The heads of the DOA and DSPS both spoke with lawmakers Tuesday. Wisconsin State Office Building. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

The Wisconsin Assembly Government Operations, Accountability, and Transparency (GOAT) Committee questioned leaders of government agencies about telework policies, use of work space and cybersecurity during its first public meeting Tuesday. 

The committee was formed this session to serve as the Wisconsin version of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project launched by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk. 

There are some similarities between the efforts. The acronyms come from internet pop culture: GOAT refers to the “greatest of all time” and DOGE comes from a 2013 meme and a later cryptocurrency. Both are purported to address potential “waste, fraud and abuse” in government. But whereas Musk and DOGE’s work has been quick and widespread, with attempts to fire thousands of federal employees and a goal of ending $1 trillion in government spending, the GOAT committee is starting off more slowly.

Committee chair Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said that Tuesday’s informational hearing was scheduled due to “increased demand from the public for transparency and efficiency in government” and to look at telework practices in state agencies. She also repeated her intent for the committee to be “very close to the public” and ensure there is transparency for how taxpayers’ money is being used.

The extent of remote work by state employees has been an ongoing point of criticism among Republican lawmakers since the COVID-19 pandemic. Nedweski and Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) recently introduced a bill to require state agency employees to work in person at state agency offices starting on July 1. 

During the hearing, the committee heard from the Legislative Audit Bureau about a 2023 audit on telework. Hearing witnesses also included leaders of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Department of Administration (DOA), Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS), Department of Health Services (DHS) and the Universities of Wisconsin, as well as some leaders of private businesses. 

Testifying for DPI, Deputy Superintendent Tom McCarthy said that telework policies have been helpful for allowing the agency to hire employees. DPI Superintendent Jill Underly was absent, which Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) pointed out multiple times during the meeting. 

“We’re never going to compete. We’re never going to be able to punch dollar for dollar at salary for the private sector, especially in IT or high demand fields, so the flexibility that we can provide staff is the thing that continues to allow us to pull larger applicants around the state to some of those very hard to fill jobs,” McCarthy said. 

McCarthy also said the department has made changes since the audit. 

“We are constantly trying to find ways to improve the productivity of our workforce and make sure that we are serving our partners well in the field, as well as taxpayers in general, being available and being current with best practices,” McCarthy said.

One of the biggest changes, he said, was that the agency looked at the amount of time employees were working in-person versus remotely and said they have tied reductions in the amount of time working in person to a reduction in available work space. 

While Nedweski sought to keep conversation focused on telework throughout the hearing, Sortwell, who serves as vice-chair, asked about spending related to a diversity, equity and inclusion conference DPI hosted. Sortwell recently launched inquiries to county and city governments in Wisconsin about their DEI policies.

Nedweski sought to cut that conversation short, however. “We have lots of people here today, totally, and we’re going to try to stay on topic,” she said. 

Department of Administration Secretary-designee Kathy Blumenfeld agreed that allowing more remote work has helped the state fill openings more easily. She said the vacancy rate for the Division of Enterprise Technology, which is the agency’s IT department, dropped from 12% to under 6% after the start of its “Hire Anywhere in Wisconsin” program.

Blumenfeld also noted that the agency has made some changes since the audit by updating its space standards. Permanent desks are reserved for employees who typically need to be in the office three days a week, she said, while those in the office less than three days a week have access to smaller work stations. She said the state has also revised its policy for documenting work agreements. 

Nedweski questioned how the agency is managing its employees who  work remotely and how Wisconsin taxpayers can know that they are “getting maximum productivity” from state employees.

Blumenfeld turned the question back on the public. 

“Are they getting the services that they expect?” she asked. “I mean, when something goes south we usually hear about it and we investigate and look… is it a people issue? Is it a process issue? Is it a technology issue? What’s causing this?” She added, “I would say to the people of Wisconsin, if you’re not getting the services you expect, let us know.”

Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona) asked what the consequences could be for rolling back state policies to what they were pre-pandemic. 

