“Frankly, Robin Vos’ move to prevent us from circulating this petition and his refusal to bring this bill to the floor is pathetic," Assembly Minority Greta Neubauer (D-Racine). (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The Wisconsin Assembly met for its final floor session of 2025 Wednesday, where Democratic lawmakers sought to pass a bill that would extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers for one year after the birth of a child, though Republicans blocked it. Bills to encourage school district consolidation and make changes to elections laws passed.

Republicans block Democratic efforts to get a vote on postpartum Medicaid bill 

Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that have not taken the federal government’s postpartum Medicaid expansion, and Democratic lawmakers hoped to begin the process of changing that during the floor session. 

The bill, which passed the Senate in April on a 32-1 vote, would allow eligible mothers to keep their Medicaid coverage for a year postpartum. Currently in Wisconsin, mothers only get 60 days of coverage if they don’t otherwise qualify for Medicaid.

Assembly Democrats planned to employ a rarely used Assembly rule to pull the bill out of committee and bring it up for a vote. Under the rule, if 50 lawmakers sign a petition, a bill can be brought to the floor. Democratic lawmakers hoped to have the chance to convince some of the Republican cosponsors of the bill to sign on.

Before that could come to fruition, however, the Assembly clerk notified Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) of the plan, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) told reporters. 

Republicans moved the bill from the Assembly Rules Committee, where it had sat since May, to the Assembly Organization Committee — triggering a rule that says a  withdrawal petition on the bill cannot be circulated for 21 days. 

“This is a great effort by the Speaker to prevent this important bill from getting a vote on the floor,” Neubauer said. 

Neubauer said she didn’t know why the clerk notified the Assembly Republican leaders.

“There had been some conversation with staff about the timeline for [the petition], but I’m not really sure why it happened the way it did,” Neubauer told reporters. She said that Rick Champagne, director of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, told the lawmakers that notification should have happened when they turned the petition in with the 50 signatures, not prior to the petition circulating.

All 45 Democratic lawmakers are cosponsors of the bill as are over 20 Republicans, but the bill has been hung up in the Assembly due to opposition from Vos, who has said in the past that he doesn’t support expanding “welfare.” The bill only needs a simple majority of 50 votes to pass the Assembly.

Neubauer read out the names of the Republican cosponsors during the press conference. 

“These are legislators who believe that this bill should become law, so they say, but they have been bullied by their speaker into not pushing for a vote on this bill on the floor,” Neubauer said. “Frankly, Robin Vos’ move to prevent us from circulating this petition and his refusal to bring this bill to the floor is pathetic, and when moms in Wisconsin and their babies are put at risk, their health and well-being is put at risk, because they do not have adequate health care in the year after they have given birth, it will be Robin Vos’ fault.” 

The Republican lawmakers on the bill include Reps. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston), Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek), Scott Allen (R-Waukesha), Elijah Behnke (R-Town of Chase), Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc), Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield), Cindi Duchow (R-Delafield), Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere), Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger), Nate Gustafson (R-Omro), Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah), Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay), Rob Kreibich (R-New Richmond), Scott Krug (R-Rome), Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc), Dave Maxey (R-New Berlin), Paul Melotik (R-Grafton), Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz), Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville), Kevin Petersen (R-Waupaca), David Steffen (R-Howard), Rob Tusler (R-Harrison), Chuck Wichgers (Muskego), Rob Wittke (R-Caledonia), Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer), Calvin T. Callahan (R-Tomahawk), Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) and Joy Goeben (R-Hobart). 

Democratic lawmakers also tried to introduce amendments to a bill on the floor that would have extended postpartum Medicaid coverage, but those were also blocked by Republicans.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to get Republicans to do the right thing. Wisconsin women deserve access to quality, affordable health care and that includes postpartum care,” Vining said before she was cut off by Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Petersen who said she wasn’t on topic.

“This is a disgrace,” Vining yelled out.

School district consolidation 

Democratic and Republican lawmakers split over a package of bills that would encourage school districts to consolidate. Republican lawmakers argue the bills are necessary due to falling enrollment, which they say is the reason for school districts’ financial struggles. 

Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said at a press conference that the bills would address declining enrollment and the cycle of repeatedly going to referendum to raise money from local taxpayers that school districts are in. Schools in Wisconsin have seen a drop of about 53,000 students over a decade, from the 2013-14 to 2022-23 school years.

Of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts, about two-thirds are struggling with declining enrollment with preliminary numbers from the Department of Public Instruction showing that enrollment for public school districts in the 2025-26 school year fell by about 13,600 students. Total enrollment across Wisconsin school districts is about 759,800 this year. 

“Districts with declining enrollment receive less in state aid and to make up for that revenue loss. We’ve seen a growing cycle of constant referendums with varying degrees of success,” Nedweski said. “Wisconsin taxpayers are frustrated with our public school system… They are frustrated with districts continuously asking them to raise their own taxes, frustrated that their generous investments have not produced matching results.”

Democrats blamed Republicans for school districts having to go to referendum, noting that state aid has not kept pace with inflation in nearly two decades. They also said Wisconsinites have not been asking to close schools. Neubauer said Republicans were “proving how disconnected they are from our constituents.”

“Wisconsinites do not want to close school buildings, break up their communities, force their kids to ride on the bus for hours a day, or lose their local sports teams. Wisconsinites want us to fund our public schools,” Neubauer said. “Republicans’ push to close schools misses the mark completely, and Wisconsinites deserve better… Don’t close schools, fund them.”

According to the Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin is spending the least, proportionally, in state revenue that it has ever spent on schools under the current funding formula. About 32.1% of state general purpose revenue goes to state general aid to schools, while that percentage used to be around 35%.

Rep. Angelina Cruz (R-Racine) noted during floor debate that many school districts lost state aid this year. Data from DPI for the 2025-26 school year shows that of 421 districts, 71% — or 301 districts — will receive less state aid this year compared to the prior year and 26% will receive more.

“For 15 years, Wisconsin has intentionally divested in our public schools while expanding privatization through voucher schemes,” Cruz said at a press conference, adding that Racine Unified School District has felt the loss of revenue acutely.

According to DPI data, about 15% of Racine’s revenue limit — or $43 million — goes to pay for voucher program participants.

“Since 2011, our community has gone to referendum three times —  in 2014, 2020 and 2025 — asking residents to raise their own property taxes to provide what the state has refused to fund,” Cruz said. “Even after those referendum paths, our district has been forced to close and consolidate schools including… the school where I grew up as a teacher. This is not about a lack of community commitment. It is about the state failing its constitutional obligation to provide free and as nearly uniform as practicable schools to children… Let me be clear, if there is money to close public schools, there is money to fund public schools.”

Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) rejected claims that the choice program is to blame.

“That’s a tiny little percentage of this,” Kitchens said. “It’s happening because of declining birth rates, of people choosing to have less kids, waiting long to have kids. I can’t imagine how anybody can look at our 421 school districts that we have right now and think that in 30 years, that’s going to be sustainable.”

Kitchens also emphasized that the bills are voluntary.

“Let’s trust our communities to work through these things and decide for what’s best for themselves,” Kitchens said. 

Republicans also rejected Democratic lawmakers’ insistence that the state needs to invest more money in its public schools. 

“[Democrats] want us to believe that if we simply spend more on K-12, people will flock to Wisconsin and increase enrollment,” Nedweski said. She compared Wisconsin to New York, which according to the New York Focus spends more per public school student than any other state. “Their outcomes are no better than ours, and they are losing students even faster than Wisconsin. As they elect more communist leaders like [New York City Mayor-elect] Zohran Mamdani, I suspect more New Yorkers will rapidly leave tax-and-spend Democratic Socialist policies. More spending is not a strategy, it’s denial.”

Nedweski said the bills are a “lifeline” for school districts that can use it and will encourage savings and “invest in increasing opportunities for students who may not otherwise have access to things like AP classes, world languages, advanced tech ed and specialized learning services.”

The six bills in the package:

• AB 644 would increase additional state aid to schools that consolidate in 2027, 2028 and 2029 to $2,000 per pupil in the first year. Under current law, school districts receive additional aid when they consolidate. For the first five years after consolidation, a consolidated school district gets $150 per pupil. In the sixth year, the aid drops to 50% of what the school district received in the fifth year and in the seventh year, the aid drops to 25% of the fifth year. It passed 53-44 with Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) joining Democrats against the bill. 

• AB 645 would provide grants of up to $25,000 to groups of two or more school district boards for the costs of a feasibility study for school district consolidation or whole grade sharing agreements. It passed on a voice vote.
• AB 646 would launch a study of Wisconsin’s school districts, looking at current school district boundaries, potential school district consolidations, existing school district facilities, staffing levels and salary scales, the population of school-age children in each school district, and revenue limits and current overall spending. It passed 54-43 along party lines.

• AB 647 would create a four-year grant program for school districts that enter into a whole-grade sharing agreement, agreeing to educate students at one location. School districts would get up to $500 per pupil enrolled in a single grade. It passed 54-43 along party lines.

• AB 648 would help create new supplemental state aid for consolidated school districts to  address differences in school districts’ levies when they merge. The measure is meant to address concerns of higher property taxes for residents of low-levy districts when a consolidation takes place. It passed 54-43 along party lines.
•  AB 649 provides the funding for the bills, including $2.7 million for grants to schools that enter whole-grade sharing agreements, $3 million to provide state aid to offset levy limit differences and $250,000 for feasibility studies. It passed 54-43 along party lines.

Vote on online sports betting bill delayed

After being fast tracked through the public hearing process, a vote on a bipartisan bill that would legalize online sports betting in Wisconsin was postponed. 

The Wisconsin Constitution requires that gambling in the state must be managed by the state’s federally recognized Native American tribes. Following that requirement, sports betting has been allowed in Wisconsin since 2021, but bets have had to be made in person at tribal casinos. 

AB 601 would expand this to allow for online sports betting anywhere in the state by placing servers running the betting websites and apps to be housed on tribal land; this is known as a “hub and spoke” model. It was introduced in October and received hearings in the Assembly and Senate earlier this month. 

Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth) said that he still would have had the votes on the bill if it had come up for a vote, but he had conversations with members of his caucus over the weekend that brought new issues to his attention. He would not provide details on what the concerns were, though he said they didn’t deal with issues of constitutionality.

“I’m not going to get into the details of the conversations that I’ve had with members,” August said. “We’re just working through some of that right now, and I’m confident that there’s no rush on this. It’s the right thing for the state, and I’m confident that we’ll get there.”

Neubauer said she planned to support the bill. 

“We know that our tribes in Wisconsin have the right to control gaming in our state, and right now, that’s not happening with online sports betting,” Neubauer said. “I do hope that we pass a bill that puts control of that industry back in their hands.”

The Assembly passed and concurred in a total of over 50 bills. Others include:  

• AB 596 and AB 597, which passed unanimously, would direct $1.9 million to be used for a state grant match program for veterans’ housing. A nonprofit group would need to be participating in the federal program, which currently provides about $82 per day per veteran housed to groups that offer wraparound supportive services to homeless veterans, to be eligible for a state matching funds of $25 per day per veteran. While no one voted against the bills, Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns that the bill would not fill the gaps that currently exist due to the closure of two Veterans Housing and Recovery Program sites earlier this year. 
• AB 602, which would instruct Evers to opt into a federal school choice program, passed 54-44 along party lines. 
• A pair of bills meant to help address students who are disruptive in class passed in 54-43 votes. AB 613 would require principals to provide written notification to parents every time a student is removed from a class and “the quality or quantity of instructional time provided to the pupils in the class is diminished.” AB 614 would add language into state law to say that teachers are allowed to maintain order in the teacher’s classroom, establish and enforce classroom rules, call 911 in an emergency, take immediate action if a pupil’s behavior is dangerous or disruptive and request assistance from school administrators during a disruptive or violent incident.
• AB 207, which would provide information about constitutional amendments to voters including their potential effects, passed on a voice vote.
• AB 312  passed on a voice vote. It would require absentee voting sites to be open for at least 20 hours during the period for voting absentee in-person.
• AB 385 passed in a 55-42 vote with Rep. Lori Palmeri (D-Oshkosh) joining Republicans in favor. The bill would prohibit a political committee, political party or conduit from accepting contributions that are made with a credit card online unless the contributor provides their credit card verification value (CVV) or code and the billing address associated with the card is located in the United States. Republican state lawmakers introduced the bill following efforts by Republicans and the Trump administration to target ActBlue — a Massachusetts-based platform that processes donations to Democratic campaigns.
• AB 617 passed 53-44. Rep. Paul Tittl joined Democrats voting against the bill. It would make a number of changes to elections law, including requiring that alternate absentee ballot sites must be in a building or facility constituting a fixed location and requiring absentee ballots with faulty or missing certifications be returned to voters if they are received seven days before the election. It is similar to a bill introduced last session, but it does not include a provision that would have allowed for Monday processing of absentee ballots. Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) said that he is speaking with the Assembly Elections Committee chair about potentially having an informational hearing on Monday processing.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Senate Chambers in the Wisconsin State Capitol. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

During its last floor session of the year, the Wisconsin Senate passed bills Tuesday that would eliminate the annual $325 per pupil revenue increase for school districts, define abortion to not include treatment for ectopic pregnancies and other emergency medical conditions and block state and local dollars from being used on health care for people not legally in the country.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said she is “dismayed” and “disgusted” that lawmakers were not taking up bills that focused on affordability. She said she is open to working across the aisle on the issue.

“Republicans do not care about affordability, and they have no plan about affordability either,” Hesselbein said. “There are no bills on this calendar that will lower prescription drug costs, increase access to health care, lower housing costs or make child care more affordable.”

Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi) noted a few of the more than 60 bills lawmakers were scheduled to take up and questioned whether they addressed pressing matters. 

“Republicans, who determine the issues and bills we focus on, today are addressing things like exempting tobacco bars from the public smoking ban, delaying the implementation of commercial building code rules,” Keyeski said. “While these may be worthy issues to discuss, I would suggest that it does not meet the threshold of emergent need when families are facing dire economic circumstances. GOP legislators are essentially forcing us to sit idly by and watch Wisconsinites suffer.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said at a press conference that Democratic lawmakers were just “filibustering” and rejected the claim that Republicans weren’t working to help with affordability in the state.

“We passed a budget which had the second largest tax cut in state history to get money back into people’s pockets for utility bills, for retirees on fixed incomes, for middle class tax cuts. We’re doing everything we can to try to keep things affordable, ending the 400-year veto so taxes don’t go up in the next budget process,” LeMahieu said. “We are very concerned. It seems like Democrats can make these statements, but yet they’re introducing bills that let local governments increase their levies to tax, raise property taxes, and everything else, so it seems a little disingenuous.”

Republicans advance bill to eliminate 400-year veto

The Senate voted to pass a bill that would reverse Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that extended school revenue limit increases for 400 years. 

Lawmakers during the 2023-25 state budget gave school districts a $325 increase to schools’ revenue limits for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. When the bill reached Evers’ desk, he exercised his partial veto power, striking two digits and a dash from the years to extend the annual increases through 2425, to lawmakers’ dismay. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in April that the partial veto was within Evers’ powers.

In response, lawmakers introduced SB 389 to eliminate the $325 per pupil school revenue limit increase beginning in the 2027-28 school year. It passed along party lines. 

“We’re very concerned with the ruling of the state Supreme Court, but what we want to do is to clarify that the original intent of the Legislature in the budget was to increase school funding for the next budget period,” Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), a coauthor of the bill, said. “He changed the bill in a way that no governor in the history of the state of Wisconsin has changed [a bill], and that’s very concerning for us because the Legislature is where the voice of a people is supposed to take place, and the governor is supposed to look at that and use his veto authority to determine where he stands on that, but he went far beyond what’s ever been done before.”

Democratic lawmakers defended the revenue limit increases, saying it is helping school districts that have struggled without inflationary increases in state funding.

“As fists clench over the 400-year veto, know this, it doesn’t even make up for inflation. What it does is, it provides a minimum increase for what people can expect,” Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said. “Unfortunately, with this vote, it is trying to go back and trying to actually make a horrible budget even worse by saying not only are we giving you zero dollars in general aid increase…, but more than that, we’re also going to bar the local school district from making up for that gap by being able to allow them to vote for an increased property tax.”

Larson said that the law could have been changed during the 2025-27 state budget process and that it is the state’s fault that property taxes are bearing the brunt of the increases.

