The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) is a nonpartisan agency that provides legal advice, legislative drafting services , and public policy research and analysis to the Wisconsin Legislature , and reference services to the legislature, state agencies, and the public.
7-543: The LRB staff is responsible for nearly all drafting of legislation in Wisconsin, operating at the request of legislators and state agencies. LRB staff also maintain and update the official Wisconsin statutes and the rules of the legislature. LRB publishes the biennial report of laws passed at each session of the legislature and the biennial report of the state government, the Wisconsin Blue Book . In addition,
14-488: A special article of substantial length, focusing on either a natural feature or some social aspect about the state. Hardcover editions of the book may be obtained for no cost by Wisconsin residents by contacting their State Representative or State Senator . It can also be ordered from the Wisconsin Department of Administration 's "Document Sales and Distribution Unit". This Wisconsin -related article
21-538: Is an almanac containing information on the government, economics, demographics, geography and history of the state of Wisconsin . It was published annually from 1879 to 1883, and then biennially since 1885 to the present day. It is currently published in the fall of every odd-numbered year, corresponding to the start of each new biennium of the Wisconsin state government. Since 1995, the Blue Book has been available free in electronic form. Many editions also provide
28-722: The LRB operates a legislative library, and provides research and library services to the general public. The Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Committee on Legislative Organization acts as the governing body overseeing the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau and selects the director, who employs and oversees all bureau staff. The director is Richard A. Champagne. The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau traces its origin to
35-570: The Legislature. The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library became a model for the Congressional Research Service , which opened in 1914. The Library's duties were expanded over the years. They became responsible for bill drafting in 1907 ( 1907 Wisc. Act 508 ), and became responsible for compiling and publishing the Blue Book in 1929 ( 1929 Wisc. Act 194 ). The Legislative Reference Library
42-558: The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library, which was established by an act of the Legislature in 1901 ( 1901 Wisc. Act 168 ). The Legislative Reference Library was a first-of-its-kind Progressive Era innovation which sought to utilize the expertise of the University of Wisconsin and the resources of Wisconsin's state law library to improve the quality and consistency of the lawmaking process in
49-565: Was renamed to the Legislative Reference Bureau in 1963. Initially under the supervision of the Free Library Commission, the 1963 law also placed the bureau under the supervision of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Legislative Organization. Wisconsin Blue Book The Wisconsin Blue Book is a biennial publication of the Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau. The Blue Book
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