Blumenfeld said that the agency has worked to decentralize decision making when it comes to remote work so that people can evaluate each position and the amount of in-person versus remote work is necessary for the job. She said that eliminating remote work policies would also affect  the agency’s ability to compete for employees with private sector businesses. 

Blumenfeld noted that young employees especially have different expectations from those of  older employees.

“The way they work is so different. Of course, they expect to have flexibility in their job and they expect remote,” Blumenfeld said. “They’ve tasted it. They felt it. It’s what they know, and it is totally in our future.”

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman told lawmakers that in his perfect world everyone would be in the office every day, but that it would be hard to “put the genie back in the bottle” at this point. 

Rothman said the UW System has to be an attractive employer and would have trouble attracting and retaining people with  a strict five-day in office work policy. He said the UW system is also looking at combining office spaces.

“The cost of losing people is often more expensive,” Rothman said.

Nedweski pushed the question of productivity. 

“Has there been an analysis performed in positions as to is a job done more productively in person or remotely or in hybrid?” she asked. “Has an analysis been performed or are we just moving into this hybrid, telework world permanently because it’s what the workforce is demanding?” 

Rothman said there isn’t a simple way to measure productivity in the university system’s work. He said employees have specific objectives that they’re required to fill and that guide evaluations. 

“We don’t measure how many widgets did we manufacture today, because that’s not what we do,” Rothman said. “We don’t have the ability to check keystrokes… I’m fine if people are sitting there thinking about something really creative and something new to do. They may not touch a keyboard for two hours. They may have been incredibly productive in that environment, so I think it comes down to an individual by individual determination… I’m proud of the work that they are doing in support of the 164,000-plus students.” 

Nedweski also brought up the capital requests from the UW System. Gov. Tony Evers announced a sweeping proposal this week that includes $1.6 billion in investments for UW System capital projects. 

“If people are going to be teleworking more and more, I have a hard time justifying investment in new buildings that house people who are mostly going to be teleworking,” she said. 

Rothman noted that the majority of the system’s capital requests were not for administration, but are rather for students and staff. “We’re not trying to build substantial edifices for our administration,” he said. “We’re focused on our students.”

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State Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) testifies on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in favor of legislation to require state employees to work in the office five days a week starting July 1. (Screenshot/WisEye)

State employees who worked in the office before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 would have to return to working in person starting July 1 under a proposed bill that went before a state Senate committee Tuesday.

“The pandemic is now over and has been for quite a while,” said State Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie), testifying at a public hearing on SB-27 in the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs. “Yet a high volume of state duties that required in-person execution prior to 2020 are still being performed in locations outside of the state offices in which they were long housed prior to the pandemic.”

Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee), the bill’s Senate author, cited decisions by major U.S. employers to return to at least partial in-office schedules. “Returning to work in person makes sense and forces accountability,” Tomczyk said.

Nedweski and Tomczyk were the only witnesses to testify at Tuesday’s hearing. There is not an Assembly companion bill, but Nedweski is the lead Assembly co-sponsor of the Senate legislation. She also chairs the Assembly’s new Committee on Government Operations, Accountability, and Transparency.

Republican state lawmakers have been pushing for state employees to end remote work for most of the last four years.

Meanwhile, the Department of Administration (DOA) and the administration of Gov. Tony Evers have been moving forward with a plan, Vision 2030, to reduce the state’s real estate footprint.

No administration representatives testified at Tuesday’s hearing. But in a memo to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Evers’ communications director, Britt Cudaback, said Vision 2030 is based on moving to a “modern and hybrid work environment” mixing remote and in-office work “in order to continue to be a competitive employer and bolster our efforts to recruit, train, and retain workers statewide.”

If SB-27 is enacted, she said, returning to in-office-only work would require more private leases for office space or reopening buildings that are to be closed and sold, or both. The administration has projected savings of more than $7 million in occupancy costs and more than $540 million in deferred maintenance costs.

Reversing those plans “would neither be pragmatic nor fiscally prudent,” Cudaback said.

