Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said she hopes her "fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership" to pass postpartum Medicaid expansion. Felzkowski spoke at a Republican press conference about postpartum Medicaid expansion in April. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said in a year-end interview with the Wisconsin Examiner that the year has been one of “very steady growth” and top priorities for her in the remaining legislative session include passing legislation to help bring down the cost of health care, advancing medical cannabis legislation and passing additional tax cuts. 

Felzkowski pointed to the state budget in which lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers increased funding for roads and transportation costs, cut taxes including for retirees, increased special education funding and dedicated funding to mental health initiatives. She was one of four Senate Republicans to vote against the state budget, a vote she said she took because of her opposition to increasing the state’s hospital assessment without health care reforms. 

A slimmed down, 18-member Republican majority in the Senate this session and several GOP senators who took a stand against a compromise budget deal gave Senate Democrats an opening to come to the budget negotiating table, and to win compromises on school funding as well as stop cuts to the University of Wisconsin system.

Felzkowski said the slimmer margins this year have been normal. 

“If you look back for the last 30 years, when the Republicans are in control, we are normally at 18-15 margin in the Senate,” Felzkowski said. “When we were up to like 22, that was kind of a gift, so we are a very strong Republican majority right now.”

Felzskowski said working on health care affordability will be her top priority when lawmakers return in January. This includes working on health care price transparency and working to advance her legislation that would make changes to the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers — third-party companies that manage prescription drug benefits between health plans, employers and government programs.

Health care and prescription drugs

Felzkowski’s bill would allow patients to use any licensed pharmacy in the state without facing penalties and require benefit managers to pay pharmacy claims within 30 days. 

“Our neighbors to the south in Illinois just passed their version of PBM reform,” Felzkowski said, adding that her bill has passed out of committee and lawmakers are now discussing whether it will receive a full Senate vote. 

Felzkowski’s health care price transparency legislation would require hospitals to make publicly available to consumers the standard costs of “shoppable services,” which would be defined as those that can be scheduled in advance such as x-rays, MRIs and knee replacements. 

“What is one thing that you buy that you have no idea what it’s going to cost? It’s health care. That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Felzkowski said. “Other states have passed it. They’re starting to see the fruition of it and it does work. There’s a reason we have the fifth highest health care costs. It’s because our Legislature has not done anything to help bring those costs down and it’s time that we actually start doing that.” 

Felzkowski, who has been a longtime advocate for legalizing medical cannabis, said the Senate is “closer than ever” to having a vote on the floor on a proposal to do so, but she believes the chances of the Assembly advancing legislation remain “slim.”

Felzskowski said she hopes legislation to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum women from 60 days after giving birth to one year isn’t dead this session. Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that haven’t accepted the federal extension.

“I hope that my fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership… Deep red states, blue states as well as purple states across the nation have postpartum care for 12 months and they’ve done it because it’s the return on investments for taxpayers as well as being the right thing to do,” Felzskowski said. “We see baby thrive, we see mom thrive, and it actually lowers the cost down the road.”

Fate of WisconsinEye

Felzkowski said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are having discussions about solutions to the shutdown of WisconsinEye, the nonprofit service that provides video coverage of legislative hearings, floor sessions and Wisconsin state government business. WisconsinEye halted its livestream and pulled down its video archive last week due to a lack of funding.

“Even if we do something temporary to get us through a session… just get through until April and then do a really deep dive on what should be the next step,” Felzkowski said, adding that that includes looking at how other states cover their state government.

“The transparency is important,” she said, adding they want to ensure people still have access to government proceedings and a record is still being kept of it all.

Felzkowski said she hopes Republicans can get one more tax cut done before the end of the legislative session next year. 

New tax cuts in the works

A few of the ideas legislators are considering include eliminating taxes on tips and overtime. 

“Anytime we can return money to our citizens is a good thing,” Felzkowski said, adding that state Republicans would like to align Wisconsin tax cuts with federal policy. The federal megabill approved in July included a tax deduction on tips and overtime that will be available from 2025 through 2028.

This December, Wisconsin residents are experiencing the highest property tax hikes since 2018, according to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The report explained that state budget decisions including Evers’ veto that allows school districts an annual $325 per pupil increase for the next 400 years as well as lawmakers’ decision to not provide any increase to state general aid this year have led to the hikes. 

