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. 

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The Wisconsin State Senate passed bills that would restrict administrative rulemaking and that would place restrictions on health care for transgender youth. The bills are likely to be vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers.

Bills to restrict transgender youth headed to Evers

Democrats slammed five bills passed by Republicans that would restrict transgender children from receiving gender affirming care, from choosing the names and pronouns used for them in school and from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity. Republicans said the bills are meant to protect children. Each bill passed 18-15 along party lines.

Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said the bills are part of a larger effort to “legislate trans people out of public life.” He noted the Legislature’s emphasis on bills related to transgender people and said he felt a responsibility as a gay man to speak against them.

“Why are gay people and transgender people often lumped together politically? Why do we stand with each other? In large part because it is the same stereotypes. It is the same bias… and rigid ideas of male and female that have led to discrimination against gay people,” Spreitzer said.

Spreitzer said that even bringing the bills forward would do harm to transgender youth.

“It does harm to the mental health of our youth,” Spreitzer said. A 2024 survey by The Trevor Project found that 91% of LGBTQ+ young people in Wisconsin reported that recent politics negatively impacted their well-being. “What do they mean by recent politics? They mean bills like these as well as similar things coming down from the Trump administration.”

He added that he asked lawmakers to stop moving the bills forward during the committee process. “Yet forward they move, despite the Republican majority knowing full well that Gov. Evers will veto all five of these bills. They will not become law this session.”

Evers has vetoed similar bills several times over his seven years in office. Each time, he has promised to veto “any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids.”

Spreitzer said Senate and Assembly Democrats would sustain those vetoes if necessary.

One bill passed by the Senate is SB 405, which would create a civil cause of action against health care providers who perform gender transition procedures on someone under the age of 18 if they claim to be injured.

Spreitzer said SB 405 is a “blatant effort to threaten health care professionals with privileged litigation in the hopes that it will create a chilling effect and that they will stop providing gender affirming care.”

Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove) made personal pleas, speaking to her own experience as the mother of a transgender child during the floor session. She said it would make life harder for transgender children and their families.

“It’s not about protecting children, it’s about controlling them,” Ratcliff said, adding that decisions about gender affirming care are deeply private and should only be made by families and doctors.

“Why are we not helping families instead of burdening them? Why are we attacking children instead of protecting them? Why are we prioritizing culture wars over real problems?” Ratcliff said. “It’s really pretty obvious you want to use kids as pawns in a cynical political crusade. It’s not your kids that you’re using. It’s my kid and other people’s kids being used as pawns. It’s really shameful.”

“Stop bullying trans kids, and stop bullying their families,” Ratcliff said. 

The Senate also concurred in AB 100 and AB 102, which would prohibit transgender students from being able to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity at Wisconsin K-12 public and choice schools, University of Wisconsin campuses and technical colleges.

Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), the lead author of the sports and the civil action bills, said he has met with the “transgender community” while working on the legislation and added that it “doesn’t matter who that is, doesn’t matter what their name is, but all that matters is I’ve been able to reach out.”

Hutton said his bills would help “protect fairness, safety and privacy” in girls’ and women’s sports. He said SB 405 would ensure that there is the “same level of support for those who realize now that the issue that they’re physically dealing with and mentally dealing with, that they were wronged and they believe there should be some accountability to the health care professional.”

The Senate also concurred in AB 103, which would require that school districts adopt policies to inform and get permission from parents before a student would be allowed to use names and pronouns that differ from their legal ones, and AB 104, which would prohibit health care professionals from providing medical gender affirming care for those under 18.

Ratcliff said the bills are part of a political strategy for Republican lawmakers.

“Last year, you weaponized trans kids for campaign points and you’re doing it again,” Ratcliff said. “In both cases, the cost is the same. Real children are being harmed. It didn’t work last year and it’s not going to work this year.”

Wisconsin has a slate of elections coming up this year including a state Supreme Court race in April as well as an open governor’s race and state legislative races that will determine control of the Senate and Assembly.

The only Republican gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, kicked off his campaign by playing up culture war issues including promising to keep transgender girls off of girls’ sports teams. He has also recently released a campaign statement calling on the New Richmond School District to reverse its current policy and bar transgender girls from being able to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.

Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) accused Democratic lawmakers of  engaging in “political theater” and said anyone who allowed a minor to “make irreversible decisions is a catastrophic failure of parenting and society in general.”

All of the bills except SB 405 will now go to Evers for consideration.

GOP seeks to restrict administrative rules

Republican lawmakers introduced bills — packaged together as the “red tape reset” and supported by the conservative legal group Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) in May. The bills would increase legislative control over decisions made by executive agencies. Republicans have increased their efforts to limit and restrict agency rulemaking powers in the aftermath of state Supreme Court rulings that limited their ability to block rules.

SB 275 would limit scope statements, which are the first step in the rulemaking process, so they could only be used for one proposed rule. 

SB 276 would allow those who have challenged the validity of administrative rule to receive attorney fees and costs if a court declares a rule invalid. 

SB 277 would have all administrative rules sunset after seven years unless a rule is adopted again through an agency process.

SB 289 would require agencies to make cuts to offset the cost associated with new regulations.

Each bill passed 18-15 along party-lines. They will now go to the Assembly for consideration.

Democratic lawmakers did not speak on the bills during the floor session.

Megan Novak, the Americans For Prosperity Wisconsin state director, said in a statement that Wisconsin has been overregulated and that has restricted its economic growth.

“Between our excessive regulations and the misguided decision by our partisan Supreme Court that removed a necessary legislative check on the governor in the rulemaking process, Wisconsin businesses and families deserve regulatory relief,” Novak said. “These bills are a welcome step to get Wisconsin back on the right track.”

Grooming bill heads to Evers

The Senate concurred in a bill that would make “grooming” a felony crime in Wisconsin. 

The bill was introduced after a report from the CapTimes that found there were over 200 investigations into teacher licenses stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming from 2018 to 2023, though authors of the proposal say they have been working on the legislation for longer.

Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) told reporters ahead of the floor session that the bill would protect “our vulnerable population from supposed trusted adults who would do our kids harm.”

“I can’t bear to think of the many dangers my grandkids will face, however, with this bill, I can sleep just a little bit better,” James said, adding that the bill would act as a deterrent to tell people that “our kids are not targets.”

The bill would define grooming 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.”

Under the bill, a person convicted of a grooming charge 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.

The bill, which passed the Assembly 93-6 last month, will now go to Evers for consideration. 

Another bill that was introduced following the CapTimes report passed on a voice vote. SB 785 would require the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to maintain an online licensing portal that is searchable by the public at no cost. The portal would need to include information on license holders under investigation and the name of individuals who have had their licenses revoked.

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