At the hearing, Nedweski emphasized that the bill’s intent is not simply to bar all remote work, but she argued that the state hasn’t systematically evaluated its impact.

“We don’t have a handle on what’s going on,” she said. “So the idea would be, everybody, please come back and let’s figure out what the best situation is.”

Two years ago the Legislature’s Joint Audit Committee commissioned the Legislative Audit Bureau to review remote work and space allocation in state government. The resulting report said the state lacked comprehensive data on the extent of remote work and recommended more detailed monitoring and documentation of remote work agreements and practices.

Democrats on the five-member Senate committee balked at the legislation, calling it inflexible and a potential deterrent to the state’s ability to hire.

Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) noted with remote work more state employees have been able to work from counties across Wisconsin, not just in its two largest cities. “If those people are going to have to keep their jobs and be in the office, which I assume would be Madison, are they going to be forced to give up their jobs?” he asked.

Nedweski and Tomczyk said that employees who were hired to work remotely or had employment agreements allowing remote work before the pandemic would not be required to return to an office five days a week.

But Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), said the legislation’s wording appeared to be more narrowly written. “I am worried about this being wildly inflexible, and you’re talking about a level of flexibility that is not contained within the bill,” he said.

Nedweski said she “would be more than happy” to add language “that underscores that we already have DOA policy in place to allow for flexibility.”

Larson replied that the bill “would be a law that would override the policy.”

In an email message, Nedweski’s office staff member Tami Rongstad told the Wisconsin Examiner that there would be an amendment to exempt the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics from the bill “and clarify that the requirement to return to onsite work would not apply to duties that were performed off-site prior to March 1, 2020.”

Rongstad said Nedweski “was open to considering adding clarifying language to the bill related to future telework options for state employees beyond the July 1, 2025, return to in-person work date,” based on existing terms for remote work in the state human resources handbook. 

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The Wisconsin State Capitol reflected in the glass windows of Park Bank on the Capitol Square in Madison. Wisconsin is one of several states in which Republican lawmakers have created initiatives to recommend cuts in government spending, following the Trump administration's unofficial efficiency project, "DOGE." (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

Red states are echoing President Donald Trump’s quest to slash the size and cost of the federal government with their own initiatives aimed at making government smaller and more efficient.

In the first hours of his second term, Trump signed an executive order creating a temporary commission he dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency. He first announced DOGE, named after a viral meme and a cryptocurrency, in November as an effort led by billionaire Elon Musk to find billions in federal cuts.

In recent weeks, GOP governors and lawmakers have set up their own government efficiency task forces and committees to find ways to cut state spending.

The Texas House of Representatives recently announced plans for a 13-member Delivery of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, committee that will examine state agencies for inefficiencies, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said a DOGE bill would be one of his top legislative priorities. GOP leaders in Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Wisconsin have recently announced similar ventures.

Conservatives have long sought to shrink the size and cost of government. And it’s common practice for officials from both parties to hire outside consultants to help reduce inefficiency or waste in school, state and city bureaucracies. But the DOGE effort is gaining new steam as Republicans look to fall in line with Trump and blue and red states alike face massive budget gaps that will require some combination of spending cuts or increased taxes.

Democrats, however, argue that many states already have government watchdogs and efficiency panels, so the efforts might be redundant. And Democratic governors also have made gains in cutting red tape and increasing state efficiencies.

In her Condition of the State speech in January, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds noted recent efforts to consolidate state agencies, centralize programs and reduce regulations, which she said had already saved Iowans $217 million. In 2023, the governor signed legislation to shrink the state’s 37 executive-level Cabinet agencies down to 16 and changed some of the powers of the governor and attorney general.

“We were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” Reynolds said.

But in her address, Reynolds announced the launch of a state DOGE advisory body, which will be led by Emily Schmitt, a prominent business leader and Reynolds campaign donor. To pass meaningful property tax reform, Reynolds said Iowa must find more savings in state and local government.