“Everybody who voted for the budget, in essence, voted for the continuation of the $325 dollars per pupil increase to be passed on to local taxpayers to make up the difference,” Larson said. “If you had wanted to change it, there were two things that you could have done. One, you could have voted to have that ended and substituted with a different per-pupil increase. Second thing is, you could have had the state actually fund those increases using funds from the increasing general aid or using the vast surplus that we have, taking money from the agriculture manufacturing tax credit [or] anywhere else, and you could have actually funded our kids.”

Redefining abortion

The Senate also passed SB 553, which seeks to redefine abortion to exempt treatments for certain medical conditions including the removal of a dead embryo or fetus, an ectopic, anembryonic or molar pregnancy.

Bill coauthor Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood) said during a press conference that he wanted to remove confusion from state statute, saying he is “pro-life” and hasn’t wanted to stop women from being able to receive the medical care that they need. 

“Women who need medical attention due to situations of stillbirths, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies or other related issues, can and should receive the care that they need. That has always been the pro-life position,” Quinn said. “This bill before us today does not ban abortions. It does not restrict abortions, it simply clarifies our laws so that both women and medical providers can do what is necessary in those situations.”

Wisconsin has a web of abortion restrictions in place, including a 20-week ban, but confusion soared in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. An 1849 law interpreted as a near-total abortion ban led health care providers afraid of felony charges to deny care to women who faced miscarriage and life-threatening pregnancy complications.

Recently, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the state’s largest abortion provider, stopped providing abortion care in part due to federal changes.

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said the lawmakers were trying to distance themselves from “the horrors that we are seeing in states that have banned and restricted abortion.” The Assembly coauthor, Rep. Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) said in September that she introduced it in part because Republicans are getting “killed” on the abortion issue during elections, although she said she favors a total abortion ban.

“Women being turned away from hospital emergency rooms repeatedly, being left to bleed out in Walmart parking lots. In fact, women are dying because they are denied timely abortion care that could easily have saved their lives, and their children left orphaned,” Roys said. “That’s the reality of what it looks like when you ban and restrict access to abortion in this country.”

Recent polling done by Marquette Law School found that abortion policy has declined as a “most important” issue among voters across all partisan groups in 2025 as compared to 2022, although 50% of respondents still said they were “very concerned” and 23% said they were “somewhat concerned” about the issue. 

Another recent poll found that 78% of voters support protecting health care professionals from criminal charges related to providing abortion care and 72% of voters favor allowing advanced health care providers like nurse practitioners and midwives to provide abortion care.

Roys said she was also concerned that the bill could push physicians to do emergency C-sections rather than terminate pregnancies as a way of addressing health issues. 

“Abortion is a necessary medical procedure that sometimes pregnant people need to save their lives, to preserve their health, to preserve their future fertility, and nothing in this bill is going to change that,” Roys said. “This bill will instead push physicians to force women to have unnecessary C-sections or to induce delivery rather than providing them with abortion. A C-section is much more dangerous. It is much more invasive. It’s major abdominal surgery that takes weeks or months to recover from, and it also impairs a woman’s future ability to be pregnant to have the labor and delivery that she wishes.”

The bill will now go to the Assembly for consideration. 

Restricting health care for immigrants

The Senate concurred 21-12 in AB 308, which would prohibit state, county, village, long-term care district and federal funds from being used to subsidize, reimburse or provide compensation for any health care services for a person not lawfully in the United States. Sens. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) joined Republicans in favor. 

Bill coauthor Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) said the bill would ensure that Wisconsin doesn’t begin spending large amounts of money on people who aren’t legally in the country. He noted that other states, including Minnesota and California, have rescinded or paused providing coverage for people not legally in the U.S. 

“[Illinois] did an audit and found that they had spent nearly $900 million on health care benefits for illegal aliens, about a 200% increase, and then in Minnesota, the Legislature, by bipartisan vote, they voted to end the eligibility for illegal immigrants due to questions about their state’s financial well-being, and then, lastly, wonderful, California. Gov. [Gavin] Newsom recently froze enrollment of illegal immigrants into the state’s medical programs, citing California’s $12 billion budget deficit,” Wanggaard said at a press conference. “We’re looking at something that is really a no-brainer.”

Wisconsin already doesn’t allow immigrants without legal authorization to apply for the state’s Medicaid program, BadgerCare.

There are two programs available to those without legal status outlined on the Department of Health Services website: Medicaid Emergency Services, which provides short-term medical coverage for people who have a medical emergency and aren’t eligible for BadgerCare Plus or Wisconsin Medicaid, and BadgerCare Plus Prenatal Plan, which provides health care coverage for pregnant mothers who are not eligible for BadgerCare Plus due to immigration status or being in prison or jail.

Democratic lawmakers accused Republicans of seeking to make a political point and neglecting to address health care costs and accessibility.

“We are not in an affordability crisis because of less than 1% of BadgerCare funds that are used to save lives,” Sen. Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee) said. “This is cruel, it is a mean-spirited bill that is attempting to score cheap political points off of a group that’s already marginalized enough.” 

Advocates have warned that the bill could have a “chilling effect,” discouraging people from seeking care when they need it.

“Why is this sort of thing even coming up for discussion? Are we that heartless? Have we really lost our vision for this country?” Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) asked. “These are all messaging to somebody’s base. Terrible people who are coming here to work in our factories, in our fields without the proper papers need to be punished… How heartless are we to make political points? Go ahead and make your god dang political points.”

The Assembly passed the bill in September, so it will now go to Evers for consideration. 

Other bills passed by the Senate Tuesday include:  

• AB 165, which would ban local governments from using tax money to create guaranteed income programs without a work or training requirement. The Assembly passed the bill along party lines in April and the Senate concurred in it 18-15 so it will now go to Evers for consideration. 
• AB 265, which would require judges to sentence people convicted of human trafficking to at least 10 years in prison, or at least 15 years for trafficking a child, was concurred in in an 18-15 party line vote. Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns about young victims of sex trafficking potentially facing mandatory minimums if they are forced to participate in trafficking, while Republicans brushed away those concerns. 
• SB 498 passed 17-16 with Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) joining Democrats against it. The bill would place specific freedom of speech requirements into state statute, including barring campuses from restricting speakers on campus, and implement new penalties, including a tuition freeze, if a campus violates any parts of the bill.
• SB 394 would make it a Class I felony to damage or graffiti structures, plaques, statues, paintings or other monuments on public property or that is maintained by the state or any county or municipality. It passed 18-15 along party lines.
• SB 11, which would require school districts to provide an opportunity for certain federally chartered youth membership organizations, including the Girl Scouts, to give students information about their organizations. It passed by a voice vote. The Assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill on Wednesday.
• SB 16, which would make the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association subject to open records and open meeting laws, passed 22-11.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

SB 403 would prohibit a political committee, political party or conduit from accepting contributions that are made with a credit card online unless the contributor provides their credit card verification value (CVV) or code and the billing address associated with the card is located in the United States. Wisconsin State Capitol (Wisconsin Examiner photo)

Wisconsin lawmakers considered proposals to crack down on political contributions made with credit cards online and to provide additional information on constitutional amendment proposals to voters during a Senate Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs committee meeting Wednesday. The committee also took up a constitutional amendment proposal to forbid the government from shutting down places of worship during a state of emergency. 

New requirements for credit card political donations

Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) said his bill creating new requirements for political donations made with a credit card online will  ensure there is a “good, secure” process in place in Wisconsin. 

“Let’s acknowledge that we need to know that unlawful sources and foreign entities are not infiltrating our campaigns and elections,” Tomczyk said, and that “citizens are funding candidates here in Wisconsin.”

The bill, SB 403, would prohibit a political committee, political party or conduit from accepting contributions that are made with a credit card online unless the contributor provides their credit card verification value (CVV) or code and the billing address associated with the card is located in the United States. 

If a U.S. citizen is living outside the country and wants to make a contribution from a credit card that doesn’t have a U.S. billing address, then the person would need to provide a mailing address used for voter registration. 

“I’m trying to make elections more secure, the donation process more secure,” Tomczyk said. 

The bill comes as Republicans and the Trump administration have targeted ActBlue — a Massachusetts-based platform that processes donations to Democratic campaigns — claiming that the platform facilitates so-called “smurfing,” a form of money laundering where large sums of money are broken down into smaller, less noticeable transactions and could allow for “straw donors” and foreign contributions. Stakeholders, including ActBlue and Democrats, have said that the action by the administration is an attack on the democratic process.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, in his position as chair of the U.S. House Committee on House Administration, launched an investigation into ActBlue asking whether it required CVV information from contributors in 2023. 

The company said at the time that while it did not, it has many other measures in place to confirm the permissibility of contributions and prevent fraudulent transactions including a requirement for passport information if a donor provides an address outside the U.S. 

Steil has since proposed federal legislation that would require credit card verification for online donations. 

Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) expressed concerns over how the bill could create barriers for individuals looking to contribute.

“Why are you trying to ban citizens from being able to donate by credit card?” Larson asked. 

“If they’re not voting in the United States, they’re allowed to donate by credit card if they’re providing all the information that the bill outlines. If they don’t have a voting address, it’s kind of odd,” Tomczyk replied. “I’m pretty sure it’d be a pretty small amount of people.”

The authors of the bill also said people could still donate by check and other methods if they didn’t have the necessary information. 

“It sounds like this is just putting up additional hurdles for people who want to donate by credit card and it just seems like, especially for smaller dollar donations, people who aren’t writing a lot of checks,” Larson said. “Most of the people that I know are giving with credit cards because they don’t use checks.”

Larson said the bill could make it harder for people to participate in democracy through political contributions. 

The authors of the bill claimed there have been examples of “smurfing” in Wisconsin, though they provided no specific examples when asked. 

“This is not something that comes up out of the blue. People have been interviewed about contributions that they gave with their credit card that they said they never gave,” Rep. Dave Murphy (R-Hortonville) said. 

“You guys sound like Gargamel as much as you’re talking about smurfing,” Larson said at one point, referring to the fictional antagonist in the Smurfs cartoon franchise. “Come up with an example. Give me some proof really if you want the governor to be able to sign it.”

“In testimony, I don’t think I have to show proof. I have to provide information and… get enough support to pass it through,” Tomczyk said. 

Providing information on constitutional amendments

Lawmakers are also proposing a way to ensure Wisconsin voters have information on the potential effects of constitutional amendments. 

SB 205 follows years of the Republican-led Legislature turning to constitutional amendment proposals as a way to make changes to law without going through Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The most recent constitutional amendment that was approved by voters enshrined voter identification requirements in law, and other amendment proposals are circulating this session, including one to restrict the governor’s partial veto power. 

The committee heard from Tomczyk and Rep. Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond Du Lac) on their bill, which seeks to provide information about constitutional amendments to voters ahead of elections. 

“I’ve heard from countless friends and constituents, even people with college degrees and professional titles, all who tell me that every time they vote on a constitutional amendment the wording on the ballot makes no sense to them,” Tomczyk said. “The legalese, if you will, that is used on the ballot, is of course necessary and should be presented, but for regular everyday residents of Wisconsin, it might as well be in a different language. There has to be a way to explain what these amendments do so that people know what they are voting for.” 

“This is only meant to inform voters better about what they are voting for or against,” Tomczyk said. 

The bill would require a notice to go to voters that would include the date of the referendum, the text of the ballot question, the plain language summary of current law, an explanation in plain language of a proposed constitutional amendment and an explanation in plain language of the effects of a “yes” versus a “no” vote.

O’Connor said the Legislative Reference Bureau, the nonpartisan agency that drafts bills and proposals for the Legislature, would be responsible for writing the information in a black box. 

“The black box we cannot touch as legislators,” O’Connor said. He added that the legislation is “non-partisan, bipartisan and voter focused.” 

While the bill only has Republican cosponsors, it advanced through the Assembly Campaigns and Elections committee unanimously with support from two Democratic lawmakers. The bill is also supported by the League of Women Voters, the ACLU of Wisconsin, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. 

Places of worship constitutional amendment

The committee also took up Senate Joint Resolution 4, a constitutional amendment proposal that would prohibit the state from ordering the closure of places of worship during a state of emergency. 

This is the Legislature’s second consideration of the proposal, which was first introduced and passed by the Legislature during the 2023-25 session. 

The proposal was introduced in reaction to actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic when Gov. Tony Evers’ administration declared a state of emergency. 

Evers’ initial “Safer at Home” order in March 2020 explicitly designated religious entities as essential, though it said any gatherings should include fewer than 10 people in a room or confined space at a time and that people needed to adhere to social distancing requirements as much as possible. It also advised and permitted places of worship to have drive-in services. 

Before the constitutional amendment proposal, Evers vetoed a bill in 2021 that would have prohibited local health officers from taking any action to close or forbid gatherings in places of worship to control outbreaks and epidemics of COVID-19. 

Tomczyk noted an incident at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in West Bend where a law enforcement officer showed up to shut down a service after a neighbor called in to report the gathering. According to a Wisconsin Public Radio report, the incident was a misunderstanding and the police department later apologized to the church.

“In America, in Wisconsin, law enforcement stopped the church service because the government decided that a virus was more important than the constitutional rights of Americans. That is unacceptable,” Tomczyk said. “Many people in our great state seek solace in times of difficulty within their church, synagogue, or other plates of worship. It is critical that we continue to protect every individual’s ability to gather and worship at the times when they rely on their faiths the most.” 

Larson asked Tomczyk whether he was open to holding a religious organization liable if people “get sick and die” because they decide to meet against the direction of a public health emergency.

“No,” Tomczyk replied. 

“So… if there is a deadly pandemic, people are dying… and their parishioners die, you are fine with those deaths?” Larson asked. 

“I’m supportive of people’s constitutional right to gather and to worship at the times that they choose and, and if they make that decision, God bless them,” Tomczyk said. 

According to the constitutional amendment draft, voters would be asked whether the state constitution should be “amended to prohibit the state or a political subdivision of the state from ordering the closure of, or forbidding gatherings in, places of worship in response to a state of emergency, including a public health emergency?”

The proposal received a hearing in the Assembly in May, but has not yet been voted on there. 

If the bill passes the Assembly and Senate this session, it would be placed in front of voters during the November elections in 2026 alongside a slate of other high-profile races, including the one for governor.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Wisconsin lawmakers are exploring ways to make it easier for school districts to consolidate as they face  declining enrollment and financial difficulties.

There are 421 school districts in the state of Wisconsin and about two-thirds are struggling with declining enrollment. According to preliminary numbers from the Department of Public Instruction, enrollment for public school districts in the 2025-26 school year fell by about 13,600 students, representing a nearly 2% decrease from last year’s estimate. Total enrollment across school districts is about 759,800 this year. 

Reps. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay), Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) and Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said during an Assembly Education Committee public hearing Tuesday that declining enrollment is to blame for the financial troubles that schools are facing.

“The districts that are going to referendum all the time. It’s almost always because of declining enrollment. It just gets more expensive per student to educate those kids as the districts become smaller,” Kitchens said. “We’re not telling districts this is what you have to do or what you should do. We’re telling them this is an option for you to consider.” 

Schools in Wisconsin have seen a drop of about 53,000 students over a decade, from the 2013-14 to 2022-23 school years. Kitchens pointed to estimates from the Wisconsin Department of Administration that the population in Wisconsin is projected to drop by 200,000 by 2050, noting it will be largely due to the state’s declining birth rate.

Wisconsin’s school funding system is based in part on per pupil numbers, meaning that if fewer students are enrolled schools receive decreased funding from the state, even if a district’s overall costs may not fall. 

Kitchens said that having 421 school districts is not going to be sustainable in the long term in Wisconsin and questioned whether there is another state that “on a per capita basis has that many” school districts. 

Kitchens said the issue shouldn’t be partisan. He noted that school consolidation is something that the 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission on Wisconsin school funding supported through its  recommendations.

“Many districts have used the referendum process to increase the property tax burden on the local residents to backfill the loss in state aid revenue,” Nedweski said. “Many others have seen them repeatedly fail as property taxpayers are unwilling to raise their taxes to increasingly fund empty schools.” She noted that a recent Marquette Law School Poll found that 57% of participants said they would vote against a referendum request. “There is no referendum that can be passed or law that can be signed to single-handedly reverse decades of birth rate declines to alleviate the stresses of declining enrollment in our schools. It’s clear that a more long-term solution is needed to address these demographic challenges because the status quo is not sustainable.” 