Asked whether lawmakers will look to solutions for lowering property taxes, Felzkowski said it would take a new governor. 

“We have given [Evers] numerous chances to reverse that 400-year veto and he keeps vetoing the bill, so it’s on the governor’s plate right now,” Felzkowski said. “Until we get a different governor in the East Wing and we can start seriously addressing education and all the things that are wrong with it, I don’t know what to say.” 

Felzkowski said that even with the state budget surplus there wasn’t enough state money for the general aid increase.

“There were a lot of mouths to feed on that budget,” Felzkowski said. “With increasing revenues all over, there was not enough money out there to backfill that $325… We would have had to have raised taxes dramatically to do that. The dollars didn’t exist.”

Felzkowski said on education that she hopes Wisconsin will opt into the new federal education tax credit program. The program would provide a dollar-to-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 to people who donate to a qualifying “scholarship granting program” to support taxpayer-financed private-school vouchers. Evers would need to opt the state into the program by Jan. 1, 2027, but so far has said he won’t. 

Confident GOP will hold Senate in 2026 

Wisconsin Republicans have held control of the state Assembly and Senate since 2010, and next year will test the strength of that majority when the state’s 17 odd-numbered Senate seats will be up for election for the first time under new legislative maps adopted in 2024. 

Last year when the maps were in place for the 16 even-numbered seats, Democrats were able to flip four seats. In 2026, Republicans will need to make sure Democrats cannot flip two additional Senate seats to hold control of the body.

Felzkowski expressed confidence that they will do so. 

“We will come back with a strong Republican majority. We have better policies, we have better ideas and we run great candidates,” Felzkowski said.

There will be several key, competitive districts in 2026 including Senate District 5, which is currently held by Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), Senate District 17, which is currently held by Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Senate District 31, currently represented by incumbent Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) who will face a challenge from Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp). 

“We’re going to run on the same policies we’ve always run on: lower taxes, strong freedoms, strong economies, strong education and government getting out of your way so that you can live the American dream,” Felzkowski said. “The Democrats are going to run on an anti-Donald Trump policy, more government, more influence in your life. It’s all they’ve ever run for.”

Some Democrats have taken election results in 2025 as a sign that people are unhappy with the Trump administration and are ready to elect Democrats. 

Felzkowski said she didn’t think that 2025 election results in other states were going to be applicable in Wisconsin, though she said the new maps could be challenging for Republican candidates. 

“Wisconsin is kind of a unique state. We’re a very purple state,” Felzkowski said. “We knew those candidates in Virginia were going to win, I mean, it’s a blue state so I mean you can’t really base us on what happened in Virginia and New Jersey… We’re going to be running in Democratic-gerrymandered seats, so we’re going to have to work very hard, but we will win.”

Wisconsin also has an open race for governor on the ballot next year. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is considered the frontrunner in the GOP primary, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, are the current Republican hopefuls.

Felzkowski said she probably won’t endorse in the Republican primary for governor, but she is looking for a candidate who is a “conservative reformer who’s willing to take on the tough issues from health care, education, and corrections, lowering taxes” as well as someone who will do “a deep dive into our agencies,” adding that she hopes they’ll work to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.” 

The Democratic field of candidates is much larger including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey.

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If Democrats win a majority in one or both chambers of the Legislature in 2026, the party will have more power to govern than any time in more than 15 years. 

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said she saw a sign of what that future could look like during the state budget-writing process earlier this year. With just a three-seat advantage in the Senate, Republicans needed to work across the aisle to advance the budget, and Senate Democrats had a seat at the negotiating table, Hesselbein said. 

For the past 15 years of Republican majorities in the Senate and the Assembly, GOP lawmakers have been able to operate largely without input from legislative Democrats. In 2011, following the Republican midterm surge during President Barack Obama’s presidency, a GOP trifecta in the Legislature and the governor’s office advanced legislation aimed at cementing a permanent majority.

They passed laws such as Act 10, which dismantled Democratic-supporting public sector unions; strict voter ID, which made it harder for students and low-income people to vote; and partisan redistricting, which kept legislative Republicans in power with near super-majorities even after Democrats won all statewide offices in 2018. 

After years of being shut out of the legislative process, Senate Democrats won’t operate that way if the party wins control of the chamber next year, Hesselbein said. 