Iowa Democrats noted that the state constitution already requires a government watchdog, the state auditor — currently Rob Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office.

In 2023, Reynolds signed a bill limiting the auditor’s access to certain information and barring his office from suing state agencies.

Sand, widely speculated to be a potential gubernatorial candidate, called it the “greatest pro-corruption bill and the worst perversion of checks and balances in Iowa’s history.”

“We have someone who has a whole office whose job is to work on this,” said Democratic state Rep. Adam Zabner. “I think we’re more likely to find efficiencies through the state auditor who Iowans elected to that role than we are through a major supporter of the governor’s campaigns.”

Zabner serves on the legislature’s long-standing government efficiency review committee, which examines state government operations every two years.

Zabner said it’s unclear how much true savings were realized from Reynolds’ realignment, as the state previously had hundreds of unfilled jobs. And he said those cuts haven’t necessarily improved the delivery of state services.

“We still have trouble getting all of our nursing homes inspected,” he said. “And there’s a lot of services like that where the delivery hasn’t really been improved.”

The Democratic Governors Association noted that blue-state governors also have taken steps to make state government more efficient and responsive. In November, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro took executive action to speed up state permitting for economic development projects. And Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used a table saw to cut through a pile of outdated executive orders on dormant state committees and energy efficiency in December — the latest in his push to make state government more efficient and responsive to taxpayers.

“This isn’t a flashy trend for Governor Polis, it’s something he has carried out during his time in office,” Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said in a statement.

Waste or vital service?

Across the country, it’s unclear how much might be cut in efforts to weed out waste or inefficiencies — terms themselves that are entirely subjective.

“One person’s concept of waste is another person’s vital service,” said William Glasgall, public finance adviser at the Volcker Alliance, a nonprofit that works to support public sector workers.

Glasgall said government services are not designed to operate as efficiently as for-profit companies.

While many companies run multiple factory shifts per day to get the most out of their capital investment, schools and government offices with different missions mostly sit empty overnight, on weekends and during breaks. Similarly, cities must staff up police and fire department resources for disasters, even if their crews and equipment idle for long stretches.

Still, Glasgall said, governments have plenty of line items worth scrutinizing.

He pointed to the numerous tax breaks, incentives and abatements states award to individuals and businesses. In a paper last year, the Volcker Alliance estimated these programs reduce state revenues by $1 trillion a year — almost three times the amount state and local governments spent on education in 2021.

Often those forgone revenues are not transparent to taxpayers or scrutinized by state audits or budget offices, Glasgall said.

States contemplating cuts do so from a relatively strong position: A booming economy and federal pandemic aid ballooned state spending and reserve funds.

“States are cutting from a very, very high base,” Glasgall said. “So the cuts they’re making, I’m not sure they’re going to be terribly painful right now.”

Wisconsin Republican state Rep. Amanda Nedweski said the state should constantly be scrutinizing its operations and expenses. But she said the legislature often relies on agencies to self-monitor.

“We sort of operate state government in silos,” she said, “and there can often be redundancy in functions and redundancy in positions.”

Nedweski is leading the new state Assembly committee on Government Operations, Accountability, and Transparency, or GOAT.

Nedweski said the committee will take a big-picture look at state government but is also prepared to dive deep into issues such as regulation reform, the use of state office space, and how Wisconsin can leverage technology such as artificial intelligence to increase efficiency.

The GOP-controlled legislature will likely disagree with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on budget priorities and programs. But Nedweski said the new committee can suggest meaningful changes that don’t necessarily require a reduction in state services.

“There’s a lot of things that can be reviewed and spending that can be shifted without being cut so we’re more efficiently and productively using our resources,” she said.

Nationwide coordination

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group known as ALEC that works with lawmakers nationwide, is pushing similar efforts in statehouses across the country.

While that organization ultimately wants to shrink governments, it views examining the effectiveness and costs of existing programs as a commonsense first step.

“One of the things we keep going back to is just the review of current government spending,” said Jonathan Williams, ALEC’s president and chief economist. “In so many cases, performance audits are not done on a regular basis in programs to look for these efficiencies.”

