The state Assembly gave preliminary approval to a bill requiring all voters to have a state-issued photo identification card during its first day of floor sessions Tuesday.
Assembly Bill 49 would also increase pay for poll workers, make polling hours uniform throughout the state and require statewide voter registration.
According to Assembly rules, the bill must be held for two days after being amended before it can be given final approval, which is expected Thursday.
The bill will ask the state Elections Board to make recommendations on the specifics of the photo ID requirements.
According to Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, the bill will require an ID card specifically for voting and separate from a driver's license.
\We believe the bill will make it harder for people to vote,"" Black said.
Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, said it was unclear whether a driver's license would suffice for voting and only those residents who do not drive would need voting cards.
""It's not specified what this card is going to look like,"" Berceau said. ""Ideally, what [the Republicans] would like would be some sort of ID you could scan at polling places [separate from a driver's license].""
Berceau said it was also unclear how the bill would affect same-day voter registration, but added that proponents of the bill said voters would still be able to register at the polling places.
An aide to Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, said much of the discussion of the photo ID requirement was contentious, but that the overall bill was a bipartisan product.
""There were a couple of Democrats who were highly partisan, highly contentious,"" said Steve Baas, press secretary for Jensen. ""The rhetoric was partisan, the results were bipartisan.""
The state Senate also held its first floor session Tuesday and passed separate bills to fund BadgerCare through the end of the fiscal year in June and to ban corporate-funded issue ads within 60 days of an election.
BadgerCare, which provides health care for low-income families, is on pace to run out of money before June.
Senate Minority Leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, said she was pleased by the bipartisanship exhibited by the Senate's unanimous support of BadgerCare.
""I think we should all keep this in our minds as a positive bookmark of what we can do if we all work together,"" Panzer said. ""We have a very good program that is a model for the nation. I think that was a shining moment.""
Panzer said she voted against the issue ad bill, though, because it unfairly applied only to corporations and not unions or other organizations.
""Everyone was prepared to support disclosure as long as it was on a level playing field,"" Panzer said.
Senate President Fred Risser, D-Madison, said the bill was necessary because some special interests spend more on campaigns than the candidates do.
""These issue ads are ruining campaigns,"" Risser said.
Risser said the first day of the session was positive.
""The mood was not acrimonious,"" Risser said. ""The mood was cautious but respectful.
