Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed that they shouldn’t just hand state funds over to the organization for the long term. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu criticized WisconsinEye at a press conference earlier this month. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Senate passed a bill Wednesday to solicit proposals from organizations seeking to run the state’s public affairs network, which livestreams and archives state government proceedings.
The job since 2007 has been done by WisconsinEye, a nonprofit organization, but Senate lawmakers want to explore other options after the group abruptly stopped its coverage for over a month due to fundraising difficulties and started seeking more substantial state support for its operations.
The state Assembly has proposed that the state place $10 million, which was already set aside in the state budget for WisconsinEye, into an endowment fund and allow WisconsinEye to use the interest to help support its operations. The organization’s current annual operating budget is nearly $1 million, and even with the interest, WisconsinEye would likely still need to fundraise hundreds of thousands each year.
Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed that they shouldn’t just hand state funds over to the organization for the long term, expressing concerns about WisconsinEye’s management and transparency.
The Senate bill, approved on a voice vote, would provide a year of short-term funding and initiate a process to solicit bids for the job. The lawmakers said their proposal would allow them to explore all of their options to continue to livestream government proceedings.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) called it a “travesty” that WisconsinEye went dark for over a month earlier this year. He noted that for that time WisconsinEye was in breach of its contract with the Legislature. He said the Senate bill would allow lawmakers to explore all options, noting that he had initially proposed that the state take over the work of livestreaming by creating a state public affairs network.
“This is a bipartisan bright spot where we actually came together and had conversation with many,” Spreitzer said.
Specifically, the Senate proposal asks the Department of Administration (DOA) to solicit bids for the operation of a statewide public affairs network that would provide unedited live video and audio coverage of state government proceedings. Those proceedings would include Senate and Assembly floor sessions, legislative committee meetings, state agency meetings, state Supreme Court and other judicial meetings. The bill states that if “practicable,” the network can also cover eligible news conferences and civic events.
An amendment to the bill implements a deadline for submitting proposals of June 30, 2026. The Department of Administration will then need to submit each proposal to the Legislature and may include its own recommendations.
The amendment also includes a provision to have WisconsinEye and the DOA secretary submit a request for temporary funding to the Joint Committee on Finance. The grant for temporary funding would be $585,630.60 and if approved by JFC would be paid out to WisconsinEye in monthly payments of $48,802.55.
The payments would cease if WisconsinEye stops providing live coverage and online access to its archives or if another organization is selected during the proposals process to take over as the state’s public affairs network.
The amendment also includes a provision, originally included in the Assembly proposal, requiring WisconsinEye to appoint new members to its board of directors including one designee each for the Assembly speaker, Assembly minority leader, Senate majority leader and Senate minority leader.
Sen. Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin), the lead author on the bill, said he hoped the Assembly would take up the proposal.
“Transparency is the most important thing,” Bradley said, adding that it is “awesome that we were able to get this done.”
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) noted that she had concerns leaving conversations with her fellow caucus leaders about the proposal.
“It was clear walking out of that meeting that we weren’t on the same page as the state Assembly,” Hesselbein said.
WisconsinEye restarted its coverage this month after the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization voted to provide $50,000 to the nonprofit to cover its month of expenses.
The Assembly proposal, which was announced in a joint press conference with Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine), passed in a 96-0 vote.
“Donors view this approach with confidence, knowing that while WisconsinEye must continue to raise private dollars, that requirement becomes an achievable goal to meet because it is coupled with a solid state commitment of financial partnership,” WisconsinEye said in a statement.
WisconsinEye said in an update this week that without an additional infusion of $50,000 in state funds for the month of March that it won’t be able to continue its coverage throughout the remainder of the legislative session. The state Assembly plans to wrap its work up this month, but the Senate plans to continue its work next month.
The organization said it would also be “happy” to submit a proposal to the DOA should that be the path that lawmakers choose. But the statement said a request for proposal would take “considerable time” and there is “also the question from what appropriation an eventual contract might be funded.”
“Further, WisconsinEye has funding to carry operations through February. An outstanding question is whether WisconsinEye would be in a position to maintain operations for any time period through which an RFP process might require,” WisconsinEye stated.
“Maybe, we are getting the best value currently with WisconsinEye, but we don’t know... We want to be responsible with taxpayer money," Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said at a press conference in Feb. 2026. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Senate Republicans are proposing that Wisconsin solicit bids for parties interested in taking over livestream coverage of the state government — making WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that has done the job since 2007, compete for the job.