“We have an open door policy as Democrats in the state Senate. We will work with anybody with a good idea,” she said. “So we will try to continue to work with Republicans when we can and seek common values to really help people in the state of Wisconsin.” 

Newly redrawn legislative maps put into play during last year’s elections, when President Donald Trump won Wisconsin, resulted in 14 flipped legislative seats in favor of Democrats. Following those gains in 2024, Senate Democrats need to flip two seats and hold onto Senate District 31, held by Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, to win a majority next year.

The party’s campaign committee is eyeing flip opportunities in seats occupied by Republican Sens. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green; Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield; and Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, which are all districts that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024, according to an analysis last year by John Johnson, a Lubar Center Research fellow at Marquette University.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, in an email to Wisconsin Watch said a Democratic majority in the chamber “won’t happen.” 

With political winds during a midterm year typically favoring the party not in control of the White House, Democrats could see gains in the Assembly as well, although there are more challenges than in the Senate. All of the Assembly seats were tested under the new maps last year, but Democrats still made gains during an election year when Trump’s name on ballots boosted Republicans. Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this month that she is “optimistic” about chances to flip the Assembly, where five seats would give Democrats control of the chamber for the first time since 2010.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos did not respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch about how Republicans might work with Democrats if the party wins a majority next year. 

If there is a power shift in the Capitol in 2026, few lawmakers have experienced anything but Republican control of the Legislature. Just 11 of the 132 members across both political parties previously held office at a time when Democrats controlled both legislative chambers. 

Some of the longest-serving Democrats said they agree with restoring more bipartisanship in the legislative process if the party gains power in 2026. 

“I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes as the Republicans did,” said Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, who was elected to the Assembly in 1984 and the Senate in 2002. “We have to give them an opportunity to work on things.” 

Carpenter and Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, who was elected to the Assembly in 1998, said if the party wins one or both majorities they want to make sure members are prepared for governing responsibilities they’ve never experienced, like leading a committee. 

“It’s a lot more work,” Sinicki said of being in the majority. “But it’s very fulfilling work to actually be able to go home at night and say, ‘I did this today.’” 

Hesselbein said if Senate Democrats secure power in their chamber next year, members will continue to focus on affordability issues that they’ve proposed during the current session. Some of those bills included providing free meals at breakfast and lunch to students in Wisconsin schools, lowering the cost of prescription drugs and expanding access to the homestead tax credit.

LeMahieu, though, said Democrats have “no credibility” on affordability issues. 

“Senate Republicans delivered the second largest income tax cut in state history to put more money in Wisconsin families’ pockets for gas and groceries while Senate Democrats propose sales and income tax hikes to pay for a radical agenda nobody can afford,” he said. 

Senate Democrats in the meantime are holding listening sessions across the state and working on a list of future bills to be ready to lead “on day one,” Hesselbein said. “If we are fortunate enough.”

Wisconsin Democrats say they won’t act like Republicans if they win a legislative majority in 2026 is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Senators and two current representatives seeking Senate seats in 2026 have been touring the state to highlight affordability and the effects of Republican policy choices, including tariffs and cuts to health care at the federal level. Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, second from left, listens as Christmas Tree farm operator Lance Jensen discusses his business with Hesselbein and Sens. Sarah Keyeski and Melissa Ratcliff, during a visit to Jensen's farm on Dec. 8. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein told the Wisconsin Examiner in a year-end interview that while she may have had a seat at the budget negotiating table this year, the Legislature still hasn’t engaged in as much bipartisan work as she had hoped. 

Democratic lawmakers entered this year with bolstered numbers under new voting maps, but still in the minority. The closely divided partisan breakdown in the Senate — 15 Democrats and 18 Republicans —  led to Republicans scrapping their plans to cut the University of Wisconsin budget and providing additional funding for K-12 schools, in budget negotiations with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers where Hesselbein had a seat at the negotiating table. But the current session still hasn’t matched up to Hesselbein’s “really high hopes at the beginning of the session that we were going to be able to do some really good bipartisan work.” 

Hesselbein noted that at the start of the session, lawmakers introduced three bills she thought were “really strong.”

“Unfortunately, Republicans are refusing to work with us on those issues,” Hesselbein said. “I am hopeful that they will go spend time with their families back home over the holidays, and they will realize that we can still get a lot of great things done for the state of Wisconsin in the spring.” 