The organization just launched a government efficiency coalition to give state lawmakers best practices “to optimize all levels of government.”

“From our ALEC perspective, we hope that Washington [D.C.] does less going forward,” he said, “and the states and local governments probably need to do more in some cases.”

Many states will be confronting tough spending decisions as revenues flatten or decline.

“So, it’s going to be important to really tighten the belt, right-size government programs, and look for ways to provide those core government services more efficiently so we’re able to deliver real services to those truly at need,” Williams said. “And that, I think, is something that really plays into really a red-state or a blue-state outlook.”

But making governments more efficient can be a battle of inches.

Last week, the newly formed Kansas Senate Committee on Government Efficiency considered a bill that would nix requirements for certain state filings regarding labor organizations, tax abatements and water easements.

Clay Barker, general counsel for Kansas’ Republican secretary of state, told the committee that many of those documents are filed with other state offices and do little aside from creating work for the office.

If passed, the legislation is expected to save 400 hours of one-time IT labor and an ongoing 50 hours of labor annually, Barker said. But officials hope it will encourage other agencies to examine their operations for inefficiencies.

“This bill will not revolutionize state government,” he said.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

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Assembly members being sworn in in January 2025. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner

Wisconsin Assembly committees look different this session with new committee names and several old committees now made up of fewer members. The differences will affect the way legislation is shaped.

Each session the Assembly Speaker has the responsibility for determining the number of members per committee, unless a rule specifies otherwise. The Speaker also determines the ratio of majority to minority members on each committee. The committees are essential to the lawmaking process given that they are where bills are first moved to be discussed after being introduced, where bills receive public input and are debated by lawmaker before ever being considered for a vote by the full body. 

Democrats have complained about losing members on committees despite winning additional seats in the full body. Despite Republican’s narrower majority this session, in some cases Democrats make up a smaller proportion of members on committees than they did in the last session.

“Unfortunately, Assembly Republican Leadership has chosen to begin the legislative session in a highly partisan fashion, reducing Democratic positions on the vast majority of committees despite the people of Wisconsin choosing to replace ten incumbent Republican legislators with Democrats in the last election,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said in a statement announcing Democratic committee membership. “I hope my Republican colleagues will choose to shift course and join Democrats in putting the people of Wisconsin over partisan politics in the coming legislative session.”

Neubauer’s staff said they were not consulted by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about the committee sizes or ratios. 

Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said there was a “general understanding” that with more members in the house overall, Democrats were expecting that to be reflected in committees. Democrats picked up  10 additional seats in the Assembly, making the body about 55% Republican and 45% Democratic. 

Instead Republicans and Democrats both lost seats on some committees, but the losses were exaggerated for Democrats, who now make up a smaller percentage of representation on several committees. For example, the Campaigns and Elections Committee last session had six Republican members and three Democrats. This session the committee is made up of five Republicans and two Democrats — or a 71% Republican to 29% Democratic makeup.

Vining described the change to committee membership as a punishment. 

“We were penalized for maps that the Republicans actually passed themselves…,” Vining said.  “They're penalizing us for having more seats and I think that's unfair to Wisconsinites.” 

Vining said having diverse representation on committees matters because of how it shapes the way legislation turns out.

“Our job in committee is to vet bills. We're supposed to bring our perspective to the room and bat it around and figure it out… We need voices in the room,” Vining said. “When you have less voices in the room, I would argue that there's less there to vet a bill, to put a bill into the best form that it could possibly be in for the Wisconsin people.”

Vining is the ranking member on the Assembly Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Committee this session. She also sits on the Children and Families, Health Aging and Long Term Care and Small Business Development committees. 

The Mental Health committee is one where Democrats lost representation. The committee last session had eight Republicans to four Democrats — meaning Democrats made up 33% of the committee. This session the committee includes seven Republicans and three Democrats — bringing Democrats to only 30% of the committee. 