The introduction of SB 994 follows the state Assembly unanimously passing a proposal Tuesday that would eliminate match requirements for $10 million that was set aside in the state budget for WisconsinEye, and place it in a trust fund from which the organization could draw interest.
WisconsinEye had to halt its coverage for about a month due to financial difficulties and has turned to state lawmakers for a long-term funding solution, and while the Assembly has been on the same page, the Senate has expressed skepticism about providing help.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters Wednesday that his caucus wants to see whether there is another party that could do the job for less. He said his local county board livestreams its meetings and it “doesn’t seem like it’s rocket science.”
LeMahieu said his caucus has been frustrated trying to get answers from WisconsinEye and with the lack of fundraising by the nonprofit since state funds were first set aside in 2023.
“There was a promise to raise funds to keep going over the last three years with state matching funds. That has not worked, so we think there is a different path,” LeMahieu said. “Maybe, we are getting the best value currently with WisconsinEye, but we don’t know… We want to be responsible with taxpayer money.”
WisconsinEye’s current annual operating budget is nearly $1 million. The Assembly proposal would allow the organization to use the interest on the trust fund for its operating expenses, though it is expected the organization would still need to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to meet its annual costs.
The coauthors on the Senate bill include 15 of the 18 Republicans; those not on the bill include Sens. John Jagler, Chris Kapenga and Eric Wimberger. The Assembly lawmakers coauthoring the Senate bill are Reps. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego). Both voted in favor of the Assembly bill this week.
Under the Senate proposal, the state Department of Administration would solicit bids for the operation of a statewide public affairs network that would provide unedited live video and audio coverage of state government proceedings.
Those proceedings would include Senate and Assembly floor sessions, legislative committee meetings, state agency meetings, state Supreme Court and other judicial meetings. The bill states that if “practicable,” the network can also cover eligible news conferences and civic events.
Lawmakers said in a cosponsorship memo that the bill would ensure “high-quality, secure, and cost-effective coverage of legislative, executive and judicial proceedings while maintaining strict nonpartisanship.”
“For years, the state has relied on a single public affairs network model without a competitive procurement process that ensures taxpayers receive the best return on their investment,” the cosponsorship memo on the bill states. “As technology evolves and expectations for public access increase, it is time to modernize how Wisconsin provides live coverage and archives of government proceedings.”
The bill also requires the network to prohibit coverage from being used for campaign purposes.
The Senate proposal would prohibit fees from being charged to access live and archived coverage of floor sessions and Joint Finance Committee meetings. Other meetings are not covered under this part of the bill.
The Assembly bill, in contrast, would generally require WisconsinEye to provide free online public access to all of its live broadcasts and archives. That bill would have WisconsinEye focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business.
Assembly lawmakers also wanted to implement some additional accountability measures, requiring WisconsinEye to submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and place additional members on its board of directors who would be appointed by legislative leaders.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday lawmakers are in negotiations with Gov. Tony Evers on a bill package to provide property tax relief before the end of the legislative session. Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address with Republican legislative leaders sitting behind him. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday lawmakers are in negotiations with Gov. Tony Evers on a bill package to provide property tax relief before the end of the legislative session.
Vos made the comments ahead of an Assembly floor session during which lawmakers passed a bill to provide long-term financial support to WisconsinEye, the state’s version of C-Span. Vos said the state Senate may have its own bill in the works.
Vos said that lawmakers have been discussing a property tax-reduction package for weeks, and had intended to announce it last week, but delayed due to discussions with Evers. Republicans want to tap into Wisconsin’s budget surplus, estimated at over $2 billion, to fund a property tax relief package.
“We have been trying to negotiate with Gov. Evers to have a bipartisan package that can get through both chambers, hopefully, and to his desk,” Vos said. “The goal would be to try to return a sizable chunk of the surplus back to Wisconsinites to help deal with rising property taxes.”
Property tax bills jumped significantly in December, fueled by a state budget that increases school revenue limits while keeping state general aid flat — pushing education costs onto local taxpayers — as well as voter approval of school district referendum requests. Further property tax hikes are expected in coming years without action from policymakers.
Republicans, angry about a line-item veto by Evers in the last budget, refused to give any state aid to schools in the current two-year budget. Evers’ partial veto extended a $325 per-pupil increase in revenue-raising authority granted to school districts in the last two-year budget cycle for the next 400 years. Without state funding to backfill the revenue limit increases, school districts only had the option to raise property taxes or to forgo additional revenue. Vos had earlier said he wanted to see a repeal of Evers’ partial veto in any property tax package, but he backed off that demand Tuesday.
