terrorists,” Lueders said. “They’re coming up with this far-fetched scenario to justify secrecy.”

The committee also adopted:

_A bill that would allow the Legislature to choose where it meets during a state of emergency. Currently only the governor can order lawmakers to convene outside Madison.

_A bill that would permit lawmakers to convene through a virtual meeting, such as a Web cast or conference call, if an emergency prevents them from meeting in Madison.

_A constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to enact succession procedures during any period of emergency. That would be a change from current constitutional language that allows such procedures only during an enemy attack. Constitutional amendments must pass two consecutive legislative sessions and a public referendum to take effect.