One Democrat not returning to the Mental Health committee, Vining noted, is Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee). 

“I have one less member, which means I have one less microphone around the state of Wisconsin,” she said, “one less community that's represented on the mental health committee and one less person going out to destigmatize mental health, so yeah, that's a loss.”

Vining said Omokunde’s absence is also notable given that one of the goals of the committee this session will be to discuss the issue of male loneliness. She noted that he has done a lot of work within the Black Caucus on Black mental health, including Black men's mental health. 

“We'll find another way to keep that conversation going and I'm sure he will because he is fantastic at that,” Vining said. Still, she said that it is important to have ethnically diverse representation and gender representation on committees.

“Something I'm very aware of is we have two wonderful women who are joining me on the mental health committee but all the Democrats are women,” Vining said. 

It’s not just Democratic lawmakers who have expressed disappointment about committee memberships this session. 

Rebecca Aubart, executive director of Ladies of SCI, a nonpartisan prison reform advocacy group, said the situation is upsetting to the group. The group has been working to improve the state’s correctional system, including by advocating for an ombudsman to serve as a watchdog. 

“This isn't what Wisconsin voted for. We voted for more fair representation. We voted for both of the sides to have to come together because it was going to be more fair representation,”Aubert said. “This seems like such a power struggle that just makes me sick.” 

Aubert said the group had been waiting for several months to see how committees would turn out this session given the new legislative maps, and so they could return to their advocacy work. She said she was looking forward to there being new discussions with fresh ideas this session, and feels like that may not end up being the case. 

“Most of our meetings are between 65% and 68% Republican, because that is who has been in control, but the Democrats have really good points too and are very sympathetic and their voices aren't heard,” Aubert said. “They have a lot of good ideas that would help straighten out corrections, but their voices are still going to go unheard.” 

“If we want new legislation to come through, everything comes through the committee first, and then it goes to everybody else. I just don't think the people of Wisconsin are aware that even though our votes changed a lot in the Assembly, it actually didn't change anything because of how these committees are picked.”

Aubert said that she thinks there should be rules that the Speaker should have to follow, including that the partisan balance on committees should match the Assembly as a whole. 

Vining noted that she encouraged her Republican colleagues in a public statement to push back on the decision made by their leadership.

Vos did not respond to requests for comment from the Examiner.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) is leading the newly formed Government Operations Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee and also serves as vice-chair of the Assembly Colleges and Universities committee. In an interview discussing her new roles this session, Nedweski said she didn’t think the fluctuation in the committee memberships were intentional or political. 

Nedweski said having fewer people on committees isn’t a disadvantage given that the committee process is public and anyone is still welcome to show up to committee meetings.

“People who are interested in being on that committee are there and, you know, if there's legislation that comes before the committee that people who are not on the committee are interested in, they can always come and testify and you know, be a part of discussion,” Nedweski said. “No one's being locked out of anything.”

New committees highlight Assembly priorities 

Other changes this session include several new and revived Assembly committees, highlighting some of lawmakers’ priorities in the coming months.

Vos put a special emphasis on the GOAT committee this session. In a statement, he said the committee — with Nedweski at the helm — would help the caucus’ focus on its “renewed goal of identifying and addressing government inefficiencies.” 

Nedweski said the committee is the result of “demands from the people” and a “mainstream interest in fiscal conservatism and government efficiency.” She said part of the interest in having Wisconsin lawmakers take on the work was driven by President Donald Trump announcing the creation of a federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While a committee existed last session focused on government operations and accountability, Nedweski said  it wasn’t very active and the new committee will be.

“We had so many people reaching out saying ‘Who's going to be the state DOGE?’” Nedweski said. “I think there are opportunities around every corner to find quick and easy ways for improvement for some things and then certainly there are much bigger problems that could take solutions that are multi-year.” 

Nedweski said her background in corporate finance and doing work that involves finding efficiencies inspired her to want to take on the role of chairing the new committee. 

“In the private sector, there are natural forms of accountability driven by bottom lines, and government just doesn't have those built in, but we should,” Nedweski said. 