“Certainly want to see if we can have reforms in there, but the most important thing for us is to get relief, so some of the politics might have to wait until the election cycle,” Vos said.
There is an open race for the governor’s office and control of the state Legislature is up for grabs in November. Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is seeking to make property taxes a major point of his campaign — promising to freeze property taxes and repeal Evers’ partial veto if he is elected.
WisPolitics reports that Evers is proposing a $1.3 billion package that would pair school funding with tax relief, according to emails from Zach Madden, Evers’ legislative affairs director, to Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) the news outlet obtained.
According to WisPolitics, the deal put forth by Evers would include $200 million towards special education funding and $450 million for general aid to schools in 2027 to lower the amount of revenue that districts would raise through property taxes. Evers would in exchange support providing $550 million toward the School Levy Tax Credit and $97.3 million in 2027 to exempt taxes on cash tips.
Assembly passes bill to create endowment for WisconsinEye
The Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to provide a long-term funding solution for WisconsinEye, the nonprofit organization that livestreams and archives government proceedings, but the bill likely faces difficulty in the Senate.
AB 974 would eliminate the match requirement on $10 million, which was initially set aside for WisconsinEye in the state budget, and place it in an endowment fund to help provide a stable form of income to the organization. WisconsinEye would receive the interest from the endowment for its operations, though the revenue is not expected to cover all of its costs so the nonprofit would still need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
Lawmakers have been working on a way to support the organization after it said it was dealing with fundraising difficulties and had to shut down its coverage. WisconsinEye resumed its coverage on Feb. 2 after over a month offline after the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization approved $50,000 for it to do so.
“They need around $50,000 a month to be able to continue operations as they work toward their long-term goal of having a partnership with the state and through their private fundraising,” Vos said. “I think the goal would be that the Legislature and the executive branch hopefully will be able to provide a longer term contract to at least get us through the balance of this year.”
The bill would require WisconsinEye to focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business, provide free online public access to its live broadcasts and archives as well as submit an annual financial report to the Legislature. It would also require WisconsinEye to add additional members to its board of directors.
The bill states that if WisconsinEye ceases operations and divests its assets, then it must pay back the grants and transfer its archives to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
An amendment to the bill will require WisconsinEye to open all meetings of its board of directors to the public, broadcast those meetings and archive them and stipulates that the state will own all video cameras, audio equipment, connecting cables and wireless transmission equipment that is operated or maintained by WisconsinEye in the Capitol.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine), the lead coauthor on the bill, said she is glad WisconsinEye is back online.
“Without it, however briefly, the Legislature was less transparent and accessible to all of our constituents,” Neubauer said. “Thankfully, we’re here to fix this issue today… I certainly hope that this bipartisanship will continue with the Senate, and they will pass this bill so that we can ensure that WisconsinEye has a path to long-term sustainability.”
The bill passed 96-0 in the Assembly.
Vos said that lawmakers have had “brief discussions” with the Senate, but he believes that Senate Republicans are working on their own bill related to WisconsinEye.
LeMahieu’s office has not responded to a request for comment from the Examiner.
WisconsinEye Board of Directors Chair Mark O’Connell called WisconsinEye “a worthy, appropriate use of state funds” for people to know how their elected officials are “controlling and charting the course of our future.” (Screenshot via WisconsinEye)
An Assembly committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill to provide long-term support to WisconsinEye, the state’s nonprofit news organization that livestreams and archives government meetings and legislative sessions.
WisconsinEye resumed its coverage in February — after more than a month offline — with the help of a $50,000 cash infusion approved by the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization Monday.
Mark O’Connell, chair of the WisconsinEye Board of Directors, explained the organization’s financial difficulties to lawmakers during the Assembly State Affairs committee hearing.
After going off air, O’Connell told lawmakers on the committee that WisconsinEye had reduced some salaries and cut back on expenses as much as possible. It also turned to state lawmakers, who had already set aside $10 million to be used for an endowment for the organization, but with match requirements that WisconsinEye could not meet. The organization also started to boost its fundraising efforts among small-dollar donors. A GoFundMe has raised over $56,000 as of Tuesday.