One bill would provide school breakfast and lunch to students at no cost, another would make several policy changes aimed at helping bring down the costs of prescription drugs and the final one would expand the homestead tax credit to provide additional relief to low-income homeowners and renters.

Hesselbein said the “Healthy Schools Meals” legislation would help “every single kid, make sure they get a good nutritious lunch at school” and help “save the average family like $1800 a year on grocery costs.” She said the prescription drug legislation would help prevent more people from “choosing to cut their medicine in half” due to costs and the tax credit would help people stay in their homes longer. 

“These were three really common-sense bills. I still really think they are, and all we needed was two Senate Republicans to help us get these bills across the finish line and show that they care about the people of the state of Wisconsin and that they want to do some bipartisan work,” Hesselbein said. “Unfortunately, they weren’t interested in doing that work with us, and they don’t have a plan to help people with the rising costs in the state of Wisconsin.” 

Hesselbein said that passing helpful legislation, including the three bills she mentioned, could mitigate the upheaval of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“There’s so much chaos and confusion happening with the Trump administration that sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it day to day,” she said. “…What we can do as legislators in the state of Wisconsin is pass bills that actually help people.” 

Hesselbein said Senate Democrats continue to have conversations with Republicans in the hopes that they can get more legislation passed. One pressing concern is  the Knowles-Nelson stewardship program which, without legislative action, will sunset early in 2026. 

“We’re very worried about that happening, so our doors are open to any ideas they have,” Hesselbein said of her Republican colleagues, adding that she hopes a bill authored by Sen. Jodi Habush-Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay) can move forward.

Hesselbein noted that the stewardship program, which was created in 1989 to fund land conservation in Wisconsin, has bipartisan roots. It is named after former Republican Gov. Warren Knowles and former Democratic Gov. Gaylord Nelson and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.

“This has never been a partisan issue,” Hesselbein said, noting that the program is popular with people across Wisconsin who love the outdoors, “whether they’re going hiking or they’re fishing, or they’re hunting.”

Hesselbein also said she is hopeful that the bill she coauthored, which would bolster education on menopause and perimenopause, will advance. It received a public hearing in the Senate earlier this year.

Wisconsin Senate is the ‘most flippable’ in 2026

Next year will be a definitive election year in Wisconsin with control of the Senate, Assembly and governor’s office up for grabs.

Hesselbein said she believes that the Wisconsin State Senate is “the most flippable chamber” in the United States — and Democrats are working hard towards that goal. Wisconsin’s 17 odd-numbered Senate districts are up for reelections in 2026. It’s the first time new legislative maps adopted in 2024 that reflect the 50/50 partisan divide in the state will be in effect for those districts.

Hesselbein said Democrats are focused on winning districts that previously went to former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, former President Joe Biden in 2020, Gov. Tony Evers in his two elections and to Mary Burke, who lost to former Gov. Scott Walker in 2014. 

Two seats targeted by Democrats to flip are Senate District 5, which is currently held by Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) and Senate District 17, which is currently held by Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green).

“Fair maps and great candidates matter, and we already have people on the field that are out there knocking on doors listening to voters today on a cold day in Wisconsin… We have people that want to be elected to do the right thing for the people in the state of Wisconsin,” Hesselbein said.

Democratic candidates in Wisconsin and nationwide are hammering a message about affordability. Through the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, senators and two current representatives seeking Senate seats in 2026 have been touring the state to highlight the effects of Republican policy choices, including tariffs and cuts to health care at the federal level. They also recently launched an ad titled “Aisle 5.”

The ad opens as a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Hesselbein, declare: “Same groceries from the same store. Same people in power, calling the shots and driving the prices up.”  The words “Senate Republicans” pop up on the screen. “My colleagues and I are fighting every single day against tariffs that make beef, eggs, and even cheese more expensive,” Hesselbein says. “But guess what? They don’t care. We can’t keep hoping they’re going to make the right choice because they’ve shown us they won’t.”

Hesselbein vowed in the interview with the Examiner that under Democratic control the Senate will have more floor sessions, be more transparent and “be actually doing the people’s work.”

“When Senate Democrats are fortunate enough to be the majority, we will continue to work with our Republican colleagues and get the best policies to help the people in the state of Wisconsin, especially when it comes to rising costs,” she told the Examiner. 