The committee is still exploring what exactly its work will include, but Nedweski said it will focus on issues big and small. Ultimately, she said she wants to ensure that the state is using the taxpayers’ resources efficiently and effectively.

One issue she said the committee will likely look at is the number of state employees who are working remotely, which has been a contentious issue over the last several years.

“Are we getting the most productivity out of those people who are working from home? How do we measure that, and if we're seeing that it's not the most productive situation, why aren't those people back in the building?” Nedweski said. “Maybe they are productive, maybe that's the best situation for them, but then what do we do with that physical building? If the solution is we don't need in-person employees, then we don't need to pay for the space either, and I think we have a responsibility to the taxpayer to make sure that we're not wasting.” 

Nedweski said other committees could also bring issues to GOAT to explore. 

“Our intention is to have the entire body involved in this process where maybe… we're going to maybe do a joint hearing with the education committee, or the college's committee,” Nedweski said. “How do we use our resources within GOAT to help them further explore some of the areas that they identify for us that are in need of oversight, transparency, accountability or efficiency?” 

Another issue Nedweski mentioned as an area of interest is “administrative bloat” in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools and in the University of Wisconsin system. 

She also mentioned  looking at programs and laws as they sunset. She noted that Texas has a Sunset Advisory Commission, a mission that the GOAT committee takes on. 

“There's all these statutes on the books that maybe there's appropriations tied to, and sometimes things fly under the radar and are there any circumstances — and I can't say that there are — are there any circumstances where we have continued to fund something that was supposed to end? Maybe GOAT has an arm of that... where we're diving into the weeds and looking at where we spend money and should this have ended five years ago?”

One revived committee this session is the Assembly Small Business Committee. Last session, it became part of the Jobs, Economy and Small Business Development Committee. 

Vining said she commends Vos for bringing the committee back because it gives a greater opportunity to speak about the issues affecting Wisconsin small businesses. 

“Ninety-nine percent of Wisconsin businesses are small businesses. We're a small business state. We should have a small business development committee. We should be talking about how access to capital is more difficult for women and people of color,” Vining said.

The Assembly is also reviving the Assembly Urban Revitalization Committee this session with Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) serving as its chair. Donovan, who served as a Milwaukee alderman for about 20 years, said he is excited about the opportunity. 

“It's certainly fair to say that Milwaukee has some neighborhoods that are very challenged, and we need to work on that, but I suspect other cities around the state may be suffering from the same challenges, so I'm hopeful that we can work a number of initiatives to help revitalize those struggling neighborhoods,” Donovan said. 

Donovan said that the “sky's the limit” when it comes to the issues the committee may look at, but that public safety concerns, educational issues and housing, including more home ownership, are some areas that he is interested in exploring.

As the committee’s work is only just starting, Donovan said that he has requested that the  Legislative Reference Bureau provide the committee with some information about revitalization efforts that have gone on in other cities across the country as well as about what the 2017 committee did. 

“I've always believed we don't need to reinvent the wheel. If something is working in another community, I see no reason why we couldn't make it work here in Wisconsin,” Donovan said. 

Donovan said that he is prepared to communicate with local leaders in Milwaukee and other cities. He said he already had a “very good” conversation with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley about some concerns at the county level when it comes to parks and other services. 

“[I] just wanted to open up or continue the lines of communication,” Donovan said. 

Other new committees include the Commerce Committee, the Constitution and Ethics Committee, the State and Federal Relations Committee, the Public Benefit Reform Committee and the Science, Technology and AI Committee.

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Assembly Republicans speaking about the voter ID constitutional amendment proposal at a press conference Tuesday. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner

The Wisconsin State Assembly passed a proposal Tuesday that could enshrine voter ID requirements in the state constitution if the majority of Wisconsin voters support it. The passage sets it up to go to Wisconsin voters in April — on the same ballot as a consequential election for the state Supreme Court. 