“While you allocated $10 million to WisconsinEye and said, ‘If you can raise $10 million, we’ll give you matching dollars up to $10 million,’ — that was incredibly gracious of you — but that was hard, hard to the point where it couldn’t be done in a very difficult fundraising environment,” O’Connell said. “That has resulted in where we are today.”
O’Connell called WisconsinEye “a worthy, appropriate use of state funds” for people to know how their elected officials are “controlling and charting the course of our future.”
Under the Assembly proposal, which was first announced by Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) last month, the match requirements for the $10 million would be eliminated and the money would go to establishing an endowment fund for WisconsinEye.
“WisconsinEye will still have to put in quite a bit of work and raise the remainder of their operating budget each year,” Neubauer told lawmakers Tuesday. “If we assume a rate of return of about 4 to 7% on the endowment, WisconsinEye will still have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to be able to maintain something close to their current budget, which is $950,000 annually.”
Neubauer said the organization has said that maintaining that budget is necessary to operate at its current level and to meet its contractually obligated services. She added that she hopes that one day WisconsinEye would be able to cover every committee meeting and hearing in the state Capitol, though that would “require strong private fundraising from them.”
“If we… bring in about $600,000 from the endowment each year, they would need to raise about $350,000. They have communicated that they think that that’s possible,” Neubauer said. “They would live off the interest. The endowment stays with the state of Wisconsin.”
O’Connell told lawmakers that approving the bill would help secure additional funding from donors.
“We are going to continue to raise funds as best we can. We currently have seven entities that contribute $25,000 per year. We have one entity that contributes $50,000 per year. We have a handful of folks that, to the tune of about $175,000, that are waiting to see if this commitment from the state is solid, and if it is, then we’re going to see those funds come in,” O’Connell said. “I am very optimistic that if we can come to a resolution on this piece of legislation, that we are going to be in a relatively strong position to have a solid base with the partnership with the state as we continue to do fundraising in the private sector.”
The proposal would require WisconsinEye to add four additional members to its board of directors who would be appointed by each legislative caucus leader, focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business, provide free online public access to its live broadcasts and digital archives as well as submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and the Joint Finance Committee. The board appointees would not be allowed to be current legislators.
The bill also states that if WisconsinEye ceases operations and divests its assets, then it must pay back the grants and transfer its archives to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
O’Connell said there are some other details that need to be worked out with the bill. He said WisconsinEye will need “bridge financing” to help the organization function until interest from the trust fund begins to come in.
“We’ve got to operate between now and whenever that return comes in, so we’ll need some kind of bridge. We’ll work with the Legislature on that,” O’Connell said. “We will need to work on the trust fund language. We would like the state of Wisconsin investment board to be aggressive… There are some issues we’ll have to address, but we are incredibly appreciative of the state of Wisconsin… saying [to] the citizens of Wisconsin, it is important for us in the Legislature for you to know what we are doing.”
The committee approved the bill unanimously immediately following the public hearing, setting it up for a vote in the full Assembly in the near future.
WisconsinEye livestreamed a press conference on Monday morning. (Screenshot via WisEye)
WisconsinEye, the state’s nonprofit that livestreams and archives government meetings and legislative sessions, restarted its coverage Monday after lawmakers approved a $50,000 cash infusion for the short term and as they continue to work on a longer term deal.
The organization, which has been providing streaming services in the Capitol for nearly two decades, halted its coverage about seven weeks ago due to financial and fundraising difficulties. Its leaders turned to state lawmakers for help. The Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers had already set aside $10 million for WisconsinEye, but with a fundraising match requirements the service was unable to meet.
WisconsinEye is now back online, broadcasting a Monday morning press conference and with plans to stream Tuesday legislative activity after the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization (JCLO) voted unanimously via paper ballot to provide $50,000 to the organization to resume its February coverage. According to a memo on the vote results, the costs will be divided equally between the Senate and the Assembly.
“WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network is operational for the month of February. We invite you to enjoy the benefits of State Capitol coverage and the program archive,” a message on the website states.
An Assembly committee is also preparing to consider a bill Tuesday that would provide a longer term solution for the organization. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) announced that they had found a bipartisan legislative solution, which had yet to be considered by the Senate, about two weeks ago.
Under the Assembly proposal, the match requirements for the $10 million would be eliminated and would go to establishing an endowment fund for WisconsinEye. The interest from the endowment would help pay for the organization’s operational costs. Lawmakers said that since the interest won’t cover all of its costs, WisconsinEye will still be responsible for raising some money for its operational costs.
