Rep. Robin Vos (Photo: WRN)

Chaos was common in the Assembly during the recently ended legislative session. Protesters frequently disrupted the proceedings, minority Democrats would pile on amendments to drag out debate, and lawmakers stayed overnight on multiple occasions.

Republican state Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) hopes that will not be the new normal and lawmakers will return next session ready to start fresh.

Vos, who many believe will be the new Assembly Speaker if Republicans hold on to the chamber after next November, says there needs to be a “sincere discussion with whoever is in charge” to find ways to make the process more productive. He says that could include limiting the number of bills the Assembly takes up in a day or enforcing time limits on floor debate.

AUDIO: Rep. Robin Vos (1:24)

Vos is opposed to the idea of putting voting deadlines on the chamber. He says that only opens the door for those wishing to disrupt the process to go home, get sleep, and then come back to make the same argument for another 12 hours. He’s more open to enforcing existing time limits on certain types of motions on the floor.

As for changing the tone of the debate in the Legislature, Vos thinks the likely recall election against Governor Walker this summer will lead to a “cleansing of the soul” for those at the Capitol. If Walker wins, Vos hopes Democrats will accept the victory and understand that it means the governor has two more years to work on his agenda.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:02)

A legislative committee has signed off on a rule which allows concealed carry permit holders from other states to carry concealed in Wisconsin, even though those states may have looser training requirements. Brian O’Keefe with the state Department of Justice told lawmakers on Tuesday that the agency has been able to keep up with demand for concealed carry permits. “We’re meeting all our statutory requirements,” O’Keefe told members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. “Right now, on average, it’s probably about ten days we can turn them (permit requests) around.” About 100,000 applications have been received.

The JCAR approved an emergency rule allowing people issued permits in other states to carry concealed here, over the objections of Democrats on the panel. “To let people under reciprocity come in with a lesser degree of training and review than is required of our own citizens I think is absolutely wrong,” said state Senator Fred Risser.

“There is no requirement in the statute for other states training to be a factor in our recognition of our state, so we do not include that in our assessment of whether we recognize or not,” O’Keefe explained.

Legislation changing the makeup of the Milwaukee Area Technical College has been approved by the Wisconsin Assembly – more than thirty hours after debate began on the contentious issue. The measure, which earlier passed the state Senate after a delayed vote, now heads to Governor Scott Walker for his signature.

The two sides in the Assembly brokered a deal to preserve FCC licenses held by MATC. In exchange for that assurance, Democrats agreed to drop dozens of amendments. That cleared the way for the chamber to continue with the rest of the calendar and, potentially, close the biennial legislative session some time Friday night.

The bill was authored by state Senator Glenn Grothman, who leveled criticism at the school during last week’s Senate debate. “There is a feeling that the graduates of MATC are not as good as the graduates of some of the surrounding colleges, and that’s one of the reasons why the Milwaukee business community has, over a period of time, expressed a concern over MATC,” Grothman said.

The bill would ensure five of nine MATC board members be from the business community. I was amended to only deal with MATC, not the state’s other technical college boards. Democrats in both legislative chambers noted that is was the original bill, not the amended version impacting only the Milwaukee campus, which was the subject of public hearings,