The proposal passed 54 to 45 along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against. It was first introduced last week and quickly received public hearings before being passed by the Senate.

Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) said during a press conference ahead of the session that he authored the proposal to “ensure that the people of Wisconsin have full confidence in the security and integrity of Wisconsin elections.” He noted that voter ID tends to poll well. 

Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) said that there are “plenty of reasons” to pass the proposal, including being able to get it to the voters for the next available election in April. Wisconsin doesn’t have fall elections this year, so the next opportunity after that would be in 2026.

According to the proposal, the question will be asked to voters as follows: “Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”

Wisconsin is one of nine states in the U.S. that already have a strict voter ID requirement. However, lawmakers are taking the additional step of attempting to enshrine it in the state constitution for fear  the Wisconsin Supreme Court could overturn the existing law. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has had a liberal majority since August 2023, and the Court may soon consider overturning other laws including Act 10, which ended collective bargaining rights for most public employees, and a challenge to an 1849 law that has been interpreted as a felony ban on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) said during floor debate that lawmakers “have been getting lawsuited out of relevance” and that they must “resist our laws becoming lawsuits.” 

“We are the lawmaking body in the state of Wisconsin,” Knodl said.  

With Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retiring at the end of her term this year, a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for grabs and puts the ideological balance of the Court in play. Judge Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, a former attorney general, are running for the seat. 

Democrats accused Republicans of wanting the voter ID measure on the ballot because of the Supreme Court race, and were critical, saying there are other priorities that lawmakers could be acting on. 

“I’m disappointed that the majority has decided to make this the very first piece of policy that the Assembly takes up this session,” Assembly Minority Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said. “It is a transparent effort to preserve power for one party and to give an advantage at the ballot box in April.” 

Neubauer said the amendment was to the “detriment” of voters “who have a more difficult time, obtaining an ID and casting their ballot.” 

“We know that voter ID laws are frequently enforced in a discriminatory manner and that they disproportionately impact people of color, those with disabilities and people living in rural communities,” Neubauer said. 

Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said the proposal is about using the constitutions to “take away the rights of people” and that there are people in her community who can’t get an ID. 

“This is about voter suppression,” Sinicki said. 

Republicans pushed back on the arguments, saying voter ID laws don’t infringe on people’s ability to cast their ballots and that the proposal was ready to go. 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) pointed out that “zero bills” have been introduced by the Democrats so far this session in response to the accusations that Republicans were taking action on the wrong issue. 

Chair of the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee Rep. Dave Maxey said there has been an evolution of identification throughout history and said voter ID was just one step. 

“Who knows? One day, we might have microchips planted in our arms to prove who we are. I’m not advocating for that future this year… In Wisconsin, voter ID requirements are already helping to save our elections, but enshrining these laws into our constitution would further affirm our commitment to election integrity.” He said the amendment will “preserve these protections for generations to come.” 

Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) argued that voters don’t face significant obstacles to voting due to the voter ID laws, and pointed to Wisconsin’s voter turnout rates as proof. About 73% of Wisconsin voters cast ballots in the 2024 November elections. 

“This is about making sure that a rogue Court cannot strike down a common sense law that is supported by over 80% of Americans from across the political spectrum, so rather than trying to scare Wisconsinites with outlandish claims of voter suppression, and rather than assuming that Wisconsin voters are not smart enough to obtain an ID, I encourage our colleagues… to actually look at the data.” Nedweski said. 

In response to the Assembly floor session, Gov. Tony Evers repeated his recent pitch to lawmakers to allow the voters themselves to place constitutional amendments on the ballot. 

“Poll after poll has shown Wisconsinites support common sense policies like protecting reproductive freedom, expanding BadgerCare, legalizing marijuana and gun safety reforms, among other critical efforts. Republicans have repeatedly rejected those policies, often with no deliberation, debate, or vote. That’s wrong,” Evers said. “If Republican lawmakers are going to continue ignoring the will of the people and legislating by constitutional amendment, then they should give the people of Wisconsin the power to pass the policies they want to see at the ballot box.”

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