According to the bill draft, WisconsinEye would need to add four additional members to its board of directors who would be appointed by each legislative caucus leader, focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business, provide free online public access to its live broadcasts and digital archives as well as submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and the Joint Finance Committee. The board appointees would not be allowed to be current legislators.
The bill also states that if WisconsinEye ceases operations and divests its assets, then it must pay back the grants and transfer its archives to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The Assembly State Affairs Committee plans to consider the bill during a public hearing Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to vote on it immediately following the hearing.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer announced the agreement on WisconsinEye during a joint press conference on Thursday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) announced a tentative agreement on providing state funding to WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that provides livestream coverage of state government.
Vos and Neubauer announced the agreement during a joint press conference on Thursday. According to Neubauer, the agreement will include an endowment, funded with the $10 million that lawmakers first set aside for WisconsinEye in 2023, as well as requirements that WisconsinEye fundraise to cover some operational costs.
“The interest will go to WisconsinEye each year so that they can fund the majority of their Capitol operations,” Neubauer said. “This is a really good start. It’s very important for the public to have access, and so we’re optimistic that we’re going to reach a bipartisan solution here soon.”
Vos said legislators also want to sign a short-term contract with WisconsinEye so the organization can broadcast the February floor period.
“We’ll hopefully turn that into a longer term contract where we provide them limited funding,” Vos said. “I think it’s a win-win for all.”
As of Thursday, the Assembly will have met four times on the floor without livestreamed or archived coverage of the sessions. The Senate has met once with a livestream facilitated by the Legislative Technology Services Bureau.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has announced plans to livestream its upcoming oral arguments on the Wisconsin Court System’s website.
“The idea of having one network and one operation for the courts and another for the Legislature, another for the executive branch, certainly is going to cost more than any amount we would give WisconsinEye,” Vos said. “They’ve already done a pretty good job. We’re going to make sure that they’re financially stable, and hopefully they continue doing the work that they’ve already done.”
Vos said that under the tentative agreement, $10 million in state funds would go into a trust fund and the interest accrued from it would be given to a “revamped” board of directors. He said it would be “still transparent and private.”
The $10 million in state funds was initially set aside in the state budget for the organization to use to build a permanent endowment, but it came with a requirement that WisconsinEye raise equivalent matching funds. The organization hasn’t raised enough money to access the funds. In the weeks since shutting down, WisconsinEye launched a GoFundMe that has raised nearly $50,000 from more than 260 donations.
Neubauer said that the interest from the trust fund is not expected to cover the organization’s nearly $1 million annual budget, so there is an expectation that it would raise a few hundred thousand dollars each year.
“They have said they are able to do [that] and are optimistic,” Neubauer said.
Neubauer said there will also be a few other provisions related to additional transparency in the organization’s operations and reporting to the Legislature.
The agreement would also need support from the state Senate. Vos said there was a good discussion on Thursday morning, that Assembly leaders “probably are more in sync” than their counterparts in the other house of the Legislature.
“I think they’re still working through some of the details of how they’d like to work, and that’s why we don’t have a finalized agreement,” Vos said. “We wanted to get the bill out there, start the idea. If they have a different concept, we’ll certainly go through to finalize it, but I think at least based on my discussions this morning, I feel like all four of us are in a similar place. I think our caucuses, we’d like to have some kind of access, it’s just what’s the best vehicle to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters on Wednesday that his caucus believes “that giving the public access to see what we’re doing is important, but… just blindly giving money to an organization that’s asking us for money, but not giving us any answers, is certainly not the solution at this time.” Lawmakers had sent questions to WisconsinEye requesting information on its operations and didn’t receive answers until about 12 days after the deadline.
the Senate Committee on Organization approved a livestream that will be facilitated by the Legislative Technology Services Bureau. The Wisconsin Senate votes on the state budget in July. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
With WisconsinEye, the state government video streaming service, still offline, the state Senate is planning to livestream its floor session Wednesday when it votes on constitutional amendment proposals as well as bills related to income tax breaks and education.
According to a Friday memo from the office of Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), the Senate Committee on Organization approved a livestream that will be facilitated by the Legislative Technology Services Bureau.
The memo states the goal of the stream is to enhance transparency and public availability, and that any use or distribution of the livestream is prohibited. Wednesday will be the first time since WisconsinEye went offline that the full Senate will meet to vote on legislation.