Senate Democrats’ ability to pursue their agenda will not only rely on winning the majority, but will also depend on who wins the consequential gubernatorial race, though Hesselbein said she is prepared to work with whoever wins. 

“I was able to work with a Republican governor when Scott Walker was there. I was able to pass some bills,” Hesselbein said. “I’m hoping we have a Democratic governor so we can finally start listening to the people of the state of Wisconsin and get things done because we’ve been waiting a long time.” 

Hesselbein said she doesn’t plan to endorse anyone in the Democratic primary for governor. 

Many of the candidates have legislative experience including state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) as well as Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey. Other Democratic candidates include former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes and former Department of Administration Sec. Joel Brennan.

“I have too many friends,” Hesselbein said of her decision not to make an endorsement. “I have been in caucus with some of them… They are really good people, and when the going got tough, they never ran from an argument or anything, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how that race shapes up.” 

Hesselbein said she is looking forward to seeing each candidate’s platform and a “robust” discussion among them. 

“What are the plans that they have for the state of Wisconsin? How do they see us addressing rising costs and affordability? What is their plan for K-12 education, higher education? For the environment and all the things that we’ve been hearing about for years that people in the state of Wisconsin want us to effectively address,” Hesselbein said.

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Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy talks with reporters in the Dirksen Senate office building on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate committee that oversees health care started coalescing around an approach to lower costs for Americans during a Wednesday hearing, though several hurdles lay ahead.

Republicans and Democrats on the panel appeared to accept that enhanced tax credits for people who purchase their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act marketplace should not expire at the end of the year. Just days are left for open enrollment and premiums are expected to greatly increase. 

The bipartisan momentum among a select group of senators will need to build significantly in the days ahead if an extension of the subsidies is going to speedily garner the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate and then move through the GOP-controlled House. 

It will also need President Donald Trump’s signature to become law, and he has so far not signaled support for an extension.

“I’m hoping that we can find a bill that can get 60 votes, that can fix the problem with the exchanges for January 1, 2026,” Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., said. “It shouldn’t be a Republican solution. It shouldn’t be a Democratic solution. It should be an American solution.”

Cassidy cautioned lawmakers on the panel from pressing for “grandiose ideas,” saying Congress must “have a solution for three weeks from now.”  

A ‘political problem’ seen for the GOP

But extending the ACA marketplace subsidies, possibly with tweaks, is just a short-term solution that senators on the committee agreed will need to be followed up with an overhaul of the American health care system. 

Any efforts on larger-scale legislation will bump up against the deeply entrenched politics of the Affordable Care Act, well-funded lobbyists and next year’s midterm elections, none of which will make the process easy. 

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking member on the panel, said he appreciated Cassidy’s “sentiment about wanting to do something quickly,” but said Republicans should have focused on the expiring ACA tax credits earlier in the year, instead of leaving it until now.  

“The reason for this hearing, to be frank, is that my Republican friends understand they’ve got a political problem,” Sanders said. “Their political problem is that all over America today, people on the Affordable Care Act are opening up packages coming from the insurance companies, and guess what? Their premiums on average are doubling and in some cases in my state are tripling or quadrupling.”

Sanders said Congress should extend the enhanced ACA marketplace tax credits for another year, or two, or three, while lawmakers sort through larger, structural issues around health care costs. 

“Yes, the current system is broken. Yes, we need to create a new system,” Sanders said. “But unfortunately, we aren’t going to do it in two weeks.”

Sanders suggested the committee hold a series of hearings in the months ahead featuring leaders from other developed countries that provide health care to all of their residents.

Extensions of tax credits debated

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said “there’s a limit to what we can do in this first year” and that lawmakers are “going to need a two-year plan.”

Collins indicated that she wants to see “reasonable” income caps to limit eligibility for ACA marketplace tax credits in any short-term extension that Congress may pass. 

Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said Republicans who are serious about addressing the spike in costs for ACA marketplace enrollees should work with Democrats to pass a “clean, one-year extension” of the enhanced subsidies. 

“And if their call for reforming tax credits is serious, we should look at that. We can talk about those reforms ahead of the 2027 year,” Murray said. “But I have to say, I’m not optimistic that most Republicans are serious about this because they refused to talk about this problem before right now, and I’ve been down this road before.”

