[1] This session represented the first time the Republican Party of Wisconsin held full control of state government since 1970.

This session also saw the Legislature authorizing new taxes to fund the construction of Miller Park for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The stadium tax plan, however, resulted in the Republicans losing control of the state Senate in a June 1996 recall election.

Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first two years of a four-year term.

[1] The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Republican Tommy Thompson, of Juneau County, serving the first two years of his third four-year term, having won re-election in the 1994 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.