Breaking down the process of putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Wisconsin
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MADISON, Wis. — An amendment to the state constitution could be on the horizon, placing the issue of bail reform before the voters in April.
If the state Assembly approves the measure Thursday as is expected, the amendment will be on the ballot within a matter of months. It was not a snap decision, however.
“Wisconsin does something more complicated though not as difficult as the U.S. Constitution,” University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Heinz Klug said.
It is a drawn-out process — the amendment takes at least two years, starting in the Legislature as a joint resolution. Once both chambers pass that resolution, it gets placed on a shelf until the end of that two-year legislative session. Both chambers must pass the resolution again in a following session before it goes to the people for a vote.
“The whole point is that by two different sessions, it’s beyond an election, so that allows, supposedly, the people to engage,” Klug said.
Thursday’s debate in the Assembly will be the final legislative vote on a bail reform amendment before it heads to a referendum. The proposal would allow judges to raise the dollar amount for defendants’ bail based on more criteria than they can now — like a defendant’s conviction history.
The reason the Legislature has to go through this additional process, and not just change the policy through a simple bill, is that a 1981 constitutional amendment set the criteria for judges initially — so it requires another amendment to change it back.
“The reason you want a higher bar before you have an amendment or change to the constitution is because it’s a higher law,” Klug said. “It’s a form of law that’s supposed to set the parameters within which the system works.”
The Senate approved the measure earlier in the week, and the Legislature is working quickly through the process to meet a Jan. 24 deadline for the referendum to be on the April ballot. Because the amendments are passed through joint resolutions, the governor does not get the opportunity to veto the proposal.
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
COPYRIGHT 2023 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
