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How the Legislature works

House leaders have the real clout

Assembly members, part 1

Assembly members, part 2

Assembly committees

Senate members

Joint committees

Legislative schedule

Congressional delegation

Senate and Assembly proceedings can be followed on the Internet

Doyle pulls Democrats out of the wilderness

Members of Gov. Doyle's cabinet

Cabinet agencies

New attorney general at justice

Six-member board oversees ethics code

Lobbying by the numbers

How do lawmakers turn ideas into laws?

Writing your elected representatives

Visiting the Capitol? Hit the deck

Wisconsin symbols

Research tools

Index of advertisers

Research tools

Essential Web sites

A complete list of state Web sites and their content would fill a book. Fortunately, there are a handful of essential sites with links to other resources.

Some of the most frequently used sites include:

The Legislature's home page (www.legis.state.wi.us). Links to the state Senate and Assembly, including members' home pages and live coverage of floor activity, full text and history of legislative proposals, committee reports, agency publications, state statutes and the Wisconsin Blue Book, the official almanac of state government.
The state Ethics Board (ethics.state.wi.us). Links to which groups and individuals are lobbying lawmakers on specific topics or legislation, what position they're taking and how much they're spending. The board also offers a paid subscription service to notify users of new bills and lobbying effort on topics of interest to them.
The state Elections Board (elections.state.wi.us). Links to candidates' and political action committees' campaign finance reports, campaign registration information and election results.
Portal Wisconsin, (www.wisconsin.gov), the official Web page of the executive branch of government. Links to state agencies, the Legislature, courts, and local and federal government sites. The site provides one-stop shopping for hundreds of state services and resources, including school test scores, phone and e-mail directories of state employees, legal notices, state statistics and instructions for getting on a statewide do-not-call list to block telemarketing calls.
Two private political Web sites, www.thewheelerreport.com and www.wispolitics.com, have also become indispensable for following state politics. Both require paid subscriptions for much of their content, mostly of interest to Capitol insiders, but also offer a full range of free information, including regularly updated press releases, calendars of events and links to political news stories and opinion.

State of Wisconsin Telephone Directory

One helpful tool to locate state workers is the State of Wisconsin Telephone Directory.

In years past, the phone book included the name and number of state employees based in Madison, as well as city, county and university employees in the Madison and Milwaukee areas.

Beginning with the 2001 book, however, the Department of Administration limited the book to departmental and topical listings. It is distributed by Document Sales and Distribution, 202 S. Thornton Ave., Madison, WI 53707.

To order, call 608-266-3358. The directory cost $2.50 if you pick it up from Document Sales and $4.50, which includes postage and handling, if shipped.

Questions or comments concerning the directory can be sent to: PhoneDirectories@deg.state.wi.us

The best source for personnel listings is the state's Web page, www.wisconsin.gov, which includes links to several directories including an updated state telephone book.