A Wisconsin lawmaker isn’t winning any friends in the Legislature with his proposal to save money by cutting the body nearly in half. “This is the only time I’ve asked for co-sponsors on a bill and didn’t get any,” veteran state Rep. Spencer Black, a Madison Democrat, said as his proposal went before a committee Thursday.
It would reduce the state Assembly from 99 seats to 57 and the state Senate from 33 seats to 19. Black estimates it would save about $10 million a year that could be used to boost student aids at the University of Wisconsin System or save other programs threatened by the current state budget crisis.