Wisconsin has had a record number of school districts go to referendum to help meet costs. But beyond declining enrollment, public school advocates say the burden on local taxpayers asked to fund their schools through referendum has grown mostly due to the fact that state investments in public schools have not kept pace with inflation for almost two decades. In the most recent state budget, Wisconsin lawmakers provided additional special education funding, but opted not to provide any increase in general aid, leaving increased costs to fall on property taxpayers.

State Superintendent Tom McCarthy noted during the hearing that Wisconsin is currently spending the least, proportionally, in state revenue that it has ever spent on schools under the current funding formula. He noted that about 32.1% of state general purpose revenue goes to state general aid to schools, and that percentage used to be around 35%. He also said the conversation about declining enrollment and costs had to include the acknowledgement that school districts’ revenue limits have been frozen at different points over the last decade, prohibiting school districts from raising more funds unless they go to referendum to ask voters.

Nedweski said the bills would be useful tools and incentives for districts facing decisions about whether to consolidate.

“Buildings do not educate kids, teachers do,” Nedweski said. “By finding efficiencies through voluntary consolidation, districts will be able to reduce overhead and direct resources to the classrooms so that our students can continue to receive a quality education, while taxpayers receive relief on their property tax bills.”

The package of bills would take a number of steps to encourage districts to explore consolidation, including providing financial incentives.

School districts already receive additional aid when they consolidate. For the first five years after consolidation, a consolidated school district gets $150 per pupil. In the sixth year, the aid drops to 50% of what the school district received in the fifth year and in the seventh year, the aid drops to 25% of the fifth year. 

AB 644 would increase that additional state aid to schools that consolidate in 2026, 2027 and 2028 to $2,000 per pupil in the first year. The last six years would be the same as under current law. 

Kitchens said that he thought most school districts would be able to decide within a year whether consolidation is something that they want to pursue. 

“I’m very open in the future to extending that deadline, but I think to get it passed, we need to put a sunset on it, so we’re doing three years,” Kitchens said. 

Dee Pattack, executive director of the Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance, noted that the inclusion of 2026 won’t really be useful for school districts since districts that want to consolidate have missed the opportunity to do so if they haven’t decided by now for next year. She also suggested that lawmakers look at spreading out  the additional aid more gradually, saying that dropping aid from $2,000 to $150 per student creates a cliff.

Kitchens said he would look at amending the timeline included in the bill. 

Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) noted that decisions about consolidation can be emotional and personal for communities. 

“Public schools are the heart of our communities, oftentimes in rural communities, especially. They’re one of the largest employers. It’s where you have the most celebrations. There’s athletic events that are important to everyone in the communities and so this decision of consolidation is deeply complex. It’s personal for a lot of school districts,” Hong said. 

Hong, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, questioned whether lawmakers had considered just leaving the decisions on consolidation up to local communities altogether, noting that Wisconsin law favors local control of schools. 

“That’s why it’s voluntary. That’s why we’re offering these tools. It is not mandatory. We know it’s going to be difficult,” Kitchens said, adding that Door County used to be full of one-room school houses until there was a consolidation in 1960. “When they consolidated that and formed Southern Door [County] School District, people were out there with pitchforks. It’s always going to be difficult, but we have to look at the future and what it’s going to be.” 

Kitchens noted that districts are not “clamoring” to consolidate and that the option exists as a last resort for most. 

“There are a few that are, and you’ll hear from at least one of them today that really have reached that point where they know it’s necessary,” Kitchens said. “We’re not hearing districts begging for this.” 

Joe Green, district administrator and director of special education for the Greenwood School District, and Chris Lindner, district administrator for the Loyal School District, testified about the rural school districts’ journey of consolidation, which their school boards are focused on getting done by July 1, 2028. They said it has been an emotional journey as people are attached to their schools and communities, but that it could be the best option for them. 

“It might be the thing that gets us over the hump to consolidation,” Green said of the new legislative proposal. “It might be the funding that our two districts need to put a good plan in front of our communities. It might allow us to do some small projects to make consolidation smoother. There may be small construction, or things that we need to do to retrofit buildings, if that’s the way that our facility studies go. There’s a million different scenarios out there on what consolidation can look like. But without that funding, I mean, honestly, with our two districts $150 bucks a kid is $100,000 — not gonna do much with that… it’s just not going to do much.”

Green said the districts already share bus service and that 50% of their co–curricular activities are shared. They said that the schools began sharing students and staff due to their difficulty finding adequate staff to deliver instruction in rural Clark County in central Wisconsin. 

Lindner said that consolidation could help open up more opportunities for students. “We do drama together. If we did not, we would have five to six students that would not be able to do drama because, you know, can’t do it with five or six kids,” he said. 

Lindner said consolidation could also help save money.

“Our taxpayers are paying a lot of money for our operating referendums,” he said. “We tell communities if we do not start working together more, then we will be losing.”

AB 645 would instruct DPI to provide grants of up to $25,000 to groups of two or more school district boards for the costs of a feasibility study for school district consolidation or whole grade sharing agreements. 

Another bill, AB 647, would have DPI provide four-year grants of up to $500 per pupil enrolled in a single grade to school districts that enter into a whole-grade sharing agreement, agreeing to educate students at one location. 

Felzkowski said that whole-grade sharing is a step before consolidation.

“It lets them test the waters if they ever want to move to full consolidation,” Felzkowski said, adding that middle and high schools may be able to provide more class offerings, including advanced coursework, to students with grade sharing.

AB 648 would help create new supplemental state aid for consolidated school districts to  address differences in school districts’ levies when they merge. The measure is meant to address concerns of higher property taxes for residents of low-levy districts when a consolidation takes place.

AB 649 provides the funding for the bills, including $2.7 million for grants to schools that enter whole-grade sharing agreements, $3 million to provide state aid to offset levy limit differences and $250,000 for feasibility studies. 

McCarthy of DPI noted at the hearing that there are already several legal and mechanical supports in place to encourage consolidation, and that even with those, the last major consolidation that took place was on July 1, 2018. Two K-8 districts merged to become the Holy Hill Area School District in Richfield. 

McCarthy of DPI said the slate of bills being proposed are “largely building from past efforts to support and to incentivize consolidation” and that the agency doesn’t view them as “a brand new door that’s being opened up” to solve problems.

The final bill in the package, AB 646, would study what changes should be made to Wisconsin’s school districts. Under it, DPI would hire a contractor to conduct a study of Wisconsin’s school districts that looks at current school district boundaries, potential school district consolidations, existing school district facilities, staffing levels and salary scales, the population of school-age children in each school district, and revenue limits and current overall spending. 

McCarthy said the agency is most excited about this final proposal.  He said it is similar to what Vermont has done and addresses some of the factors that are important to consider when consolidating. 

The study would culminate in recommendations for changes to school district boundaries, a survey on the conditions of school district facilities across the state, information on the current and 10-year projection of the population of school-age children in each district and recommendations for school district consolidations that promote efficiency, are geographically feasible and economically viable. 

“We probably owe it to our school partners to take a long look at what are the right geographical boundaries here,” McCarthy said. “As we’re thinking about how to manage this stuff, it might be a good moment in time to slow down and think about how do we sync some of these things up to be a more effective patchwork of schools that are serving our communities?”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Gov. Tony Evers and Veterans Affairs Sec. James Bond spoke an event for veterans in the state Capitol on April 22, 2025. (Photo via Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Facebook page)

As Wisconsin policymakers honor Veterans Day Tuesday, the state continues to grapple with diminished resources for its most vulnerable veterans, those who are struggling with homelessness.

Debate in the state Capitol continues over the closure of sites in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls for the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program (VHRP), which provided support to veterans on the verge of or experiencing homelessness, including those who have been incarcerated, unemployed or suffered physical and mental health problems. 

Republican lawmakers recently proposed that the state create a new grant match program to help support homeless veterans. But some are expressing doubt that the bill would fill the gaps left by the recent closures, especially since it would rely on nonprofit organizations to start their own programs. 

Coauthored by Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere) and Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto), AB 596 and AB 597 would direct $1.9 million to be used for a state grant match program. 

To receive the funds, a nonprofit group would need to be participating in the federal per diem program, which currently provides about $82 per day per veteran housed to groups that offer wraparound supportive services to homeless veterans. The bill would offer state matching funds of $25 per day per veteran.

Finger pointing over funding continues 

The closures of the Green Bay and Chippewa Falls facilities were announced in July after lawmakers chose not to provide additional funding in the state budget for the programs. Both sites closed their doors in September. By that point, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs said it was able to find new places for each resident, including some who moved to a Union Grove site and others who were transferred out of state. 

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau had warned in a memo that without funding the sites would be at risk of closing, though the recent reaction of lawmakers who sit on the budget committee gave the appearance that they missed that warning. Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic lawmakers had called for additional funding and the Department of Veterans Affairs said staff had discussed the issue with the chairs of the Joint Finance Committee. Still, one member of the committee, Rep. Karen Hurd (R-Withee), said at a recent public hearing on the new bill that she was “absolutely blindsided” by the announcement of the closures.

While a handful of lawmakers have advocated for giving the department the additional funding to reopen the sites, the new Republican proposal takes a different approach that would limit the department’s direct involvement in the program.

Since the announced closures, some Republican lawmakers have blamed the Evers administration for not using money in the Veterans Trust Fund to keep the sites open and instead sending that money back to the general fund, even as the agency has said it can’t spend funds without the Legislature directing it to.

“There’s money in the account. It’s fully funded in the exact same way that it was funded last year. [Evers] just suddenly declared… he wasn’t going to use the trust account anymore,” Wimberger told the Wisconsin Examiner after he introduced the new proposal.

The Veterans Trust Fund receives general purpose revenue allocations from the state, though it doesn’t function as a big pot of money that can be used for anything. The funds have specific purposes, such as to be used for administrative costs and the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program. 

According to Joseph Hoey, assistant deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency did use money from the trust fund to pay for administrative expenses to keep the buildings used for veterans’ housing in “good working order.” He said it was a legitimate use since the buildings are owned by the department and could be considered administrative purposes, but that wouldn’t be the case for other costs related to the program. 

“We cannot use that money to pay [Lutheran Social Services] or to run the VHRP [Veterans Housing Recovery Program] because there is a separate appropriation for VHRP,” Hoey said.

Wimberger and Republican lawmakers have also noted a 15% increase for veterans housing in the recent budget. The Department of Veterans Affairs noted that amount fell short of the $1.95 million that was requested by Evers to keep the sites open.

Unclear whether new proposal would fill gaps

Wimberger told the Examiner that a grant program would be “a lot simpler” and require “less of a direct monitoring” by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Hoey said he sees the proposal as “the first step in leaving this up to nonprofits and ultimately spending less state resources on homeless veterans.” He also expressed concern about whether the approach would fill the gaps left by the closures of the two sites in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls.

There are currently four entities that would be eligible to apply for the new grant program: Porchlight Inc. in Madison, Rock Valley Community Programs, Inc. in Janesville, as well as Center For Veterans Issues Ltd. and Guest House Of Milwaukee, Inc., which are both in Milwaukee.

“As you see from the locations of those organizations that are providing these services, they’re not meeting the need in other parts of the state, and WDVA was,” Hoey said. “I think we as a state have a commitment when people sign up to protect our freedom, I think we have an obligation to care for them, especially when they’re struggling.”

Hoey told lawmakers on the Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs committee at a hearing on the bill that the additional $25 per veteran likely wouldn’t be enough to encourage outside groups to open up new programs. He said it is estimated that it costs about $139 per day to house each participating veteran. 

“$83 is barely enough to house a veteran, let alone feed them, provide them with counseling and training that they need to get back on their feet, and it’s not enough to make the programs work,” Hoey said. “That’s why we asked for such a large amount in the last budget because these programs are just slowly getting harder and harder to operate.”

Lutheran Social Services, which was helping to operate the now closed sites in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls, could not do that work with $25 from the state, Hoey added. 

“We provide the facilities for them, so they’re not suddenly going to, in Green Bay, open up their own homeless shelter, because they don’t have the facility,” Hoey told the Examiner. “They have no way to pay for it, and the [grant and per diem payment], even with the bonus, probably wouldn’t cover their costs. It’s wishful thinking.”

Hoey also told lawmakers that it is possible the money would not actually lead to additional funding for participating nonprofit organizations. 

“Based on our preliminary analysis, we believe it is possible that all or part of the $25 state payment would be clawed back or offset by the federal VA,” Hoey said. “It’s the way the program is written at the federal level. It penalizes the programs for getting other state or government money.” 

Rep. Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer) said it is a good bill and pushed back on the idea that only four organizations would be eligible.

“We have one entity in Eau Claire that would be eligible for this, but there’s no money,” Summerfield said. “They’re not going to commit til we actually put this in the statute, get the funding into it, so just to say it’s just going to be four entities — that is incorrect. It, maybe, is correct, but you cannot say that it’s going to be. It could be 10 more. We could have ones in Superior, Lacrosse, Eau Claire, Green Bay, including Milwaukee.”

Hoey told the Examiner that the proposal is at best an incentive for private organizations to apply for the federal grant and start a program from scratch. 

“It would be years before this could result in homeless transition services being provided for veterans anywhere other than in the Milwaukee and Madison areas,” Hoey said. 

The agency had previously said it could get the VHRP sites restarted within a year if the state provided the funding for the programs. 

Asked in an interview whether he is concerned about the prospect of nonprofit groups not opting into the program and being able to fill the present gaps, Wimberger said, “Oh sure, of course.”

“I wish DVA would have used the money we gave them, but this is, this is in response to the executive — Gov. Evers and his administration — just simply refusing to spend the money,” he said. 

Other proposals in limbo

Two proposals that would provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with funds to restart the closed sites remain in limbo.

A Democratic bill, coauthored by Sen. Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) , Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) and Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick), would provide $2.6 million for veterans’ housing.

Another bill authored by Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken) would provide $1.9 million.

Jacque’s bill passed committee on Oct. 8 and is available to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate. It has not received a public hearing in the Assembly. 

Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concerns about whether the new bill will be effective in filling the existing gaps. 

“If your objective is to fix the problem that we’re now lacking services for homeless veterans in northern Wisconsin” either a bill drafted by Republican Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken) or a Democratic bill, both of which provide funds to the now-closed facilities, “does the trick,” Sen. Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) said in an interview. “[Wimberger’s] bill does not.” 

Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) said at a press conference that Republican lawmakers had “walked away” from the solutions that would actually fix the problem and were trying to “rewrite history.” 

“Our veterans deserve better than political games. They gave everything for our country, and the least we can do is make sure that they have a safe place to live, recover and rebuild their lives,” Emerson said. “It’s time to stop pointing fingers and actually fix this problem.” 

Wimberger said he didn’t sign on to Jacque’s bill at the time because it was “premature” when it was introduced. 

“It’s not like I’m opposed to it… It’s not like a bad thing, but I don’t, I don’t feel like I want to be extorted to pay for a program twice this. This method just solves the problem without playing this politics with homeless veterans,” Wimberger said of his own proposal. 

As for Wimberger’s proposal, Jacque said in October that he was still “gathering information on what the likeliest real world effect would be” if it were adopted. He also said he was waiting to hear back from the Department of Veterans Affairs on their plans to submit a emergency supplemental funding request to the Joint Finance Committee to address the situation. He said that “could be the quickest option for a positive resolution.”

Hoey said the agency is thankful for Jacque’s work on the issue. 

“We greatly appreciate [Jacque’s] willingness to keep going — to keep trying to get the funding for this program,” Hoey said. “This is something that he believes in and it’s not lip service.”

However, Hoey told the Examiner that the agency is not sure the funding request would meet statutory requirements and be an appropriate avenue for providing the funding given that the Legislature purposefully didn’t include the funding in the budget. 

He said the agency is unsure the current situation would constitute an emergency as it would be used to restart a program, not keep one going, and the agency is also currently grappling with a deficit. The agency’s last such request related to the veterans’ housing and recovery program, submitted to the Joint Finance Committee in March, was never taken up by lawmakers.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

A sign in a convenience store in Hyattsville, Maryland, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

According to Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, over 330,000 Wisconsin households were paid their November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Friday morning. 

The release of the funds comes as the federal government shutdown entered day 38 on Friday; it’s the longest shutdown in American history.

The lapse in federal funding for SNAP, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, took effect on Nov. 1 — leaving nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including 270,000 kids, without access to food assistance. Two court orders last week directed the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits by a Wednesday deadline.