Murray also rebuked Cassidy for not focusing the committee’s attention on the expiring tax credits earlier in the year by taking a swipe at his vote to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“This is about as serious as expressing concern about RFK Jr.’s anti-vax crusade after voting to make him the most powerful public health official in the country,” Murray said.

‘Reasonable caps’ backed

Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said members of the committee need to focus on what the next few months and years look like for Americans’ health care costs. 

“I think we’re going to need to have a short-term extension. But I think we can put reasonable caps on. I think that we can put some of the parameters that we have been talking about. There’s no great secret sauce here to how we’re going to deal with this particular dilemma that we’re in,” Murkowski said. “But we’ve got to be looking longer term to — how do we ultimately reduce these costs of care?”

Murkowski said she was also concerned about a decrease in funding for public health and prevention initiatives, before asking the witnesses appearing before the committee what their top recommendations would be for “prevention-type programs that have the strongest evidence for reducing long-term costs.”

Joel White, president of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage in Washington, D.C., said Congress should allow “premium discounts in the individual market for wellness programs,” which he said is currently illegal.

Marcie Strouse, owner and partner at Capitol Benefits Group in Des Moines, Iowa, suggested lawmakers open up health savings accounts “to allow for more holistic and preventive services.” She also said Congress could highlight “direct primary care and making sure people are actually getting the care that they need.”

Dr. Claudia M. Fegan, national coordinator at Physicians for a National Health Program in Chicago, suggested enhanced primary care and screening people for diseases like cancer that can be easier to treat when caught early. 

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said the hearing clearly demonstrated that there is “underlying agreement that this system needs a lot of reform.”

But, she said, Congress needs to take a look at the entire health care system, not just the Affordable Care Act. 

“I want to make a point that just under 50% of Americans get their health insurance through employers or group insurance, 20% are on Medicaid, 15% on Medicare, 1% on TRICARE or VA, and just over 6% are in this market,” Baldwin said. “There are problems with this market. But I have to say that abandoning the ACA … is not going to solve the system as a whole.”

Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted appeared supportive of a short-term extension of the enhanced ACA tax credits to provide Congress more time to address larger issues with health care affordability.

“We can freeze the subsidies where they’re at right now for a temporary period of time. I don’t know if that’s one year or two years to help give some relief,” he said. “And by the way, just because we continue those tax credits does not drive down the cost. It transfers the burden to the taxpayer and future generations. But it is a little help right now that we both can agree on. And then we’ve got to fix it.” 

Husted said there are easily a dozen bills that Congress could take up individually to start bringing down health care costs. 

Hawley offers plan for health costs tax exemption

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also appeared to side with extending the enhanced ACA marketplace tax credits in the short term.

“We are looking at a massive crisis unless Congress acts and acts soon,” Hawley said. “And my message is to the leadership of this body — to the leaders of the House, the leaders of the Senate —maybe it’s time we all locked ourselves in a room and got to a solution here.”

Halwey pitched a bill he just introduced to exempt health care from taxes. 

“If you pay premiums, you ought to be able to deduct that from your taxes. If you have out-of-pocket medical expenses, you ought to be able to deduct every dollar off of your taxes. You want to lower the cost of health care immediately. Do that. No taxes on health care for any American,” Hawley said. “And you set an upper limit so you don’t have rich people gaming the system. I get it. That’s fine. But let’s think about working people in this country who cannot afford health care.”

Hawley said it should be allowed whether an American itemizes on their taxes or not. 

All three panelists seemed initially supportive of the idea. 

Redoing tax credits in 2026

Cassidy said after the two-hour hearing he’s working to get support from lawmakers in both political parties for an integrated approach for next year.

“You could use the income that would be used to extend the subsidies, apply them to the bronze plan, because the bronze plan is so much less expensive. You could then put that balance into the health savings account,” Cassidy said, referring to coverage levels in plans on the ACA marketplace. “So it does continue the support using the existing mechanisms we have, but integrates the HSA, which gives first dollar coverage and could potentially lower the net deductible.”

Cassidy said Congress could extend the open enrollment period for the ACA marketplace and then fund the Health Savings Accounts, which are tax-advantaged savings accounts, before the end of March. 

“People would save their receipts and submit them for payment,” he said. “People do that all the time.”

Despite the federal government shut down and amid students continuing to die or be injured in the school bus “Danger Zone,” the Senate agreed on the importance of child safety with a resolution designating October 2025 as School Bus Safety Month.

Introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Gary Peters of Michigan, Senate Resolution 484 was filed on Nov. 5 and the full chamber agreed via unanimous consent to the language Monday. But it was originally scheduled for a vote on Oct. 1, the first day of the government shutdown.

“We stayed on them every day to get together and vote on it even with the government shutdown, which was very hard to do,” said Ward Leber, founder of the Child Safety Network, which has been the organization championing the resolution since 2013, when current Senate Majority Leader John Thune threw his full support behind it. “When both sides knew internally a deal was going to happen to reopen within a few days, our constant pushing paid off.”

Leber said this year’s resolution is dedicated to the memories of two 11-year-old girls who were killed as they were boarding and exiting their school buses.

“As a sergeant, a supervisor of school resource officers, and most of all as a father, I know the deadly outcome that can occur when drivers illegally pass school buses,” said Sgt. Dan Sperry, who spoke at STN EXPO West in 2016. “My 11-year-old daughter Makayla died in my arms just after stepping off her bus. I am proud to serve alongside the volunteers of CSN’s Senior Advisory Board, and grateful for all of the dedicated school bus professionals working every day to prevent another family from suffering a preventable tragedy.”

Leandra Backner, whose daughter was killed in 2022 after she tripped and was run over by her school bus, said “it warms my hear that the U.S. Senate has upheld School Bus Safety Month since 2013, honoring Annaliese’s memory through its ongoing commitment to safety.”

Sen. Peters said in a statement parents should have “peace of mind that when they drop their kids off at the bus stop, they will get to school and back home safely.”

The resolution results in funding for an NFL-themed PSA that alerts the public when it’s not safe to pass, especially when a stopped school bus is involved. The program is scheduled to launch in early 2026 around the Super Bowl.

It also touts the CSN Safe Ride campaign that offers school bus driver training, school bus technology, and free safety and security resources to school districts. To date, CSN said it has provided security awareness training materials to over 14,000 public and private schools, trained over 125,000 school bus operators and provided more than 175,000 counter-terrorism guides.

Peters also introduced last month the Brake for Kids Act to create a PSA about the dangers of illegally passing school buses.

In his home state, the Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation recently filmed a PSA with NASCAR driver Ryan Preece, a member of the RFK Racing Team owned by Jack Roush, the founder and chairman of Roush Enterprises that includes ROUSH CleanTech. The company provides propane autogas and gasoline fuel systems to Blue Bird in partnership with Ford.

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Related: STN EXPO Speaker to Discuss Daughter’s School Bus Death
Related: Colorado Senate Approves $5.5M to Improve School Bus Safety
Related: School Bus Drivers, “What’s Important Now?”
Related: Senate Recognizes School Bus Safety Month in ‘Tribute Year’

The post Senate Supports October School Bus Safety Month for 12th Consecutive Year appeared first on School Transportation News.

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Contentious legislation, including a bill to end the federal government shutdown, is sometimes delayed or derailed by the U.S. Senate’s 60-vote rule.

Generally, a bill passes the Senate with a simple majority – 51 votes.

But for most bills, any senator can indefinitely postpone a vote with a filibuster – unlimited debate on a bill. 

Ending debate requires 60 votes.

Currently, Republicans have 53 seats. As of Oct. 23, they had not persuaded enough Democrats to support ending debate and vote on a House-passed bill that would end the shutdown with temporary funding.  

The shutdown began when funding ended with the start of the fiscal year, Oct. 1. 
One potential effect: The Trump administration announced that funding might not be available in November for the 42 million people receiving SNAP food stamps. Wisconsin said it would run out of SNAP funding after Oct. 31.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• U.S. Senate: About Voting
• U.S. Senate: About Filibusters and Cloture
• U.S. Senate: Party Division
• The Hill: Chip Roy floats nuclear option on Senate filibuster to end shutdown
• CBS News: Government shutdown nears three-week mark as Senate fails for 11th time to advance funding bill
• Bipartisan Policy Center: What Happens if the Government Shuts Down?
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefit and Administrative Expense Update for November 2025
• WisPolitics: Gov. Evers: Wisconsin FoodShare program to run out of funding in 10 days

Is the government shutdown due partly to the Senate’s 60-vote rule? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.