The absence of WisconsinEye, which halted coverage in December due to financial difficulties, means that for the first time since 2007 no organization is livestreaming and archiving meetings in the Legislature. Since Tuesday morning, WisconsinEye has raised more than $40,000 towards the $250,000 goal of its GoFundMe campaign to cover three months of operating expenses.
After WisconsinEye ceased coverage, Republicans began enforcing rules banning members of the public from recording committee proceedings. Democrats have criticized that move, saying the Legislature needs to be more transparent. One Republican committee chair told the Examiner that the enforcement of recording rules was in part due to concerns over the use of recordings for political purposes.
The state Assembly has met three times this year, including Tuesday, without sessions being livestreamed. It also has another floor session scheduled for Thursday.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said during a press conference that the presence of journalists at the floor session is why the Assembly is not doing something similar to the Senate in the absence of WisconsinEye. He said he didn’t see the need to try to recreate the service.
“People are reporting on [the floor session]. We are still trying to figure out if there’s a way for us to get WisconsinEye — we’ve had good meetings,” Vos said, adding that he has met with Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) on the issue. “I think, in the end, we’ll find some kind of an answer.”
“This is not about vague feelings or misunderstandings," Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said of her bill to make child grooming a crime. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Assembly, which met for its first floor session of the year on Tuesday, passed two constitutional amendments that could be on ballots in November as well as bills to withhold pay from suspended judges and to make “grooming” to establish a sexual relationship with a child a felony crime.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the floor session occurred without livestream coverage from WisconsinEye, the nonprofit organization that produces live and archived videos of state government similar to C-Span.
Two constitutional amendments advance
The Assembly passed two constitutional amendment proposals. One would bar the closure of places of worship during a state of emergency and the other would eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout Wisconsin.
Each proposed amendment is up for the second of two required votes in consecutive sessions of the Legislature. If they pass the Senate, they will appear on voters’ ballots in November. A majority of voters must approve them before the state constitution can be amended.
AJR 10, which would prohibit the state from ordering the closure of places of worship during a state of emergency, passed 56-43. Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee) joined Republicans in favor of the proposal.
The proposal was first introduced during the 2023-25 session in response to actions taken by the Evers administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. A “Safer at Home” order issued by Evers in March 2020 designated religious entities as essential but said gatherings should include fewer than 10 people in a room at a time and said people needed to adhere to social distancing requirements as much as possible. The order also advised places of worship to have drive-in services.
Only Rep. Ron Tusler, the proposal’s author, spoke about it during the floor session.
“No more than 10 people at a time, no matter how big the church structure was. What part of never infringe the right of every person to worship almighty God, according to the dictates of their conscience, did Gov. Evers not understand?” Tusler asked, referring to the Wisconsin State Constitution. “Evers was wrong to limit our churches to 10.”
Voters would be asked “Shall Section 18 of Article I of the Constitution, which deals with religious liberty, 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?”
AJR 102, which seeks to target diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in state and local governments, passed 54-45 with only Republican support.
Rep. Dave Murphy (R-Hortonville) said the proposal will restore “merit, fairness and equality to government practices from the state Capitol, all the way down to our school boards and everything in between” including when it comes to hiring, scholarships and contracting.
Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee), speaking against the proposal, said it represents an opportunity for Republicans “to rev up voters for November and an opportunity to give red meat to the base.”
Voters across the state could find the constitutional amendment proposals alongside a slate of high stakes races on their ballots in November including a race for governor, congressional races and races for the state Senate and Assembly that will determine control of the chambers in 2027.
Rep. Margaret Arney (D-Wauwatosa) said the anti-DEI proposal creates a roadblock to helping her community.
“We need to do more to have Black and brown kids succeed in Wisconsin,” Arney said. “This change doesn’t help improve well-being in the district. It gets in the way.”
“This is the kind of fairness that the people of Wisconsin are looking for,” Murphy responded.
The proposal now needs to pass the Senate before it can go to voters. If it passes there, voters will see the following question on their ballots in November: “Shall section 27 of article I of the constitution be created to prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration?”
Withholding judge’s pay during temporary suspension
AB 380 would require that if the state Supreme Court temporarily suspends a judge from practicing in the state pending final determination of proceedings or imposes a suspension as a disciplinary sanction in a case of misconduct then the suspension must be without pay.
The bill passed 57-42. Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon), Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska) and Rep. Tara Johnson (D-Town of Shelby) joined Republicans in support of the bill.