This week food banks across the state, including in Milwaukee, have seen a spike in need.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., a federal judge in Rhode Island, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay the full month of food assistance benefits for November. McConnell said the Trump administration missed its chance to make partial payments after it failed to release funds by the deadline.

Shortly after the court decision was released, the Evers administration announced it was taking steps to get the funds out the door as soon as possible.

“My administration worked quickly to ensure these benefits could be released as soon as possible so that our kids, families, and seniors have access to basic food and groceries without one more day of delay,” Evers said in a statement Thursday evening. “But let’s be clear — it never should’ve come to this. Wisconsinites should’ve never been without food assistance, period, and they wouldn’t have been if President Trump and the Trump Administration had listened to me and so many who urged them to use all legal funds and levers to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food and groceries.” 

The Evers administration said Friday morning that it used the same process it typically uses to process benefits, submitting information to its SNAP payment vendor, which processes payments to QUEST cards, a few hours after the court decision to ensure payments would go out as soon as possible. 

The funds became available to households at midnight. According to the administration, a total of about $104.4 million was issued for 337,137 households. It said the payments went out before the Trump administration requested that a federal appeals court block the order from McConnell on Friday morning. The emergency stay has not been granted as of Friday afternoon. 

The administration received notification from the federal Food and Nutrition Service on Friday morning that it was working to implement November benefits in accordance with the Thursday court order.

The Evers administration said it is still monitoring the situation for any issues that may arise related to processing last night’s payments. 

Evers said the actions of the Trump administration are “contemptible” and called on federal Republicans to work with Democrats to end the government shutdown. Last week, Evers had also declared a state of emergency due to the lapse in funding for food assistance, directing state agencies to do everything they could to support Wisconsinites.

“Wisconsinites simply cannot afford another month of Republican dysfunction in Washington,” Evers said. “It’s time for Republicans to get back to work and do the right thing by working across the aisle to end the federal government shutdown to ensure Wisconsinites continue to have access to basic needs, including affordable healthcare and food assistance, moving forward.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Democratic and Republican candidates for governor are working to build their name recognition and campaign throughout the state and had their first opportunity to appear on the same platform at a forum Thursday. Shown are, from left, Matt Smith of WISN-12, Francesca Hong, Sara Rodriguez, Kelda Roys, David Crowley and Missy Hughes, all Democrats, and Josh Schoemann, a Republican. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The primaries for Wisconsin’s open gubernatorial election are about nine months away and the 2026 general election is still a year out, but Democratic and Republican candidates had their first opportunity to speak at a group forum Thursday. 

The forum, moderated by WISN-12 News Political Director Matt Smith, was hosted at the Wisconsin Technology Council’s annual symposium and focused mostly on the economy, especially the technology sector. 

Democratic candidates at the forum included Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) CEO Missy Hughes. 

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann was the lone Republican candidate at the forum. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is seen as the frontrunner on the GOP side, was not present.

All are competing to replace Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who won’t seek reelection, in the first open Wisconsin governor’s race in 15 years.

Threats to the economy

Smith asked the candidates what they see as the greatest threat to Wisconsin’s economy.  In her answer, Roys elicited the first — and biggest — round of applause from the audience.

“Wisconsin needs three key things to survive and thrive economically. We need higher wages for our workers — we lag behind our midwestern peers — we need lower costs on everything from housing to health care, and we need more freedom,” Roys said. “The biggest threat to all three of these things is the Trump regime.”

Roys said Trump’s tariffs are driving up prices for many products including appliances, building materials and groceries. She also said cuts to health care are going to have a disproportionate impact on rural parts of the state and that targeting immigrants is hurting the state’s agriculture industry. Entrepreneurship and capitalism, she added, also rely on the rule of law. 

“We need to have a free society that obeys democratic norms, and right now, Trump and his regime are our biggest threat,” Roys said. 

Hong said “authoritarianism” is the biggest threat to the economy, adding that disparities are growing in part because of actions being taken at the federal level, such as cutting food assistance. 

“When you have essentially a federal government that is taking away rights of states and our communities, that is going to threaten the economy,” Hong said. “It is workers that power the economy.”

Schoemann said “affordability” is the greatest threat and expressed concerns about young people and retirees leaving the state to live elsewhere. He said the state should work to deregulate industry and lower utility rates and cut taxes to address the threat. 

“The average price of a home in Wisconsin right now is almost $350,000… A brand new teacher and a brand new cop who are married with a dual income can’t afford to qualify for the mortgage for that one. If they have a child, they’re trying to pay for child care, and they have utility bills that are going through the roof, and Verizon just had another increase in prices, and not to mention Netflix,” Schoemann said to some chuckles from the audience. “I know we laugh, but it’s a problem. It’s a massive problem.”

Rodriguez agreed that affordability is a big concern, saying that she wants her 19-year-old son to be able to build a life in Wisconsin but she is concerned that he won’t be able to afford to live here. 

“He’s not going to be able to do that if he can’t afford a home. He’s not going to be able to do that if, you know, he’s not going to be able to afford child care, so I think affordability is our biggest threat,” Rodriguez said. She added that the state needs to figure out how to ensure that its workforce can grow. 

Crowley said “complacency” is the biggest threat.

“We can’t continue to do the same work that we’ve been doing. We should no longer be defending the status quo because we have to figure out how do we build new institutions … ” Crowley said. “We see that public trust has been destroyed in government.”

Hughes said the state isn’t investing enough in K-12 and higher education. 

“When we start from a place of thinking, ‘No, we don’t want to take a risk. No, we don’t want to have investment in something,’ we end up just staying in the same place and often spiraling downward,” Hughes said. 

Working with the Trump administration

Democratic candidates were asked how they would work with the Trump administration, while Schoemann was asked whether there is anything he would push back on.

Rodriguez said that she would use the “bully pulpit” of the governor’s office to put pressure on the Trump administration to be more consistent. She noted her background as a health care executive, saying that being able to plan is essential. 

“You’re trying to figure out what you’re going to be doing in the next several years. Small businesses do the same thing. With this back and forth on tariffs… it is almost impossible to, so, that’s why it feels like we’re stuck,” Rodriguez said.

Roys called Trump a “bully and an authoritarian” and said Wisconsin needs a governor who will stand up to the administration. She noted governors in other states, including California Gov. Gavin Newsome, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, as examples of governors across the country who are pushing back.

Crowley said that he has worked with the federal government under Trump and President Joe Biden to secure grant funding for Milwaukee County. He also noted that he worked with Republicans at the state level to help pass legislation that overhauled local government funding in Wisconsin. 

“When we go into a restaurant, you’re not having a conversation with a waiter about their relationship with the cook. You want to make sure that your food is coming out hot and ready and delicious,” Crowley said. “We need our government to work the exact same way. Doesn’t matter if we agree on anything or not. We need to be delivering for the people that we represent every single day because it’s about moving our state forward.”

Hughes noted that Trump pushed for a plan operated by FoxConn during his first term, which had promised would create 13,000 jobs, and the state of Wisconsin invested $1.5 billion in infrastructure to make that happen. The original plan was mostly abandoned by the company.  

“I had to come in and clean up that mess,” Hughes said. She was involved in brokering a deal with Microsoft, which launched plans in 2024 for a $3.3 billion data center on the land that was once going to be the site of the FoxConn development. 

“You have to work at every level of the economy from a small business on Main Street all the way to our biggest businesses and supporting them and everywhere in between,” Hughes said. “Donald Trump thinks you can do these big things, and it’s all going to be better, and we’re all ending up paying the price for that.” Instead of taking Trump’s “silver bullet” approach, Hughes said, Wisconsin’s governor must understand the complexity of the state economy and ”keep working hard to create the quality of life that keeps people here here.”

Hong said it would be hard to work with the administration. She added that the lack of funding for SNAP is “disrupting an entire ecosystem,” and said public officials need to fight for the most vulnerable. 

“We have to make sure that people have food, and so, I think working with an administration that has no interest in your constituents is going to be incredibly difficult to be able to ensure that there is an economy that works for everyone,” Hong said. 

Schoemann didn’t say whether he would push back on anything the Trump administration is doing. He said tariffs have been difficult, but he also said the issues are global. 

“I hear from manufacturers and agriculture alike it’s the constant give and take, but let’s face it,… the changes that the world is going through right now — it’s a global thing,” he said. 

Data centers and artificial intelligence regulations

The growing presence of data centers in Wisconsin and the concerns they raise about increased electricity costs and water consumption, as well as the use of  artificial intelligence (AI), was a significant focus of the forum.

According to datacentermap.com, there are currently 47 data centers in Wisconsin. Proposals for more centers in the state are popping up as well, including one for a campus operated by OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage Data Centers in Port Washington. 

A recent Marquette Law School poll asked Wisconsinites about data centers and found that 55% say the costs of large data centers are greater than the benefits they provide, while 44% say the benefits outweigh the costs.

Schoemann, noting his close proximity to Port Washington, said that he thinks there is an “abundance of opportunity” created by data centers, but the state needs to be “very, very strategic and smart about where” data centers are placed. He said he also has concerns that there isn’t enough power in Wisconsin, and expressed hope that there will be a nuclear power “renaissance” in the state.

Crowley said he doesn’t think the government should be picking “winners and losers” when it comes to data centers, but instead should “make sure that this is fertile ground for entrepreneurs and businesses to either stay or move right here to the state of Wisconsin.”

“There’s an opportunity for us to really become AI and a data hub not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe and really sets us apart in making sure that we continue to invest in businesses and companies here,” Crowley said. 

Hughes said that Wisconsin has a diverse economy and that she doesn’t see the state  becoming a data center-based economy in the near future, but that data centers do offer an opportunity for communities.

“To have some of these data centers land here in Wisconsin, provide incredible property tax and revenue for the communities that are really determining how to pay their bills, how to build new schools, how to build new fire departments, it’s an opportunity for those communities to access some of that investment and to benefit from it,” she said. 

Hughes also said the state is already involved in conversations with companies seeking to build data centers in Wisconsin and that should continue. She said a project needs to be right for individual communities, noting the example of Microsoft scrapping its plans last month for a data center in Caledonia after major pushback from the local community. The company is now looking for an alternative site.

“We talked to them about their environmental needs, about where they’re building and how to make that happen in a way that has the least impact to the communities and the best benefit for Wisconsin,” Hughes said. “Working directly with the companies and getting to know those companies, acting with them as partners, is critically important for these to be good investments and ultimately beneficial for Wisconsin.”

Hong raised concerns about the environmental impact of data centers and the prospect that they could drive up utility bills. 

“One of the big considerations here is that for the workers and jobs that are created from these AI data centers, let’s make sure that the housing that’s being built, the workers are going to stay in Wisconsin, that we have to make sure that the companies are being held accountable,” Hong said. 

Roys said that “data centers are coming whether people like it or not” and the question for policymakers is whether they can implement “an approach that respects the values that I think all of us share — of democracy and shared decision making that’s transparent, that’s accountable, of fair play… and of protecting all of our resources.” She added that she has been concerned seeing “the biggest and wealthiest” companies seek to force their ways into communities. 

Asked about the role that the state should play in regulating artificial intelligence, most of the candidates appeared open to some regulation of AI but expressed concerns about stifling growth. 

Roys said she wants to see consumer protections and said she has authored legislation to crack down on crypto kiosk scams as well as to regulate on the use of AI to ensure landlords don’t use it to help hike rents.

Hughes compared AI to a hammer, saying it could be used to hurt someone or to build structures.

“Trying to regulate it at this moment could potentially hold back some of the benefits that we might see from it. I think that we need to continue to watch it,” Hughes said. “ … I want to make sure that we preserve the right to use that tool in a way that can really advance our society forward.”

Crowley said he thinks there should be laws in place, but there is no “one-size-fits-all solution for technology.”

“How do you make sure that those who are directly involved in this particular industry are at the table, making sure that there is some predictability when it comes down to starting your company and also making sure they can continue to grow?… But make sure that we’re also protecting our environment, protecting the consumer at the exact same time.” Crowley said. 

Schoemann, meanwhile, said he was concerned about how AI could be a threat to the state’s workforce. He noted that Washington County has studied the potential impacts of AI, finding that many jobs could be automated using AI in the next 15 years or so. 

He said he wanted to see more study of AI’s impact, to answer the question, “How do we prepare the workforce?”

Broadband and marijuana

A question about how to increase broadband access in Wisconsin led the an unexpected answer from Hong: “Legalize weed.”

Wisconsin is one of 11 states that hasn’t legalized recreational or medical marijuana. By some estimates the state is losing out on millions in tax revenue each year due to cannabis prohibition. 

“The revenue that comes in will be able to invest in fiber optic and high-speed internet in many different companies across the state,” Hong said.

The push to legalize marijuana for either recreational and medicinal purposes in Wisconsin has been a fruitless pursuit under split government. Republican lawmakers are working to advance a medical marijuana proposal in the Legislature right now, though it is unclear whether it can garner enough support to become law. 

Rodriguez said she didn’t disagree with Hong, noting that Wisconsin’s midwestern neighbors are able to bring in significant revenue by taxing marijuana.

“Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker thanks us all the time for the amount of tax Wisconsin [consumers pay],” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez also added that she wants to build off the Evers administration’s successes expanding broadband.

“It is a requirement for modern day working, for schools. We saw that during COVID,” Rodriguez said. “Making sure that we are able to get that type of connection to every part of Wisconsin is going to be important.” 

Hughes agreed both with marijuana legalization and with Rodriguez on broadband, saying there have been “incredible strides” in installing broadband in rural areas under the Evers administration. 

“I’m all for legalizing weed, and abortion for that matter,” Roys said. 

Roys noted that the state’s progressive tax structure has flattened over the last 16 years and that reversing that trend — taxing higher income residents — could help pay for investments in broadband.

Schoemann started his answer focused on broadband, rather than staking out his position on marijuana legalization, saying broadband it is a massive issue, especially in the Northwoods. He said Washington County was able to make progress using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, though he didn’t necessarily support the funding. 

“I took [U.S] Rep. Glenn Grothman’s advice: ‘If they’re dumb enough to give you the money, you should be dumb enough to spend it,’” Schoemann said. “Some of that we did in broadband… I think we have to finish the job on broadband.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

A hallway in La Follette High School in Madison. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly faced more criticism from lawmakers on Wednesday as the Joint Legislative Audit Committee reviewed the findings of a financial reporting audit and launched an audit of the agency’s licensing procedures.

During the first three hours of the committee hearing, Underly’s absence was a major discussion point for lawmakers on the committee as they reviewed the financial audit. She has also faced criticism for being absent about two weeks ago at the Assembly Government Oversight Accountability and Transparency committee meeting when she was in Indiana to accept an award. 

“This body is extremely disappointed that right now, when we’re going over an audit that probably impacts over $12 billion in what’s spent by our educational legal entities, that Dr. Underly is not joining us,” Rep. Robert Wittke (R-Caledonia) said, adding that the committee provided details on the meeting weeks in advance.

Wittke said Underly is the only agency head who has not come before the committee when it is discussing an audit. 

“You don’t get the governor out of every hearing, do you?” Superintendent Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy said. “Dr. Underly is an elected official and has dispatched us to manage parts of these duties, and that is why you have me at these, because she does take it very seriously and is staying deeply briefed.” 

“It’s interesting, you say that she’s an elected official, but when I had an audit before us that included the Department of Justice, it appeared that Attorney General [Josh] Kaul could be in front of us and comment on that,” Wittke said. “Constitutionally, she supervises the educational system here, whether elected or not, and… so, I would think that it would be something that she would want to address.”

Wittke quipped that maybe McCarthy should be signing off on the audits instead of Underly. 

Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) said he found it “very concerning” that Underly was not at the hearing to discuss the first audit and her absence is a sign of “cowardice in a leader.” 

“To send the people who work for you in to take heat and not take it yourself would make me have a lack of confidence in my leader. I wouldn’t expect Superintendent Underly to have all the answers. Oftentimes an executive leader does not. They’re managerial… to defer to you to answer is quite different than not being available to be held accountable,” Wimberger said. 

The committee launched the audit into the financial reporting and the agency’s process for reviewing audited financial statements following a financial reporting scandal at the Milwaukee Public Schools last year. 

MPS faced significant criticism from lawmakers especially as the information came to light shortly after the district passed a $252 million operational referendum.

“The problem was recurring and compounding to a point where DPI was having difficulty appropriating funding accurately. That information was hidden from the public until after MPS convinced voters locally to approve a $200 million referendum,” Wimberger said during the hearing. “I’m sure voters would have had a different opinion of whether MPS needed money if they knew the district was so unaware of their internal finances.” 

