Use of Paper Ballots Soared in State Senate

On the last day on the floor before the Wisconsin Senate adjourned for the 2021-22 session, the body was debating Senate Bill 963, which would establish a parental bill of rights.

The bill, which was passed on a 19-12 vote, was advanced out of the Senate Education Committee through the use of a paper ballot by a 4-3 vote.

Whenever a bill is introduced in the Senate, it is assigned to a committee where it receives a public hearing. From there, the committee holds an executive session to vote on whether it should be advanced to the floor or not. The executive session can be held as a public meeting in which the members all appear in a committee room to debate and take a public vote, or as a paper ballot, which just involves the senators returning a piece of paper noting how they voted to the committee’s chair.

Senate Bill 963, and hundreds of other bills introduced this session, were advanced out of their committees without an in-person executive session — depriving committee members an opportunity for debate and a chance to offer amendments or try to improve legislation, Democrats say.

“Unfortunately, the committee that we had this was the ninth time we had a paper ballot where we did not have an in-person executive session,” Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said in the floor debate of the bill about the education committee’s deliberations. “So there’s no chance to debate, no chance to talk, no chance to have a back and forth. Just a piece of paper, sign it or don’t.”

In the education committee, which held all nine of its executive sessions by paper ballot, and across the Senate, their use has skyrocketed this session.

In the 2017-18 session, paper ballots were used in 37.8% of the 169 executive sessions and in 2019-20, paper ballots were used in 44% of the 150 executive sessions, according to data from the Legislative Council. This session, paper ballots were used in 69.8% of the 159 executive sessions, the data shows.

Republicans, who hold a majority in the Senate and therefore control each committee, and decide how executive sessions will be held, gave a number of reasons for the increase. Some say the rise in paper ballots occurred because they didn’t hear any objections, while others say the debate in an in-person session isn’t actually helpful.

But Democrats and open government advocates see an erosion of debate and an inability or refusal to work toward making better law.

“It’s disappointing to see the use of paper ballots increasing. It does deprive the committee members of the opportunity to further discuss and refine the particulars in a bill,” Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, says. “It’s unfortunate this is happening because it does take away the possibility of further substantive discussions, it’s a take it or leave it vote that’s done remotely. Better legislation results from these hearings, that’s why they have them. Why should they be able to skip that step?”

Mike Mikalsen, a staff member for Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform — which held all 12 of its executive sessions by paper ballot — says paper ballots were used because it’s allowed.

“Paper ballots are permitted, there’s no restriction on them,” Mikalsen says.

He adds that the Democrats on the Labor committee often appeared at public hearings remotely, which he says is difficult to accommodate for executive sessions.

Plus, according to Mikalsen, most debates in executive sessions aren’t very helpful.

“I think the issue at hand is, if you look at the history of this session, most members come to the committee already having decided how they’re going to vote ahead of time,” he says. “The issue you’re raising that somehow debate changes minds, that’s not necessarily the fact. What might change somebody’s mind is the public hearing, that is the more consequential part of the process in terms of changing people’s minds.”

But Larson says that, at least in the education committee, back-and-forth debate between members was discouraged during the public hearings.

“The chair specifically said we’re not here to debate the bills, discuss the bills, we’re here to learn and ask questions,” he says. “Not only was it not happening, it was not welcome to have a discussion about the bills. That is less than truthful.”

The education committee’s chair, Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), did not respond to a request for comment.

The Senate Committee on Government Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection held 11 of its 16 executive sessions by paper ballot. Mark Radcliffe, a staff member for the committee’s chair, Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville), says it was mostly because none of the committee members objected.

“It’s a straightforward arrangement all the committee members were comfortable with,” Radcliffe says. “Had we heard concerns or objections to that arrangement we would have made an effort to schedule more executive sessions in person. Since it seemed to be something that was well received, that’s why a majority of executive sessions were held by paper ballot.”

Larson and Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) say the executive session is exactly the place for a bill to be improved upon. A bill is written and introduced into the committee where it gets a public hearing. At the public hearing, the members are given facts about the bill from experts and groups who might be affected if it’s enacted into law. If there’s a mistake, an oversight or someone genuinely has a change of heart, the bill can then be amended at the executive session before reaching the floor of the Senate.

Holding executive sessions by paper ballot cuts out that improvement process, they say.

“The public hearing is for us to listen to testimony and learn the facts and oftentimes change your mind because of what we hear,” Smith says. “But at the executive session following the hearing, it’s precisely why you have a meeting, because you can amend the bill.”

“It’s too bad really because does that mean the majority party believes they’re so 100% right all the time — that they never learn anything new from someone else?” he continues.

The increase of paper ballots, and, in some committees, the resulting denial of the opportunity for the minority party to offer amendments, has increased the divisions in an already polarized Senate.

“I think it added to the division here in this Capitol,” Smith says. “It’s added to the idea that we get nothing done and that we don’t work together. I hear so often, ‘Why can’t you guys work together?’ I’d sure like to be able to answer that question with, ‘Well, we do.’ But unfortunately the people’s idea is absolutely correct. There’s not an opportunity to do that if we aren’t meeting in a committee room where we can have respectful debate and opportunities to hear views from both sides of the aisle and consider amendments.”

Use of paper ballots explodes in Senate executive sessions was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.