The bill was introduced last year after the arrest and suspension of former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, who has since been found guilty of felony obstruction of federal immigration agents in December and submitted her resignation from her position in January.
Bill coauthor Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) told reporters before the session that the bill will ensure that “when a judge is suspended for misconduct, they are not being continued to be paid by the people of Wisconsin.”
“Not only is it an extended vacation, which is what Judge Dugan ended up enjoying while she was not doing her job, but in addition to that, we had to have other judges fill the role and get the job done so that cases could continue to be adjudicated in Milwaukee County,” he added. “If another judge decides to do this, they shouldn’t be able to collect their pay, hundreds of thousands of dollars, while that case is pending.”
Sortwell also said an amendment to the bill will ensure that should a judge be found not guilty they would receive backpay.
During floor debate, Rep. Andrew Hysell (D-Sun Prairie) called it a messaging bill given that it wouldn’t have applied to Dugan. He pointed out that the statute that the bill would change was not used by the state Supreme Court when it suspended Dugan.
“It would have saved taxpayers zero dollars,” Hysell said. “I understand that certain bills are meant to convey certain messages to the public, but even a messaging bill should have some arguable connection to the underlying problem that it supposedly fixes.”
Sortwell said that Hysell was right it wouldn’t have affected Dugan, but reiterated that his bill is looking towards the future.
“We do believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Sortwell said. “She was found to be guilty and good riddance to her.”
Grooming a crime
The Assembly also passed AB 677, which would make grooming a felony crime in Wisconsin, in a 93-6 vote. Reps. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Angelina Cruz (D-Racine), Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) and Angelito Tenorio (D-West Allis) voted against the proposal.
Bill author Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said the bill will help protect children and noted that she started working on the bill about 18 months ago due to the case of Christian Enwright, a former Kenosha teacher who pleaded guilty last year to over a dozen misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct after he had an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old student.
“Anyone who followed that case and saw the messages that Enright sent would know that his behavior is far more than disorderly. Because of the lack of a criminal definition of grooming, that was all he could be charged with,” Nedweski said.
Under the bill, grooming in Wisconsin 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 producing distributing or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
A person convicted of a grooming charge, under the bill, would be guilty of a Class G felony. The charge 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 need to register as a sex offender.
An amendment to the bill would change the crime to a Class I felony if the person convicted of the crime is a school staff member or volunteer.
“This is not about vague feelings or misunderstandings. There needs to be a pattern of predatory behavior with the intent to have sexual contact with the victim,” Nedweski said. “This bill came as a result of months of conversations with law enforcement prosecutors, district attorneys, educators and victim advocates.”
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said in a statement that she appreciated the bipartisan effort on the bill.
“We all share a commitment to protecting kids in school and ensuring they can safely learn and grow,” Neubauer said. “This is a critical issue, and I hope we will continue working together to support and protect our kids.”
Phelps told the Examiner in a statement that he voted against the bill because it didn’t seem like a “good-faith effort” to make children safer. He said the behaviors covered in the bill are already illegal.
“Creating redundant crimes to advance a political agenda doesn’t make anyone safer; it just pads the statute books, locks more people in our failed carceral system, and ignores real solutions like prevention and survivor services,” Phelps said.
Assembly’s first time on the floor without WisconsinEye livestream
Ahead of the Assembly floor session, Neubauer called the absence of WisconsinEye as lawmakers continue their business this month an “unsustainable situation.” The nonprofit organization ceased coverage and pulled its archive offline on Dec. 15 due to financial difficulties.
“It is not a good day for accountability to the people who elected us to serve them,” Neubauer said. “Transparency is an essential part of a functioning democracy. Without it, mistrust thrives and multiplies at a time when we need to be building trust in state government. We need to be demonstrating that government can and must be a force for good. This is a step in the wrong direction, and it erodes the public’s trust in this institution.”
Neubauer said she is open to negotiating with her Republican colleagues to find a solution. She said that lawmakers did not set the organization up for success with the match requirements placed on the $10 million that the state set aside for an endowment.
“Not sure that a $10 million requirement was ever really realistic for WisconsinEye. We would of course like to see more fundraising,” Neubauer said.
Neubauer and Democrats also questioned why Republican lawmakers were not working more quickly towards a solution as well as why they began enforcing a ban against members of the public who try to record committee proceedings.