In accordance with state statute, DPI monitors financial school districts’ financial statements  with a requirement that schools submit annually. Schools must contract with a certified public accounting firm, which submits the audited financial statements to DPI. 

Financial information from public schools and independent charter schools is required to be submitted by Dec. 15, under DPI policies. Voucher schools are required to submit financial information by Oct. 15 each year.

MPS was a recurrent discussion point during the hearing, though the audit found that MPS is not the only district with difficulties submitting documents on time.

Among schools’ 2022-23 audited financial statements, the Legislative Audit Bureau found that 77% were submitted on time and 22% were submitted late. For school districts that submitted on time, the agency took on average 87 days to complete its review of those audited financial statements.

Of those submitted late, 70% were submitted at least 29 days late. 

The audit looked at a sample of 18 school districts that submitted their statements late, finding that the agency contacted those districts 47 days after the Dec. 15, 2023 deadline. 

Milwaukee Public Schools’ audits for that year were submitted on Dec. 20, 2024, about a year after the due date —  the latest among all 421 school districts.

McCarthy said Milwaukee Public Schools had been historically late in turning in the district’s  annual audit, but it typically came with communication about why they were late and a commitment that the district would have the audit submitted in the following weeks. 

“That was not a normal year of being late for them,” McCarthy said of December 2023. 

When the lateness of the school district’s reports came to public attention, DPI said it had been meeting with MPS quarterly since April 2023, monthly since February 2024, weekly starting in March 15 2024 and then daily in May 2024 to get the district to submit its reports. The agency has since placed the district under two corrective action plans and withheld over $50 million from Milwaukee schools. Gov. Tony Evers has also launched separate audits of the district.

Wimberger expressed concern that MPS was given a “two-year grace period.” 

McCarthy said he believed the agency was “pretty strict” with the district. 

“If you consider withholding $51 million to be grace, I’ll call you next time we have a problem,” McCarthy said. 

“We used the tools and authority that we had at our disposal to compel the district through two separate corrective action plans, stood shoulder to shoulder in trying to clean up some of the local aspects of what’s going on, and I think the current superintendent has been deeply engaged in committing resources and staffing to making sure that this does not happen again,” McCarthy said. 

McCarthy said the situation with MPS has been a “long, painful journey that we don’t ever want to repeat with any other district.” 

The legislative audit found that DPI does not have a requirement that agency staff contact schools that haven’t submitted financial statements and audits on time. 

The Legislative Audit Bureau made 22 recommendations to DPI to improve its processes. 

Those recommendations included establishing written policies to require that it contact school districts within one month if their documents aren’t submitted by the deadline and regularly contacting schools until those audits are submitted. It also recommended that the agency establish a written policy that implements a deadline for starting its review of audited financial statements and completing those reviews. 

The audit bureau  made similar recommendations for DPI in overseeing private voucher schools and for the Department of Administration in overseeing the financial information for independent charter schools. 

McCarthy said that the agency is taking the audit bureau’s recommendations into consideration. That includes putting in writing all communication with district administrators and school boards as late reporting occurs.

McCarthy also noted that the agency has launched a school financial transparency dashboard that allows people to “dive in and look at any district” including reviewing records of compliance for reporting. 

“I’m glad you’re moving forward to try and crack the systemic problem, in my opinion, that deceived the public in the passing referendums without understanding the true financial situation of their respective district,” Wimberger said. 

Licensing and sexual misconduct audit

Underly was present during the latter half of Wednesday’s hearing, testifying on the agency’s licensing policies and changes it plans to make, especially  to investigations into educators accused of sexual misconduct and grooming. 

“Where were you this morning?” Wimberger asked.

“I was at the DPI,” Underly replied. Wimberger did not push the point. 

Underly repeated much of her testimony from the Tuesday Senate Education Committee including laying out some of the steps the agency is taking, launching a new webpage with the list of educators who have surrendered their licenses or had them revoked, as well as the changes she wants to see lawmakers work on, including providing additional resources for the agency’s licensing responsibilities and closing the loophole that allows unlicensed teachers to work in private schools.

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted unanimously to launch an audit into DPI’s policies and processes for educational licensure revocation, suspension, restriction and investigation. The audit will look at trends in the DPI’s investigations, its policies and how Wisconsin compares to its midwestern neighbors.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

“It's been deeply disappointing to see attempts to turn this serious issue into yet another partisan political sideshow. Our kids deserve better than that. Wisconsin families deserve better than that,” Underly said at a press conference. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

State Superintendent Jill Underly said allegations of mishandled sexual misconduct and grooming by teachers have been turned into a “partisan political sideshow” as she announced that her agency is launching a database to list the names of teachers  who have surrendered  their licenses or had them revoked. She also laid out other actions that could be taken to improve the current system for responding to allegations.

It was the first time that Underly spoke to the public in person since the publication of a CapTimes report that found there were over 200 investigations into teacher licenses due to allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming from 2018 to 2023. The investigation led to an outcry from lawmakers, who said they want action to ensure students are safe. 

Underly was absent from the first informational hearing on the subject held in the Assembly Government Oversight, Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee about two weeks ago. She was out of state to accept an award from her alma mater Indiana University. 

Underly told reporters at a press conference ahead of the hearing Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee that she was interested in “protecting Wisconsin’s children” whether they are in public, private or charter schools and she called on policymakers to work towards solutions and stay away from “finger pointing” and “political theater.” 

“It’s been deeply disappointing to see attempts to turn this serious issue into yet another partisan political sideshow. Our kids deserve better than that. Wisconsin families deserve better than that,” Underly said. “But we won’t be distracted or deterred, and our focus remains exactly where it belongs on protecting kids.” 

Underly’s comments come after U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, who stood alongside state Republican lawmakers, suggested during a press conference that Gov. Tony Evers needed to “call on Jill Underly to either do her job or step aside” and connected the issue of sexual misconduct and grooming to “indoctrination” through liberal curriculum in schools. Washington County Executive and gubernatorial hopeful Josh Schoemann outright called for Underly’s resignation. 

Underly told reporters that calls for her resignation are “preposterous.” 

Underly said she will also attend the Joint Audit Committee hearing on Wednesday where lawmakers plan to launch an audit into the educational licensure revocation, suspension, restriction and investigation at DPI. 

During both the press conference and the committee hearing, Underly rejected claims that the agency is shielding information from the public, but said there is more work that can be done to strengthen the agency and the state’s current processes.

“The department does not cover up misconduct. We do not shield information from the public. We do not ignore allegations. We do everything in our power to remove those who harm children from classrooms, and we do it urgently and decisively,” Underly said. “Unfortunately, some have chosen to use this deeply sensitive issue to score political points and that doesn’t protect children. It distracts from real solutions.”

Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown), who chairs the Senate Education Committee, opened the Senate hearing by saying that the response by DPI, including Underly’s absence from the GOAT committee hearing, was “disturbing” to him.

“The bottom line is kids’ safety needs to be the No. 1 priority, full stop, and I believe that’s what we hope to investigate today and look into how we can help make this a better situation for our kids,” Jagler said. 

Underly said there are several “practical” and “achievable” steps her agency is taking and Wisconsin policymakers could take to bolster safety for students.

Defining grooming 

One of the top steps that Underly identified is for the state to define “grooming” in state law. She said that the agency already investigates and pursues license revocations for teachers accused of grooming students for sexual exploitation and for predatory behavior, but clarifying a definition could help ensure consistency. 

“Grooming and predatory behaviors are not just school issues. They are societal issues that happen in every corner of our communities, and that’s why we need to do more as a state to prevent, identify and address these behaviors wherever they occur,” Underly said. “Without stronger laws and clear definitions, the referrals we receive can be inconsistent. Wisconsin urgently needs to clarify grooming and define it as a crime so that law enforcement can act swiftly and consistently, no matter where it happens.”

A bill, coauthored by Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) and Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp), would define “grooming” in state statute and make it a felony to engage in grooming a child for sexual activity.

Underly said she welcomes conversations about the bill.

Under the bill, “grooming” would be defined as “a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact, or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” 

It also lists examples of behavior that would constitute grooming including verbal comments or conversations of a sexual nature directed at a child; inappropriate or sexualized physical contact; written, electronic and communication over text and social media to lure or entice a child; promising gifts, privileges, or special attention to lower a child’s inhibitions or create emotional dependence; and acts intended to isolate a child from family or peers. 

The authors of the bill said in a memo that the bill builds on the state laws on grooming that exist in Florida, Texas, Ohio and Illinois. 

A person convicted of a grooming charge would be guilty of a Class G felony, that would increase to a Class F felony if the person is in a position of trust or authority, and to a Class E felony if the child has a disability and to a Class D felony if the violation involves two or more children. A convicted person would also need to register as a sex offender.

Other agency and legislative steps

Lawmakers on the committee also asked about the number of staff dedicated to investigating allegations. 

Underly said they have 1.5 employees working on license investigations and those employees have access to the agency’s team of attorneys. 

Jagler asked whether that was sufficient. 

Underly said it would be helpful to have more resources, though she emphasized that providing subpoena power to the agency would help speed investigations along. 

“We need to strengthen our investigations today. The DPI lacks subpoena power during investigations, meaning we rely on voluntary cooperation of witnesses, district officials, and others to gather critical information,” Underly said. “Even limited authority would allow us to gather evidence more efficiently and act faster to protect kids.” 

Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy noted during the hearing that the agency can become involved in any stage of the process of dealing with allegations, but it is not typically the primary investigator in cases. 

“Most of the time, we are being notified by law enforcement, by county child welfare, by a district who has subsequently said, ‘Hey, we have a teacher who is being investigated by law enforcement or there’s a scenario over here.’

The agency’s role focuses on investigating whether an educator’s license should be removed or whether they should seek a voluntary surrender from someone under investigation. During investigations, McCarthy said the agency typically relies on gathering credible information from law enforcement, school districts, local partners and others. He said even if there isn’t information readily available to be shared with the agency they are still working to “go after these people.” 

“What’s happening with the 1.5 staff is, they’re often following up, saying, ‘Hey, sheriff’s department, have you completed this? Hey, school district, are you done with this particular investigation.’ Without subpoena power, we’re doing that in a voluntary fashion with them. Sometimes they tell us to pound sand, and we have to wait and we have to wait and wait and wait. Sometimes we get tired of waiting and actually, just move into a voluntary surrender or revocation action, but it would be way better for the system if we weren’t always way delayed in the back seat of this entire process so that we could take swifter action.”

Underly said the agency is also working on a statewide code of conduct, which will soon be published for public comment through administrative rules and will serve as a guide for school boards developing policies on professional boundaries. 

DPI has a model policy on its website for school districts, but it isn’t mandatory. 

“That’s something you all would have to talk about as to whether you want that to be more than just recommended on the website,” said Jennifer Kammerud, who serves as DPI’s educator licensing director.

Another step, Underly said, includes the launch of a new online database to allow the public to view licenses that have been revoked or surrendered. She said the new tool will create more transparency by expanding on the current teacher license lookup tool. 

Currently, the public can see the status of a teacher’s  license on the primary database, a teacher’s name is required to check a license status. The new database lists names of individuals in alphabetical order who have voluntarily surrendered or had their licenses revoked. 

McCarthy said it would be a little while before the website is updated with information about the reasoning behind license revocation or surrender because the information is not electronic yet. He said DPI must locate individual revocation orders and will add the information as it is gathered.

In addition, Underly said that the state needs to modernize the licensing system used for educators, but the agency needs resources to get it done. She said that allowing DPI to keep 10% of licensing fees, which is currently diverted away from the agency, would allow investments in licensing improvements and investigations. 

The agency also requested $600,000 in the most recent state budget process to modernize its online background checks and licensing platform, but that was rejected by the Republican-led Legislature. 

During the hearing Republican lawmakers questioned why Underly hadn’t come specifically to them with her requests. (During the most recent budget process, the Joint Finance Committee, which typically hosts agency heads to explain their budget requests, declined to invite Underly or DPI to make a presentation.)

“Obviously, I’ll never tell you how to do your job, Superintendent, but you mentioned requesting for funding — how [Joint Finance Committee] has never asked you to come talk to them. I guess in my experience [Department of Safety and Professional Standards] Sec. Dan [Hereth] was in my office asking and explaining those things,” said Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood), who is a member of the Joint Finance Committee. “I would just say no one is going to ask you to come in and ask for more money.” 

Underly also said the state needs to close loopholes for private schools. Educators employed at private schools in Wisconsin are not required to hold a DPI license, meaning staff at those schools fall outside of the agency’s investigative authority. The agency is only able to investigate and keep individuals out of schools via the licensure system.

Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) emphasized that he wanted discussions about improving the process to cover students in public, private and other schools. 

“I would hope that as we focus our attention on what is happening in the public domain, and what information is publicly available and was pulled off of a public website, and then publicly reported, that we don’t pretend that because things are private and happening in private schools and behind closed doors that the 125,000 students who are in classrooms where there is not a required licensure and where there is not required reporting and where information is not public, that we pretend that there are not problems that exist there,” Larson said. 

At one point during the committee hearing, Larson asked his colleagues whether they would want to work to help close the loophole. Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi) nodded.

“It’s a dangerous loophole and we need to close it,” Underly said.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Signs at a pro-life rally outside of the Republican National Convention in 2024. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.)

The Republican author of a bill that seeks to distinguish treatment for an ectopic pregnancy and other medical conditions from abortion said her bill was a reaction to Republicans struggling on the issue during elections and that she wants to ban abortion from conception.  

Rep. Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) introduced the bill in September and it will receive a public hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs committee. 

The authors have framed the bill as one to help clarify Wisconsin’s laws surrounding abortion by redefining certain medical procedures as not abortions.

At a September town hall posted to YouTube, hosted by the Wisconsin Conservative Coalition (WCC), a nonpartisan association of three conservative groups from the northeast part of the state, Goeben participated on a panel with Jacque and Reps. Nate Gustafson (R-Omro) and Paul Tittl (R-Manitowoc). 

“It’s very simple,” Goeben said of her bill. “It is taking out the molar pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy — all of these things that we wouldn’t think of that as an abortion, but when there is an election we get killed on that on an emotional stance of, “Oh, this woman was going to die because she couldn’t get her health care,” Goeben said.

During the 2024 elections, Republicans lost 14 legislative seats under Wisconsin’s new voting maps. In many of those races, abortion was a major discussion point for Democratic candidates who criticized their Republican opponents for their positions on the issue. 

More will be at stake in 2026 for Republicans, who will be fighting to hold onto the majorities in the Senate and Assembly that they have held for 15 years. Democrats would need to win an additional five seats in the Assembly and an additional two in the Senate to flip each of those houses in 2026.

According to recent polling by Marquette Law School, abortion policy has declined as a “most important” issue among voters across all partisan groups in 2025 as compared to 2022, although 50% of respondents still said they were “very concerned” and 23% said they were “somewhat concerned” about the issue. 

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federally protected abortion rights, health care providers in Wisconsin worried about criminal penalties under an 1849 law considered a near-total abortion ban denied care to women who faced miscarriage and life-threatening pregnancy complications.

But Goeben called claims that women are restricted from receiving health care under restrictive abortion laws are “an out and out lie.”

Her bill, she said, takes away ammunition from Democrats who criticize abortion bans as harmful to women. “I would love to see our Democrat friends vote against this bill because it is, again, simply defining — these things are not abortion,” Goeben said.

Abortion access in Wisconsin has been in flux since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. For about 15 months, abortion access was effectively eliminated. The state Supreme Court then found in 2023 that the 1849 law no longer applied to abortion since  subsequent laws regulating abortion had been passed after 1849, making abortions up to 20 weeks legal. 

Strict abortion laws have also resulted in high-profile cases in states including Texas and Georgia where women have died preventable deaths because they were denied timely care.

In recent months, access at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the state’s largest provider of abortion services, was paused due to federal changes and then restarted about a month later. The upheaval in access has caused confusion among patients and providers as reported by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Some medical experts told the Wisconsin Watch that Goeben’s bill is misleading because it  attempts to distinguish medical procedures that end pregnancy under certain circumstances from abortion, which it defines as not including those circumstances.

Goeben said during the September panel discussion that she hopes the state eventually reverts to banning abortion at conception and told attendees that they could make that possible by helping elect candidates who align with their beliefs on the issue. 

