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New Senate Rule Would Bar Lawmakers From Taking Photos During Debate

Several Senators Have Taken Photos Using Cellphones And Uploaded Them To Social Media

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Stairs leading up to the chambers of the Wisconsin State Senate. Photo: Keith Ewing (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Wisconsin state senators would not be allowed to take pictures with their cellphones or any other camera inside the Senate chamber under a proposed new rule.

The rule would stop lawmakers from taking pictures during debate. Some have taken pictures during debate and immediately posted them to social media sites, like Twitter and Facebook.

Members of the public observing debate are already precluded from taking pictures from the gallery. Now senators would be barred from doing it as well.

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The new proposed rules were released Monday by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald’s office. They were scheduled to be voted on Tuesday.

Tony Palese, spokesman for Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, says he’s heard of no opposition to the rules from Democratic senators.