“I would ask that you ask yourself what kind of politician doesn’t want for a camera to film what we are doing. What kind of intentions does that politician have? What kind of motivations do they have? What do they have to hide? Why are they doing that?” Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona) told reporters. “We’re doing important work. People ought to be able to see what we’re doing.”
Gov. Tony Evers told reporters on Monday that he is open to exploring options for getting WisconsinEye back online, but isn’t supportive of just giving the nonprofit state funds without a match requirement.
“I think there has to be some skin in the game,” Evers said of WisEye.
Republican leaders have also said that they support improving transparency but expressed some concerns about giving the organization state funds.
In November, before WisconsinEye went dark, the organization’s president Jon Henkes told the Examiner that the board hadn’t raised any money. He said then that the organization had been reaching out to potential donors about providing large-sum contributions
“We’re not asking for $5,000 gifts right now. We’re asking for gifts in the $50,000 [to] $500,000 range and that’s a limited amount of people out there,” Henkes said in November.
The organization started seeing more small-dollar donations in December.
“Small gift fundraising… through online and small checks that have been arriving in the mail are helpful. They don’t get us where we need to be, but it’s a statement that it’s not just the lobbyists and elected officials around the state in the news media who are supporting us there,” Henkes said in December. “There are a lot of people who are citizen viewers who recognize the value of WisconsinEye and are taking the time to go online to make a small gift or send a check, and we’re very grateful for that. That’s a huge encouragement to us.”
WisconsinEye has increased its attempts to raise money from small-sum donations, including by launching a GoFundMe campaign on Monday. As of Tuesday, the campaign had raised more than $8,000 from over 100 donations. The goal is $250,000, which would help support three months of the organization’s operational costs.
Update: This story was updated on Thursday Jan. 15 to add comment from Rep. Christian Phelps about his vote against AB 677.
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.”
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.
WisconsinEye shut down its website on Monday due to a lack of funding.
Emilie Amundson, secretary of the Department of Children and Families at the time, testifies during a hearing in the state Capitol in October 2023 as a WisEye microphone and camera record the session.(Screenshot/WisEye)
WisconsinEye, the independent, nonprofit service that provides video coverage of legislative hearings, floor sessions and Wisconsin state government business similar to C-Span, shut down its website on Monday due to a lack of funding.
The organization, which launched in 2007, first warned in November it was at risk of halting live coverage as well as pulling its video archive of more than 30,000 hours of state government proceedings, candidate interviews and other programming offline.
“Due to extreme competition and a complete collapse in private funding — marked by donor fatigue, competing nonprofit campaigns, record-breaking political fundraising and economic uncertainty — WisconsinEye’s website is unavailable,” a message on the WisEye website states. “Without consistent annual funding…. citizens, legislators, legislative staff, the governor’s administration, agency leadership and staff, trade associations, attorneys and the courts, local government officials, journalists and all print, cable, television and radio news outlets, businesses, nonprofit organizations — all lose the only reliable and proven source of unfiltered State Capitol news and state government proceedings.”
Jon Henkes, the president of WisconsinEye, told the Examiner last month that, similar to other nonprofits, the organization has faced a tough fundraising environment since the COVID-19 pandemic. He said then that the organization has made “well qualified, well cultivated” donation requests totaling more than $9 million with none of those requests leading to donations.
Henkes said that the organization was still making donor inquiries and that raising at least $250,000 could get the organization through the first quarter of 2026.
WisconsinEye has also turned its attention to the state Legislature for help, sending a letter to lawmakers in November asking them to make state funds available for its operational costs.
The Wisconsin Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers set aside $10 million in matching funds in the 2023-25 state budget to help WisconsinEye build a permanent endowment. After the organization failed to raise sufficient funds to access that money, the current state budget changed provisions so that $250,000 of the $10 million was available with no match, which helped cover expenses through Dec. 15. The rest of the funding was made to be available on a dollar-by-dollar match basis, meaning as WisconsinEye raises its own funds it would be able to get an equivalent amount of state funds. The opportunity for the organization to access the funds expires in June 2026.
The organization is asking for the state to modify the match requirement and make funds available.
“We’re simply asking for release of those funds, or part of those funds, in a way different from the endowment,” Henkes told the Examiner in November. “The best case scenario would be if the Legislature would release a minimum of one year, so $1 million, essentially to carry us forward, and we can focus 100% over the next several months through June, to really hammer down and see if we can’t raise some endowment dollars. We think that’s a very viable option, and we’re hopeful.”
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