“[The bill], unfortunately, isn’t changing the 20 weeks, which I hope at some point we can go back to conception, which is where life begins,” Goeben said. “You need to get online and educate and you need to vote in primaries for people who are 100% pro-life. We are going to have upcoming elections in safe seats. In those safe, conservative seats, are you getting a candidate who is 100% pro-life and is going to stand for that because there are people who are going to run in those seats who are not.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Federal funding for SNAP ran out on Nov. 1, and the cuts are affecting about 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on SNAP. A “SNAP welcomed here” sign is seen at the entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Getty Images)

Gov. Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency in Wisconsin due to federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, being cut off over the weekend.

“Wisconsinites and Americans across the country are now scrambling, trying to figure out how to feed their families,” Evers said in a statement. “There’s no excuse for it, and this is a direct result of Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration, who’ve done nothing to help. As the courts agree, the Trump Administration could’ve stopped this from happening, but they didn’t, and now, Wisconsin’s kids, families, and seniors are worried about whether or when they’re going to eat next. This shouldn’t be happening.” 

Evers issued the declaration on Friday evening and ordered state agencies to take actions within their powers to provide support to Wisconsinites. 

Federal funding for SNAP ran out on Nov. 1, and the cuts are affecting about 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on SNAP.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a $5 billion contingency fund for SNAP, but the Trump administration had claimed it couldn’t use it to fund regular benefits during the shutdown.

Two judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration should use the contingency funds. It has until Wednesday to do so. The Trump administration said Monday it would partially fund SNAP following the rulings, though it is unclear how quickly SNAP beneficiaries will receive funds and how much they will receive. 

Until then, Evers said the executive order would help ensure Wisconsin agencies can do what they can within their power to support Wisconsinites. 

The order directs state agencies to take any and all necessary measures to address the emergency by prohibiting price gouging due to loss of FoodShare funding and economic disruptions and ensuring resources are available for Wisconsinites, including information about emergency aid and consumer protection. 

“The federal government shutdown has gone on long enough — it has to end,” Evers said. “Republicans must start working across the aisle to end the federal government shutdown and extend tax credits that will lower the cost of healthcare so Wisconsinites and Americans across our country have economic stability and certainty, and the Trump Administration must take action and do so quickly to fix the damage they’ve caused and ensure folks can get basic food and groceries they need to survive without any further delay.”

Evers is limited in the steps that he can take unilaterally to fill gaps and address the loss of funds. Some states, including Connecticut, Louisiana, Virginia and Vermont, have taken steps to partially fund SNAP using state and local dollars while federal funds are unavailable. For Wisconsin to take similar steps, however, it would require cooperation from the Republican-led Legislature and Evers.

A bill would need to pass both houses of the Legislature to appropriate funds and be signed by Evers. 

Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said in an interview with WISN-12 on Oct. 26 that it was unlikely that state lawmakers would take action to backfill SNAP. 

“My heart goes out to people, but this is a federal issue, and I don’t see the state having the resources to do that,” Felzkowski said. “I just wish that the Democrats would sign this continuing resolution and vote for it, and let’s move on. They shouldn’t be playing games like this. You don’t hold people hostage over these kinds of issues, so no, I don’t see us stepping in.” 

The government shutdown is entering Day 34 with no end in sight, 

During a virtual press conference on Monday, a group of Wisconsin legislative Democrats criticized Republicans for letting SNAP funding lapse and for not taking more actions during the state budget to ensure that state programs support food assistance and farmers, saying they’ve fallen short when it comes to providing necessary aid for Wisconsinites. 

“The federal government is using hunger to negotiate, and I think that’s immoral,” Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said. 

Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) noted that the federal funds the Trump administration has agreed to release will not fully fund SNAP. 

“The funds being released — it’s only a partial payment, so there will still be families and kids that go hungry and yet Wisconsin’s portion of FoodShare is about one-third of the White House ballroom,” Jacobson said, referencing the renovations that Trump has undertaken in recent weeks to demolish the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. “We could get it funded.” 

Pfaff highlighted a number of measures that Democratic lawmakers have proposed this year, including free school meals for students, funding for a food security grant program, which would assist food banks and funding for a farm to fork grant program, which would provide state funding to help connect local entities with cafeterias to nearby farms to provide locally produced foods. 

“Every single one of these measures were either completely eliminated, or as in the case of the Farm to Fork program, severely cut by the Republican-controlled Legislature, which struck $20 million out of our Food Security Grant program, which would be very helpful right now,” Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) said. 

Asked whether the state Legislature or Evers should play more of a role as the shutdown continues and SNAP isn’t funded, however, Pfaff said the lawmakers were “not here today to talk about that.”

“What we are here today is to talk about what the [state] Legislature has within its jurisdiction right now, there’s bills that are ready to go,” Pfaff said.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Gov. Tony Evers | Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner

Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill Friday that will limit cell phones in schools, making Wisconsin the 36th state in the nation to do so, and a bill that will make it easier for candidates for office to remove themselves from ballots. 

A Wisconsin Policy Forum report from May found that most school districts already restrict student cellphone usage to common areas, though policies vary widely across the state.  

Under the new law, 2025 Wisconsin Act 42, school districts will have until July 2026 to implement a policy that bans cellphones during instructional times. The policy will need to include exceptions for emergencies, for educational purposes and cases involving student health care, individualized education plans (IEPs) or 504 plans (learning environment accommodations).

Evers said in a statement that the decision about whether to sign the bill weighed heavily on him, especially given his belief that “decisions like this should be made at the local level by local school districts”. However, he said he is “deeply concerned” about how cell phone and social media use are affecting students, including their mental health, school outcomes and social skills. 

“Our kids are struggling today, perhaps now more than ever. It’s really tough to be a kid these days, and we know that cellphones can be a major distraction from learning, a source of bullying, and a barrier to our kids’ important work of just being a kid,” Evers said in a statement. “While I wish the Legislature would have taken a different approach with this legislation, I will never stop fighting for Wisconsin’s kids and working to do what’s best for them, which is why I am signing this bill into law today.”

Evers also pointed to widespread support for cellphone ban policies in his statement. 

Pew Research recently found that 74% of U.S. adults support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class — an increase from 68% last fall. A Marquette Law School poll found that 89% of voters support banning cellphones during class periods. 

Evers also takes action on 19 other bills

Evers also signed Assembly Bill 35, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 43, to make it easier for candidates to withdraw themselves from a ballot. 

Under the law, candidates for office in Wisconsin will be able to withdraw their candidacy in a general or primary election and not be included on the ballot if they file a sworn statement. 

The change to Wisconsin law was proposed after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was not allowed to remove himself from the presidential ballot in 2024 after he dropped out and endorsed President Donald Trump. State law then said that candidates could only have their names removed if they were dead. 

The new law will allow candidates to remove themselves, but they’ll be responsible for paying the Wisconsin Elections Commission a $1,000 fee. Non-statewide candidates will need to pay $250. 

Under the law, a person could face a Class G felony with a maximum penalty of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years if they intentionally filed a false statement withdrawing a person’s candidacy. 

Evers also signed Senate Bill 309, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 41, which clarifies statute to say that 911 call centers and dispatchers who transfer a caller to the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline are generally immune from civil liability for any outcomes resulting from the transfer. 

“Our 911 dispatchers play a vital role in the safety and security of our state, but they often don’t have the time or resources available to provide the response necessary for somebody experiencing a mental health crisis,” Evers said. “By offering much-needed protection to 911 dispatchers who transfer calls to the 988 Lifeline, this bill allows for a better and safer crisis response by ensuring crisis calls go to the service providers who are trained to provide appropriate care and resources to those who need it most.”

The law specifies that the immunity doesn’t apply if an injury is the result of an act or omission that constitutes gross negligence or willful misconduct by the dispatcher. 

Another bill signed by Evers, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 46, seeks to address the reckless driving issue in Wisconsin by allowing local governments to implement ordinances that will allow officers to immediately impound a vehicle used to drive recklessly and retain the vehicle until all outstanding fees, fines and forfeitures are paid.

Evers said in a statement that the law will “hold bad actors accountable” and help keep roads and communities safe.

“Whether it’s distracted driving, speeding, or erratic and aggressive behaviors, reckless driving puts our kids, families, and communities in harm’s way,” Evers said. “Tackling reckless driving has been a bipartisan goal in recent years, and I’m glad to see this trend has continued this session.” 

Evers also vetoed several bills. 

• AB 5, which would have required school districts respond to material inspections requests within 14 days
• AB 39, which would have required state employees to work in person for 80% of their week, 
• A handful of bills — AB 162, AB 168 and AB 169 — that would have made changes to unemployment and workforce development programs. 
• SB 25, which would have prohibited a court from allowing a complaint to be filed in a John Doe proceeding against a police officer who is involved in a shooting if the district attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute the officer. 
• SB 184, which would have barred local governments from implementing restrictions on a cars and vehicles based on its energy source 

The full list of bills upon which Evers took action can be found here. 

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

The river flowing through Wauwatosa's Hart Park overflowing with flood water. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin state lawmakers said a pair of bipartisan bills would help to fill existing gaps in aid after a disaster and get businesses and families back on their feet at a public hearing in the Senate Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs committee Tuesday.

SB 558 would create a grant program under the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs for people and businesses that are adversely affected by a disaster that is the subject of a state of emergency declared by the governor on or after January 1, 2025. 

A second bill, SB 557, would provide funding for the grant program, including an initial $10 million meant for individuals and another $20 million meant for businesses.

The record-breaking thousand-year storm that hit Wisconsin in August led to flooding and damage across the eastern parts of the state. President Donald Trump approved $29.8 million in federal relief funding in September to provide individual support for flood damage victims in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. Other counties that sustained damage, including Door, Grant and Ozaukee, were not included in the federal assistance.

Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) told the committee that many residents and businesses in those counties were left without a safety net without the federal assistance. 

“It isn’t about creating a new bureaucracy, it is about ensuring that help doesn’t stop at the county line,” Knodl added. “When a disaster strikes, Wisconsin should be able to stand on its own two feet, helping our families and small businesses.”

The bills received a public hearing just days after the Trump administration denied additional disaster assistance aid to repair parks, government buildings and other public infrastructure in Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. 

Knodl said the legislation would ensure that Wisconsin can act “when Washington cannot or will not.” 

The bills are coauthored by Knodl and Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) and have bipartisan support from Sens. Jodi Habush Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay), Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) and Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) as well as Reps. Paul Melotik (R-Grafton), Bob Donovan, Travis Tranel, Jim Piwowarczyk, Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa), Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay), Tara Johnson (D-Town of Shelby) and Rob Kreibich (R-New Richmond).

Knodl said the bill would be especially helpful in filling the gaps for businesses. 

“Currently, small businesses have no grant options available to them, only loans. Loans can help, but for many small employers already reeling from physical and economic damage, more debt isn’t really a viable solution,” Knodl said. “These businesses are the backbone of our local economies, and when they can’t reopen, it affects not just the owners, but their employees, their customers, and really the entire fabric of the community.”

Susan Quam, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, told lawmakers that many restaurants sustained large amounts of damage during the floods. She said one of the association’s  members had over $200,000 in losses just from being at the Wisconsin State Fair. She said that didn’t include losses sustained at their brick and mortar location in Wauwatosa.

“Business insurance that will cover natural disasters is becoming increasingly harder and more expensive for all businesses. We know that many of our members who are in historic buildings, especially those with landmark status, are finding it even more difficult to secure decent coverage for these kinds of disasters. As it becomes riskier to be in business, these types of grants can mean the difference between a business recovering or staying closed for good with substantial personal losses for their owners,” Quam said. “It’s imperative that these types of programs exist.” 

Businesses would be eligible for up to $50,000 for eligible disaster-related expenses incurred to  fix or replace damaged property as well as payroll assistance, working capital and business operating expenses. 

Individuals would be eligible for grants of up to $25,000 for the eligible disaster-related expenses to fix or replace personal property damaged by a disaster, home repair conducted by a contractor approved by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and temporary housing assistance.

Grant applicants would need to provide the agency with receipts for expenses, apply within 90 days after the governor declares an emergency or within 90 days after the date on which the bill becomes law and sign an affidavit committing to return money to the agency if it is duplicated by insurance money or another source of disaster-related assistance that is not a loan awarded directly by the federal government. The DMA would need to process applications within 14 days. 

The state grants would only be available if the president of the United States has declared a major disaster to exist in this state and federal aid is made available to individuals and businesses.

Knodl said they aren’t looking to appropriate funds on a regular basis, but that funding could be sought in the case of disaster. Under the bill, DMA would have the ability to request supplemental funding from the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee if the agency determines it needs additional funding.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) will challenge Senate Assistant Minority Leader Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) in 2026 for Senate District 31. James at press conference in April and Smith at a press conference in September. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) will challenge Senate Assistant Minority Leader Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) in 2026 for Senate District 31, a key district that will help determine control of the Wisconsin Senate. 

All of Wisconsin’s odd-numbered Senate seats — 17 out of 33 — will be in play in 2026, the first election in those districts since they were redrawn as part of new voting maps adopted in 2024. The maps already shook up the Senate in 2024, when Democrats gained five additional even-numbered seats, cutting the Republican majority from 22 seats to 18.

Next year, Republicans will be competing to hold onto their majority as Democrats have launched an effort to flip the entire body. The last time Democrats held a majority in the Legislature was during the 2009 legislative session. 

Democrats will need to win at least two additional seats and hold all their current seats to win the majority. Most of the seats, including SD 5, SD 17 and SD 21, are currently held by Republicans. 

SD 31, which represents the entirety of Eau Claire County and parts of Dunn, Trempealeau and Chippewa counties, is the one district that Democrats have tagged as a seat to protect.

Smith seeks reelection

Smith, the second top Democrat in the Senate, is the incumbent of SD 31 and he announced his intention to seek reelection earlier this year. He was first elected to the Senate in 2018. He told the Wisconsin Examiner that the prospect of flipping the Senate is one of the reasons he is  running again.

“I see the opportunity is right in front of me where I think we’re going to reach a point where we’re in the majority, and I’m going to have to be able to carry that voice into our state Legislature,” Smith told the Examiner.

Smith said he has introduced over 130 bills in his time in office and only one of those has gotten a public hearing.

“The public should have the ability to hear all sides and all ideas,” Smith said, adding that he believes that would happen under Democratic control.

Among the priorities he listed in the next session are boosting state funding for Wisconsin public schools, ensuring that private schools that receive public funding are held accountable and increasing access to health care. 

“It shouldn’t matter whether you’re working or not working, everyone should be able to access the same level of care in any hospital, in any clinic, in not only our state, but in our country,” Smith said. 

Smith’s Republican challenger, Jesse James, announced his plans to seek reelection earlier this month.

James says he’s ‘ready to come home’

When James was elected to the Senate in 2022, he lived in Altoona, which sits outside Eau Claire and was part of Senate District 23. Under the new maps, however, Altoona was drawn into SD 31, so James said he decided to “uproot” his life to Thorp to finish out the rest of his four-year term. 

In his campaign announcement for 2026, James said he is “ready to come home.”

“Being 40 minutes away sucks,” James told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview. The Republican senator said he is still helping take care of things at his family and home in Altoona as well as helping take care of his father who is sick. 

James, who comes from a law enforcement background and has continued working as a part-time police officer while in office, said he loves what he does in the Legislature and wants to continue the work. Prior to the Senate, James served in the Assembly for two terms. Mental health services, substance use prevention and  public safety are among his top priorities. 

At the start of his current term, he proposed the Senate form a committee focused on mental health, substance abuse prevention, children and families, which he now chairs. He said he had 27 bills signed in his first two years and has spent the majority of his time seeking to advance legislation in those three areas, including for expanding postpartum Medicaid access — a bill that is currently held up by members of his own party  — as well as an effort to establish psychiatric residential treatment facilities in Wisconsin.

“I’m coming home. I’m in a prime seat where I chair the committee that I do, everything that I fought for up to this point motivates me, and I’m going to continue that work record,” James said. “I’m going to continue the performance level that I’m at and continue working for the people… It’s going to be an uphill battle. I’m OK with that. I’ve been through uphill battles my whole life, and I’m willing to take on challenges.”

With majority at stake, competitive race ahead 

There’s about a year before Wisconsin’s 2026 November general elections, leaving plenty of time for a campaign. Both candidates said they are prepared for a tough race, especially with the Senate majority at stake.

“I’m always for competition,” James said about challenging his Democratic colleague. 

