Pushing legislation through the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate may not be an all-consuming task, but sometimes the trip to get there is. Although some legislators are able to balance their duties with other jobs or business interests, those living in the far reaches of the state may not because of the time consumed by commuting.

Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, said that location was an important issue when thinking about downtime from state government.

“I think the bigger thing that you have got to take into account is that there are 132 legislators, and out of those, about 80 or so get to go home to their families during the week,” Montgomery said.

Much of the Legislature members are from home districts in populous areas surrounding large cities like Madison and Milwaukee and live within only a few hours’ drive from the state Capitol.

“Other representatives such as Lorraine Seratti [R-Florence] and myself have to stay a couple nights a week in Madison, which obviously takes time away from families and other pursuits,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery has children who are 10 and 13 years old and said that while state government is in session, he typically spends at least Tuesday and Wednesday nights away from them. Montgomery said that if he has an early Monday meeting or an Assembly session that ran late Thursday night, his stay away from home can be extended.

Lawmakers may choose to keep working at, or remain affiliated with, the jobs they left when elected.

Rep. J.A. “Doc” Hines, R-Oxford, is a veterinarian, beef farmer and bed-and-breakfast owner and operator.

Seratti said working as a legislator from a northern district kept her from working at another job.

“It’s about a four and three-fourths (hour) drive from Madison,” Seratti said. “I usually leave at 5 a.m. on Tuesday and leave for home late on Thursday night. It would be pretty much impossible to be employed anywhere unless it was extremely limited part-time.”

Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, lives only 15 minutes from the Capitol and is able to keep up on other pursuits as well as work as a senator.

“I’ve got a part-time job, and I hang out with my kids when I’m not working on legislation,” Erpenbach said.

Erpenbach said balancing family life and a part-time job with his legislative responsibilities was no simple task.

“Between those three things, I’m kept hopping,” Erpenbach said.

Montgomery said he kept busy at home on the weekends watching his son play basketball and his daughter figure skate and that he enjoys bicycling.

Seratti said she like to take her dog for hikes in the woods around her house.

“We enjoy the outdoors a lot. We live on a lake, so we enjoy most of the sports that you would on a lake — boating and that sort of thing,” Seratti said. “But my weekends are not entirely my own either, because there are a lot of events I like to try and go to in the community.”

Legislators are continuing to work on the budget proposal introduced by Gov. Doyle, who is an avid golfer and has claimed to be the all-time point leader on the University of Wisconsin Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center’s basketball courts.