“This is going to be a huge seat. It’s going to be a battle, and everything we know right now it’s going to be interesting with midterms because… they don’t always bode well,” James added. “Come this midterm election, we’ll know where things are if I win, and we’ll know where things are if Jeff wins.” 

According to an analysis by John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University, the current 31st Senate district has a slight Democratic lean. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the area by 2.2 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election and Sen. Tammy Baldwin won it by 4.7 percentage points in the 2024 Senate race.

According to data compiled by the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and shared with the Examiner, the district’s Democratic lean goes back further than the recent elections. In 2014, the district voted for Mary Burke, who lost statewide to former Gov. Scott Walker, and in 2016, it chose Hilary Clinton by a 51-point margin as President Donald Trump won the state. 

James said when he decided to run for reelection some people questioned why he was running in a district that is “kind of a lost cause,” though in his mind, he views the race as a 50-50 prospect.

“It’s going to be ugly, and I cannot wait to see what ads come out,” James said, adding that he doesn’t plan to “go negative” during his campaign. “I want to talk about me. I’m not going to talk about Jeff. Jeff can do his thing. I’m going to do mine.”

While James is a popular legislator who has generally sought to avoid polarizing partisanship, Smith sees his entry into the race as part of a larger partisan plan. 

“The bottom line about Republicans somehow convincing Sen. James that he should run for this district is simply because they also understand one thing, and that is, whoever wins this district is going to be in the majority,” Smith said. He added that this “isn’t about Jesse James and it isn’t about Jeff Smith. It’s about the state of Wisconsin, and who actually is going to govern and lead Wisconsin to a better future, and I really believe that we as a Democratic Party are in the best position to be able to do that.”

Smith is accustomed to running in tough races, he added. 

Smith won a second term to the Senate in 2022 to represent SD 31, defeating his Republican challenger by 697 votes. In 2018, Smith defeated his Republican opponent with 51% of the vote.

Smith also served in the Assembly for two terms from 2007 to 2011. He was ousted from his seat in 2010 by Republican Warren Petryk. 

Smith said he will take the same approach to this race that he has always taken, knocking doors and talking to people where they are. In the past he has been known for setting up shop in his truck, putting up a sign encouraging people to stop and talk to him.

“I know how to do this. I’ve done it before, over and over, and it is nothing new to me to have to run a difficult race,” Smith said. “I’m a great believer… go to the people, don’t make them come to you.” 

Hospital access key issue

In a statement after James’ campaign announcement, Smith said the Republican senator would need to explain himself to voters. 

“After years of toeing the line for Republican leadership, botching the hospital closure funding, dropping the ball on PFAS funding and failing to deliver results — voters in the 31st District know all too well how these failures have affected their lives,” Smith said. 

Two hospitals, HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, closed abruptly last year due to financial difficulties, leaving a big swath of the Chippewa Valley with diminished access to health care. Wisconsin policymakers sought to help provide funding to help the area, but lawmakers refused to release the funds after Gov. Tony Evers exercised a partial veto on a related bill.

Asked about Smith’s statement on his candidacy, James pushed back.

“I’m not going to talk about the hospital funding. It’s dead. It’s over. The $15 million went back into the GPR [General Purpose Revenue],” James said. He added that he’s helped secure other investments in the area since. 

One bill, coauthored by James, to set up the legislative framework for Rogers Behavioral Health to establish a behavioral health hospital in Chippewa Falls passed the Assembly in September and the Senate in October. James also helped secure $1 million for Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, so it can re-open the former L.E. Phillips Libertas Treatment Center in Chippewa Falls.

James said securing the funds are his biggest wins for the Chippewa Valley, especially given the recent closures.

“It’s a start, and I still think that there’s more — I already have ideas for next session, that if I come back, or when I come back, I’ll be able to work on so that we’re already starting to look at the future and improving what we can for our rural areas, primarily, especially up north, with mental health and substance abuse prevention,” James said.

For his part, Smith said that he believes there needs to be more accountability for hospitals, noting that the ones in Chippewa Falls were being managed by an Illinois-based health care system and they closed “because they just weren’t bringing in enough money…That shouldn’t be the reason that people lose access to health care because someone can’t make enough money off them.” 

“It’s been a real struggle up there, and has become at the forefront of what my office is dealing with these days,” Smith said.

When it comes to funding for cleaning up PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, in the water supply, James said he hasn’t been involved in drafting or negotiating on the bill to make use of $125 million set aside to combat them. “I will call Jeff out on this,” James said. “He’s the assistant minority leader, and he’s part of leadership to where he could be part of these discussions, so why not use that leadership position as far as having the discussions about PFAs and stuff?” 

James also noted that he recently helped author a bipartisan bill that would require the state Department of Natural Resources to warn county and tribal health departments when an exceedance of state groundwater standards is discovered.

“We want clean, safe drinking water. That’s why I worked with Jill Billings [the Democratic Assembly representative from La Crosse]… The PFAS funding and stuff that’s all political. I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t like to be political,” James said. “My work record shows I like to get things done. I’ve gotten things done to better people’s lives. I will continue to work on things bipartisan.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

A Planned Parenthood Clinic in downtown Milwaukee. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is restarting abortion services after a nearly month-long pause due to a federal budget and tax law that threatens to withhold Medicaid funding from organizations that provide abortion services.

The organization paused services on Oct. 1, due to a provision in the federal megabill signed by President Donald Trump that bars Medicaid payments for one year to organizations that received more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in fiscal year 2023 and primarily engage in family planning services and reproductive health and provide abortions. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin had said the pause was temporary as they explored options for being able to resume. 

The federal Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funds from being used to pay for most abortion care for nearly five decades, but the new provision, which expires in July 2026, expands that prohibition to cover all Medicaid-covered services at clinics that also provide non-covered abortions. 

“Providing compassionate, high-quality care to our patients has always been our mission — and it always will be,” President and CEO Tanya Atkinson said in a statement. “At a time when politicians are working to take away health care from women and families, we are fighting back with everything we have. We’ve been here before. We’ve stood up to relentless attacks on reproductive health for decades — and we are not backing down now. Our patients deserve nothing less.”

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said that it decided to relinquish its “Essential Community Provider” designation, so it won’t meet the definition of a “prohibited entity” under federal law and won’t be barred from receiving Medicaid funds even while it provides abortion services. 

According to KFF, Essential Community Providers are “safety net clinics and hospitals” that serve predominantly low-income, medically underserved patients. The federal Affordable Care Act requires that Qualified Health Plans available through the federal or state insurance Marketplaces include a “sufficient number and geographic distribution of ECPs, where available, to ensure reasonable and timely access to a broad range of such providers for low-income, medically underserved individuals in the plan’s service area.”

A Sept. 29 court filing from attorneys on behalf of Health and Human Services stated that organizations could continue billing Medicaid by ceasing abortion, or by relinquishing their tax-exempt status, or relinquishing their Essential Community Provider status.

Atkinson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it was unclear what the implications of giving up the ECP status might be, including whether it will affect its financial situation. 

“What we do know is that the vast majority of our patients really rely on BadgerCare as their form of insurance, and our focus is on providing as much care as we possibly can to as many people as we can across the entire state,” Atkinson said.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin  — the largest provider for abortion services in the state — offers abortion services at its clinics in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Underly was invited by the committee to deliver testimony and answer questions last week, but she sent other representatives, including Deputy Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy, for the agency in her stead on Thursday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Exmainer)

State Superintendent Jill Underly didn’t show up to answer questions from Wisconsin lawmakers about the process the Department of Public Instruction uses for investigating reports of sexual misconduct by educators and for determining licensing.

Underly was invited by the committee to deliver testimony and answer questions, after a report from The Capital Times last week found that DPI investigated over 200 cases of Wisconsin teachers, aides, substitutes and administrators accused of sexual misconduct or grooming behaviors toward students from 2018 to 2023. Underly sent other representatives for the agency in her stead on Thursday. According to WisPolitics, Underly was out of state to accept an alumni award from Indiana University. 

The conversation surrounding the agency’s handling of sexual misconduct and grooming allegations and licensure was sparked by the CapTimes report, which  detailed a number of questions related to the system the agency uses to track data on cases, suggested the agency wasn’t making information readily available to the public and noted the few resources that the agency has to investigate cases and track information. 

In a YouTube video posted Thursday, Underly said lawmakers, law enforcement, educators and families would need to come to the table to build a “stronger system that protects every child and respects the rule of law.”  

“Let me be absolutely clear: the safety, dignity, and well-being of Wisconsin’s children is — and will always be — our first and most important responsibility,” Underly said. “We investigate every single complaint we receive. These investigations are conducted thoroughly, professionally, and within the legal authority given to us. Licensure actions — whether it is a suspension, revocation, or voluntary surrender — are not made lightly. They are based on evidence, not speculation; on due process, not headlines.” 

Last week, Underly called the report “misleading” in a letter and requested a retraction or correction from the CapTimes. In response, CapTimes Editor Mark Treinen said the paper  stands by the reporting. 

Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) announced that she is working on a set of bills in response to the article. 

One bill focuses on implementing a criminal penalty for “grooming” of children by sexual predators in state statute. Nedweski also said she is drafting a bill to require school districts to adopt clear policies outlining appropriate communication boundaries between staff and students and a bill to prohibit DPI  from allowing teachers under investigation for sexual misconduct to surrender their teaching license to avoid further scrutiny. 

Lawmakers expressed concern at Underly’s absence, noting the seriousness of the issue. 

At the start of the hearing, Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona) said he was “disappointed” by Underly’s absence. 

“I am deeply, deeply disappointed that Superintendent Underly could not bring herself to the meeting,” Nedweski, who chairs the committee, said. “These are very, very serious issues.” 

Nedweski said she had a meeting with DPI staff on Monday, but the Underly never reached out to her to ask to reschedule the hearing. She said she would have gladly accommodated a different date.

“I guess she just couldn’t find it important enough,” she added.  

At a press conference after the hearing, Nedweski, Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor in 2026, criticized Underly for her absence. 

“I would call on [Gov. Tony Evers] at this point… do you find this acceptable? Is this acceptable what has gone on here in the state of Wisconsin?” Tiffany asked. “I think it’s time for the governor to call on Jill Underly to either do her job or step aside.”

Tiffany said he would ensure proper investigations and create a public dashboard showing why teachers lose their licenses if he is elected governor. 

DPI representatives and law enforcement discuss lack of “grooming” statute

The hearing began with testimony from Kenosha Chief of Police Patrick Patton, Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Labatore and officer Kate Schaper, who addressed  the difference between investigations conducted by law enforcement and the role of the DPI. 

DPI Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy delivered testimony and answered questions on behalf of Underly and the agency. He was joined by Rich Judge, who serves as DPI’s assistant superintendent of government and public affairs, and Jennifer Kammerud, who serves as the educator licensing director. 

McCarthy began his testimony by laying out the role of the agency in handling sexual misconduct and grooming allegations. He said the agency’s main role is in the state’s licensing system, which is how they can draw attention to people who shouldn’t be in the classroom. 

“When we hear about allegations … we are deadly serious,” McCarthy said. “We use all of the tools that we have available. We do not have subpoena power, but we do attempt to get information from anybody that can support a license investigation case, and given how sensitive these things are, we try to work as thoroughly and quickly as possible.” 

McCarthy noted that DPI typically receives accusations from law enforcement agencies, required reporting from local school districts, complaints from members of the public and from news media reports, which McCarthy said the agency scans frequently. 

Both McCarthy and the law enforcement officers spoke to concerns about the lack of a definition for grooming in Wisconsin state statute.

According to RAINN, grooming is the “deliberate act of building trust with a child, teen, or at-risk adult (such as an adult with a cognitive impairment) for the purpose of exploiting them sexually.”

DPI recommended in its testimony that a definition for grooming should include patterns of flirtatious behavior, making any effort to gain unreasonable access to or time alone with any student with no discernable educational purpose, engaging in any behavior that can reasonably be construed as involving an inappropriate relationship with a student and engaging in any other special treatment not in compliance with generally accepted educational practices.

McCarthy said lawmakers should consider requiring an annual training should they adopt a definition of grooming.

“We need to be reminding folks of the types of behaviors and things that we expect from them. It doesn’t matter what type of school,” McCarthy said. 

Questioning by lawmakers was tense and combative at times. 

Nedweski said she was unclear about why there is confusion over whether grooming can be used to remove a teacher’s license.

Current state law says that a teacher’s license can be revoked due to “immoral conduct,” which is defined as “conduct or behavior that is contrary to commonly accepted moral or ethical standards and that endangers the health, safety, welfare, or education of any pupil.” 

“Do we have to explicitly write the word ‘grooming’ in this law to spell out that grooming is not commonly accepted moral at ethical standards? I tend to believe that most Wisconsinites would think the law is comprehensive. Any kind of behavior that resembles grooming in any definition is already covered there,” Nedweski said. 

McCathy said the statute right now is “vague and ambiguous.” 

“When we find these things we go after them,” McCarthy said. “The department is using all of its authority to put its foot down in the spaces and revoke licenses. We’re doing that in a space right now where the authority doesn’t necessarily back us in every instance.” 

The Assembly Government Oversight, Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee voted unanimously to approve a motion to request that Attorney General Josh Kaul provide an opinion on two questions: whether grooming is “contrary to commonly accepted moral or ethical standards” and does grooming “endanger the health, safety, welfare or education” of a pupil. 

Voluntary revocations and information on license status

McCarthy also told lawmakers that they view voluntary surrenders as an important tool for them. He said they will ask educators under investigation to do so throughout the process. 

The agency has noted that it often gives several opportunities for teachers to voluntarily surrender their licenses.

McCarthy said that voluntary surrenders related to a sexual misconduct investigation are most often lifetime surrenders, meaning that in a legal agreement they won’t be able to apply for an educator’s license again.

Revocations and voluntary surrenders are also reported to the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) — a national database that state education agencies can access that includes information about the misconduct. That database is not accessible to the public. 

McCarthy noted that information is available on the DPI website on the status of a teacher’s license, though one needs to know a licensee’s name in order to check. The information will say whether an educator’s license is under investigation, has been revoked or voluntarily surrendered, though it doesn’t include information on why. He said the agency is working with old, rigid software that makes it difficult to add additional information. 

Nedweski said she didn’t “buy” the explanation that the agency was giving.

“It’s remarkable because the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services can show you the reason for a license revocation for anyone,” Nedweski said, including explanations for manicurists. “It’s easier for me as a member of the public to find out why a cosmetologist lost their license and why it was revoked than it is for me to find out why a teacher license was revoked… Why is it so hard for us to find out critical safety information?” 

The agency requested $600,000 in the most recent state budget process to modernize its online background checks and licensing platform — a request that was rejected by the Republican-led Legislature.

The agency also suggested that lawmakers consider increasing reporting requirements to all school types and all individuals who are present in schools. McCarthy noted that the agency doesn’t have the ability to revoke licenses of people that don’t have to be licensed — including paraprofessionals and teachers in taxpayer-supported private schools. 

Lawmakers said they plan to provide Underly with other opportunities to speak in public forums about the issue. 

Jagler said the Senate Education Committee, which he chairs, will have an informational hearing on Nov. 4 where Underly will be the only invited speaker.

The Joint Audit Committee also noticed a hearing on Nov. 5 to launch an audit of educational licensure revocation, suspension, restriction and investigation at DPI.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Halle Berry calls for Wisconsin lawmakers to advance a bill related to menopause education as Rep. Robyn Vining and Sen. Dianne Hesselbein watch. (Photo courtesy of Vining's office)

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) brought in a big name — award-winning actress Halle Berry — this week to help them call for better education on perimenopause and menopause. 

Berry, who wasn’t able to be at the hearing in real time, has become an advocate nationally for raising awareness of menopause and advocating for changes. She joined the Wisconsin bill authors at a virtual press conference on Tuesday afternoon, and her testimony was played at a Senate Health Committee public hearing Wednesday. The committee also took testimony Wednesday on bills to help with falls prevention among older Wisconsinites and on medical marijuana. 

“This is not a political issue — I promise you, it’s not. It is a human rights issue,” Berry said. 

Menopause is the period of time usually in middle age when a woman has not had her period for 12 consecutive months. Perimenopause is the period of time when hormone levels fluctuate and decline and a woman begins transitioning into menopause. It typically lasts between 4 years and 10 or more years.

Women can reach menopause at different ages, but often women reach it between 45 and 55. Symptoms typically begin during perimenopause. 

During the hearing, Vining listed part of a long list of symptoms that women can experience when they hit perimenopause and menopause.

“Wisconsin women deserve to know what is happening to their bodies. Wisconsin women deserve to access to information that can help explain symptoms like increased anxiety and depression, brain fog, frozen shoulder, concerns about increases in cholesterol, decreases in bone density, sleeplessness, night sweats, increased sensitivity and pain in joints, vertigo, gut issues, loss of libido, the unusual exhaustion, confusing dryness, hot flashes, and more,” Vining said. “Many women say, ‘I don’t feel like myself’ and they deserve to know why that is and what they can do about it.”

Berry said her experience started with “excruciating” pain in her vagina and her OB-GYN telling her that it was herpes “and probably one of the worst cases” he had seen. 

“I had just started dating a new guy, one year into a wonderful new relationship, and [my doctor] said, ‘Well, go have a talk with this guy [because] you have herpes.’”

Berry said she and her partner both got tested and found that neither of them had herpes. She said that when she went back to her doctor, he said that he didn’t know what was wrong with her. She saw another doctor, when she started experiencing dry mouth, who suggested she might have had an autoimmune disorder. She saw the first doctor again when she started experiencing dry eyes. 

It was then that he reluctantly told her she was experiencing menopause. 

“Why couldn’t you just say that to me? You’re my health care provider. You’re my doctor,” Berry said she asked her OB-GYN. “He said, ‘because my patients don’t want to hear they’re in menopause. It scares them. They think they’re getting old.’” 

“I have real life examples of how more education would have saved me almost four years of self-exploration and self-diagnoses,” Berry said.  “I would have loved to have gotten this information from my health care providers.”

Lack of education about menopause is connected to stigma, she said.

Hesselbein and Vining are lead authors on a bill meant to help women in Wisconsin get the information that they need. 

SB 356 would require the Department of Health Services to partner with health care providers, including obstetricians and gynecologists, community health centers and hospitals, to educate women on symptoms and other issues surrounding perimenopause and menopause. The bill is bipartisan with Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevera (R-Appleton) as a cosponsor. 

Under the bill, DHS would also be required to create digital and physical informational materials to be distributed to women who are or are soon to experience perimenopause and menopause. 

The authors said it was discussions with their friends and shared experiences that led them to introduce the bill. 

“We’re all talking about the same thing right now,” Hesselbein said. “[Halle Berry is] having this problem with all the resources she has, and as a state employee with my health insurance, I also ran into some obstacles where people weren’t giving me the correct information. …How many other women in the state of Wisconsin are going through this?” 

Hesselbein said a big moment for her was when she was dealing with “frozen shoulder” — a condition that causes pain, stiffness and limited range of motion in the shoulder joint and is common during perimenopause. 

“I didn’t know what it was, and I thought it’s not related to menopause,” Hesselbein said. “They gave me a cortisone shot, which was really great because it released the frozen shoulder, and I had [physical therapy] after that… I talked to friends about it, they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, I’ve had that too.’”

Hesselbein said the bill is based on a similar model adopted in Pennsylvania. 

“It is my hope that we can pass this bill so that we can get Wisconsin women the help they deserve and in the process of doing so that we can destigmatize honest and forthright conversations and discussions about menopause and perimenopause,” Vining said.

Falls prevention awareness

Rep. Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) are seeking to cut down on the number of falls that Wisconsin residents are experiencing through a state grant to raise awareness for prevention. 

“If passed, the impact that this bill would have on Wisconsin’s older population is significant,” Gundrum said during the public hearing. “Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death and hospitalization for seniors. According to the CDC, Wisconsin has the highest fall death rate among older adults in the country.”

According to a recent Department of Health Services report, emergency medical services responded to 35,564 more falls-related calls in 2024 when compared to 2019 — an increase of nearly 10,000 a year or 7.4% a year since 2019. 

Speculation on why the state’s high fall death rate includes Wisconsin’s cold weather, the amount of alcohol that is consumed in the state and that the state may be better at reporting death-related falls.

SB 410 would provide $900,000 across 2025-26 and 2026-27 to the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, a nonprofit that oversees the Falls Free Wisconsin Coalition. The coalition is responsible for a statewide initiative to reduce older adult falls and works to raise awareness; curate and share best practices in falls prevention; gather and report falls data; and address policy and systems changes. The state funds provided under the bill would be used by the organization to support falls prevention awareness and initiatives. 

A legislative council staffer told lawmakers in response to a question that the bill in its current form is  “really a broad charge to the Institute for Healthy Aging for how they’d want to spend the money in the category of falls.” 

“I think it would kind of remain to be seen exactly how, what initiatives they’ve spent the money on,” the staffer said. “The bill gives the Institute broad latitude to figure out how to use the money.” 

Jill Renken, executive director of the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, told the committee that she has seen the benefits of programs through her own mother, who had started falling in her home after she retired. She said that she encouraged her mother to take a class at the local aging and disability resource center, which she said can reduce falls by 31%. 

“I noticed that she was applying what she learned… She was doing her exercises. She talked with her pharmacist about her medications. My dad made some home safety modifications in the home,” Renken said. “I’m so excited that she has not fallen. It’s been over two years.” 

Renken said the organization for the last decade has worked to diversify funding, but there isn’t enough to sustain their activity.

“State investment is critical in order to maintain the stability of the programs, to maintain the services that we offer and also to grow the program so we can make a much more significant impact in our communities,” Renken said. “We want more older adults to be able to have access to these programs and services. We want to increase awareness so that people know what these services exist.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Lindsey Buscher, a volunteer with the Wisconsin chapter of Moms Demand Action, said at a press conference at the state Capitol that the group’s policies reflect Wisconsin values of “responsibility, accountability and community.” (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin gun violence prevention advocates, including Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, laid out their legislative goals for 2025 and spoke to lawmakers about their priorities on Tuesday, including a package of bills focused on gun trafficking. 

Lindsey Buscher, a volunteer with the Wisconsin chapter of Moms Demand Action, said at a press conference at the state Capitol that the group’s policies reflect Wisconsin values of “responsibility, accountability and community.”

“We believe in a safer future for our communities — one where every Wisconsinite, no matter where they live, work, go to school or attend their place of worship, can thrive without fear of gun violence,” Buscher said. “We all know that gun violence is shattering communities across our state from Milwaukee and Madison to the small towns that make Wisconsin who we are.”

The proposals will take several actions including requiring secure storage of inventory, employee background checks and recording gun sales, closing loopholes and ensuring that all gun sales require comprehensive background checks, ensuring that law enforcement can trace weapons and “shut down trafficking rings” and stopping bulk trafficking by prohibiting multiple gun purchases within a single month.

There were 762 firearm deaths in Wisconsin in 2023, including 502 firearm suicides and 236 firearm homicides, according to a report released this year by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Educational Fund, the state’s leading gun violence prevention organization, and the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a national research and advocacy organization working to stop gun death and injury. 

According to the report, 84.9% of firearms recovered in Wisconsin originate in state. 

Rep. Joan Fitzgerald (D-Fort Atkinson), who will sponsor the measures, called on her Republican colleagues to work with her on the legislation. Draft bills will be ready for official introduction in the coming weeks she said.

“If we want to stop that gun violence we have to start at the source, and that is at the sale of those guns,” Fitzgerald said at the press conference. “Each year, tens of thousands of illegal guns are trafficked across our country, getting into the hands of criminals… We need to crack down on those few bad actors who endanger everyone else and make our communities less safe. We need to finally bring Wisconsin law in line with the views of the majority of our citizens who value safe communities.”

“We don’t have to live in fear of our loved ones getting shot and killed,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of the national Moms Demand Action. “Law enforcement, faith leaders, students, doctors, parents are all saying the same thing: enough. Enough is enough. I’m a woman of deep faith, but we can’t have just thoughts and prayers without action. That’s what we need from our lawmakers.”

Ferrell-Zabala said their “fight isn’t against the Second Amendment… We can respect responsible gun ownership in Wisconsin, as we should, while also stopping illegal gun trafficking and protecting our communities from violence.”

Other speakers at the press conference included Nessa Bleill, founder and president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of Students Demand Action and a survivor of a mass shooting at a parade in Illinois in 2022. 

After the press conference, Fitzgerald told the Wisconsin Examiner that she hasn’t spoken with her Republican colleagues about the proposals yet. Republicans currently control the state Assembly and Senate, meaning their support will be necessary to advance any bill. 

“Prior bills we’ve introduced had very little Republican support,” Fitzgerald said, adding that Democrats haven’t been able to get a public hearing on proposals either. 

Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) told the Examiner that in her experience, some of her Republican colleagues would say behind closed doors that they support some measures similar to those being proposed, but they won’t put their name on proposals publicly.

“I would say that they probably should find their backbone and do what the vast majority of Wisconsin voters want,” Andraca said. “Students are tired of being scared in their classrooms. Teachers don’t want to have to do lockdown drills. As a gun owner with my concealed carry permit, I am not worried about taking away anyone’s Second Amendment rights… We need these measures because we have too many guns in too many places, and it’s endangering our safety and all of our neighborhoods.”

Andraca said her colleagues should at least give Democratic proposals a public hearing. 

The lawmakers said the day of action, which includes advocates speaking directly to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, is helpful for ensuring that lawmakers know people want action.

“Otherwise, legislators say, ‘Oh, I never hear from anyone’,” Andraca said. “You have to keep showing up, so people know that you won’t go away, because that’s what they’re counting on.”

Fitzgerald, a freshman lawmaker, and Andraca, who is in her third term in office, were both volunteers with Moms Demand Action prior to running for office. Fitzgerald added that they are “good examples of taking advocacy and turning that into running for office” to change the makeup of the Legislature. 

“If they’re not going to react, then we need to start… holding them accountable — electing them out of office and electing people who will pass legislation to reduce gun violence,” Fitzgerald said. 

Advocates were scheduled to meet with over 50 state lawmakers, including about 30 Democrats and about 20 Republicans. Buscher said there were only a few lawmakers who weren’t in town or declined to meet and that they planned to drop off literature at their offices anyway.

While Democratic lawmakers are focused on bills that seek to prevent gun violence, Republican lawmakers are focused on proposals that would protect the Second Amendment and gun access in Wisconsin.

Republican gun proposals

Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) and Rep. Chanz Green (R-Grand View) are circulating two proposals, including a constitutional amendment. 

One bill would exempt firearms, including accessories, attachments and parts, and ammunition from the state sales tax. The bill would also exempt bows and arrows for archery and crossbows from the sales tax. 

“Taxing constitutionally protected rights can act as an effective restriction,” the bill authors wrote in a cosponsorship memo. “By reducing the tax burden on lawful firearm purchases, this bill ensures that law-abiding citizens can fully exercise their constitutional freedoms.”

Wisconsin already guarantees a right to keep and bear arms in its state Constitution, similar to over 40 other states. 

The constitutional amendment proposal, which would need to pass in two consecutive sessions and be approved by voters to become law, would add language to the state Constitution to ensure the the right of the people to keep and bear arms is without qualification, that it is “an inalienable and fundamental individual right that shall never be infringed” and that any restrictions on the right would be “subject to strict scrutiny.” 

Strict scrutiny, which is the highest standard of review a court can use, is a legal test that when applied would mean that any gun regulations would have to be narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest and be the least restrictive means possible. 

Only a handful of states, including Louisiana, have changed their state constitutions to include this type of language, while others, including Kansas, have debated it.

“Do any of those bills do anything to make our community safe, to make our kids feel safe in school? Do they do anything to reduce gun violence?” Fitzgerald asked. “If they can prove that those are going to reduce gun violence, then let’s have that conversation again.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Following the April state Supreme Court loss, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming launched an effort to examine what went wrong led by state Treasurer John Leiber. Schimming, Brad Schimel, Milwaukee pastor Marty Calderon and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney pictured answer questions from the press in February 2025. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)

Kelly Ruh resigned from her position as treasurer of the Republican Party of Wisconsin over the weekend, saying that she can “no longer meaningfully contribute” to the party’s leadership given current circumstances.

Ruh, who worked for the party for about a decade, said there is an “absence of a strategic plan, defined objectives, measurable outcomes” alongside budgetary issues. 

“As the saying goes ‘what gets measured gets done.’ Unfortunately, without metrics or accountability, it is unclear what we are working toward or what our capacity is to achieve our objective,” Ruh wrote. “Moreover, the internal dynamics of RPW, particularly the dysfunctional leadership, have made attempts at collaboration increasingly difficult, unproductive and discouraging. The lack of transparency, direction and respect for differing opinions — or even basic board oversight — has fostered a culture that is not only ineffective but also absurd.”

Ruh’s departure comes in a year when the state party has faced calls for changes after tough statewide losses, including in the race for state superintendent and the spring state Supreme Court race where the party’s endorsed candidate lost by 10 percentage points — a result that locked in a liberal majority at least through 2028.

Following the April losses, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming launched an effort to examine what went wrong led by state Treasurer John Leiber, who is the only Republican to hold a statewide office in Wisconsin. 

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the results of the effort included recommended  goals for the party including expanding the out-of-state donor network, encouraging direct donations to candidates and the party, ensuring that third-party groups reinforce candidate and party messaging, hiring an in-house opposition researcher and supplying county parties with talking points. 

“It pains me that the Republican Party of Wisconsin continues to repeat the same mistakes time and again,” Ruh wrote in her resignation letter dated Oct. 19. “Recent election results in Wisconsin are clear — if RPW does not drastically change its approach to everything (leadership, fundraising, messaging, organizing, addressing issues that Wisconsinites care about) then it will play no role in deciding our future.” 

Wisconsin has another slate of crucial elections on deck for 2026 including an open race for governor and lieutenant governor, another state Supreme Court race and elections for the state Senate and Assembly where control will be up for grabs.  

“My sincere hope is that those who remain in positions of authority will institute the critical changes that must be made to our party,” Ruh said. 

Schimming, who was first elected to serve as the state party’s chair in 2022 and won another term in December, thanked Ruh for her service in a statement to WisPolitics without addressing the charges in her letter. He said the party wishes her “the best of luck in her future endeavors.” 

Ruh’s letter was posted to social media Monday by Brett Galaszewski, who serves as fifth Congressional district vice chairman for the state party as well as the vice chair for the Republican Party of Milwaukee County and the national enterprise director for Turning Point Action. He called for the party to heed Ruh’s warnings. 

“Ideologically, Kelly and I didn’t always align. I’m further to the right and we both knew it. But we had real conversations about reforming the movement,” Galaszewski said. “When even voices from the old guard start saying the quiet part out loud, it should be a wake up call for everyone.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

Will Martin called himself a “common-sense conservative” in his launch ad, saying there is a “quiet crisis” of young people leaving the state. (Screenshot of campaign ad)

Businessman Will Martin launched his campaign for lieutenant governor Monday, joining a growing field for the second-highest executive office in Wisconsin.

Martin called himself a “common-sense conservative” in his launch ad, saying there is a “quiet crisis” of young people leaving the state. This is Martin’s second campaign for the office. He came in fifth in the 2022 primary when former U.S. Rep. Roger Roth was the Republican nominee.

“Wisconsin jobs are being lost. AI and automation are disrupting entire industries, and for far too many, homeownership has become a distant, if not impossible dream,” Martin said. “As lieutenant governor, I’ll work to cut the size and cost of state government and restore the promise of the American Dream together. Let’s ignite a new era of freedom, opportunity, and prosperity from Kenosha to Cornucopia.”

Martin worked in the administrations of former Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker. Under the Walker administration, he worked in the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority and the Department of Workforce Development.

Martin joins Former Lancaster Mayor David Varnam, who launched his campaign in September, in the race. Varnam also ran for lieutenant governor in 2022, coming seventh in the primary.

“I am concerned about my family’s future and the path Democrats are taking Wisconsin down,” Varnam said in his announcement. “We need to lower taxes to keep retirees, young people, and businesses in Wisconsin. Our schools need to focus on raising standards, test scores, and expectations for our students. As a father of two daughters, I will fight to keep men out of women’s sports and protect their locker rooms.”

Wisconsinites will cast their votes separately for governor and lieutenant governor during the partisan primary next year. The winners of the primaries will run on the same ticket in November and voters choose them as a pair.

The partisan primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2026.

Republican candidates for governor include U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington Co. Executive Josh Schoemann.

Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, a Democrat, launched her campaign for lieutenant governor in August.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE