Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) speaks before a vote on a housing-related bill in the state Assembly Tuesday. (Screenshot/WisEye)

A group of housing bills that Republican lawmakers have fast-tracked since they were first announced two weeks ago made it through the Wisconsin Assembly Tuesday — most with unanimous support, but not without criticism from Democrats.

In a floor speech before the Assembly began voting Tuesday, Rep. Kalan Haywood (D-Milwaukee), assistant minority leader, said the GOP housing package fell short of what might have been possible with bipartisan discussion.

“While there is support for many of these bills on our side, we are by no means satisfied,” Haywood said.

Haywood complimented the Republican chair of the Assembly’s Housing and Real Estate committee, Rep. Robert Brooks (R-Saukville), for his “willingness to listen and work together.”

He described bills enacted in the 2023-24 session as “a bipartisan housing package that we could build on this session,” and said that in the spring, bipartisan work had begun on a new round of bills, accompanied by “honest communication with both sides and with stakeholders.”

Those discussions stopped abruptly in June, Haywood said, and when the bills came out two weeks ago the results were “half baked.”

“There are some good things in these bills that may help create some additional housing, but we could have done much more,” Haywood said.

A series of procedural votes on the floor Tuesday surrounding one bill — AB 455, creating a grant program for condominium conversions from multi-family homes — was emblematic of the gap between how Democrats and Republicans viewed not just the legislation but the larger issue of housing.

In the Housing and Real Estate Committee meeting Friday, Oct. 3, Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) managed to persuade three Republicans to join the panel’s Democrats to pass an amendment that expanded the bill to include housing cooperatives, not just condominiums.  

After the amendment was adopted, Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) sent an email written in red to all state lawmakers of both parties, mocking Clancy’s amendment as applying to “communes” and criticizing its Republican supporters.

When the bill reached the floor Tuesday, the original author, Rep. Dave Murphy (R-Greenville), submitted a rewrite, known as a substitute amendment.

The rewrite included another amendment, from Democrat, Rep. Lori Palmeri (D-Oshkosh), giving tenants of a building being converted to condos the right of first refusal to purchase their residence. But it omitted the Clancy amendment.

“We had a brief and awesome moment of bipartisanship this last week, and then we had an all red email from Senator Nass,” Clancy said on the Assembly floor. “I did not realize that my Republican colleagues were beholden to him and not even their own leadership there.”

The substitute amendment, Clancy said, would “strike out this bipartisan amendment and just turn it into another handout to developers.”

Brooks, the housing committee chair, had announced at the Republican press conference before the floor session that cooperatives would be stripped out, calling the approach “very difficult to manage because of the financing mechanisms and other things.”

Clancy said he would vote for the legislation despite the removal of his amendment. “But it is so disappointing to have to do that because we had something better in front of us,” he added.

The bill, like most of the bills up for a vote Tuesday, passed on a voice vote.

Others that passed with broad support included AB 424, updating requirements for the rental of mobile and manufactured homes; AB 451, allowing cities and villages to designate residential tax incremental districts to help fund infrastructure improvements; AB 452, allowing land subdividers to certify their designs and public improvements comply with state requirements; and AB 456, making a variety of changes to real estate transaction practices.

A handful of measures labeled as housing bills passed with little or no support from Democrats.

AB 453 would require local communities to grant rezoning requests for housing developers if they meet certain conditions, including that the area is projected as residential in the community’s comprehensive plan. The party-line vote was 55-39.

Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona) said the measure fell short of what could have been done and that it lacked funding for local governments that would have to bear the cost it would impose. The bill’s author. Rep. David Armstrong (R-Rice Lake) vowed to seek funding in the next state budget.

AB 450 would put off the effective date of Wisconsin’s updated commercial building code until April 1, 2026. Originally blocked in 2023, the new code was reinstated by the the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) after a state Supreme Court ruling this July held that state laws allowing the Legislature to block executive branch administrative rules indefinitely were unconstitutional.

The current effective date is Nov. 1.

Rep. William Penterman (R-Hustisford) said delaying the code further was needed “for clarity” because builders had been planning projects under the previous code.

After the GOP majority rejected an attempt by Democrats to replace the bill with language that increased funding for DSPS on a 54-41 party-line vote, the legislation passed on a voice vote — but with substantial, audible cries of “No” from Democrats.

AB 366 would allow landlords to demand a written statement from a licensed health professional attesting to a tenant’s need for an emotional support animal.

“There are numerous people that have contacted us about the fraudulent means of how you can get a service dog,” state Rep. Paul Tittl (R-Manitowoc), said at a Republican press conference before the floor session.

On the floor, Clancy criticized the bill for potentially harming people for whom emotional support animals are a necessity but who are unable to see  a health professional.

“To the extent that there is a problem, where we want to actually certify that some animals are supportive and some are not, we can fix that problem,” Clancy said. “But that requires actually talking to the stakeholders before taking pen to paper.”

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A row of framed houses under construction. (Getty Images)

Assembly Republicans proposed a package of bills they say would help increase affordable housing throughout Wisconsin on Tuesday. Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) said he hopes to build on the success of bills passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2023. Those measures created and expanded state loan programs and were supported with over $500 million in state funds.  

At a news conference in the state Capitol Tuesday morning, Brooks said GOP lawmakers anticipate cooperation from the governor’s office once again. The authors have worked with Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) on many of the bills, he said, and have put the bills on a fast track with hearings to take place soon. 

“We hope to get out more affordable housing throughout the state, and when I refer to affordable housing, I want to be clear, we’re not talking about subsidized housing. We’re talking about affordable housing,” Brooks said. “What I’m talking about is the housing stock that was built just a generation or two ago. We’re talking about small ranch homes, some of those homes built without garages or alleyways or detached garages.” 

Seven bills were drafted as of Tuesday, but Brooks said there could be up to 10 in the final package. “It’s kind of a fluid process right now,” he said. 

According to the National Association of Realtors, in 2024 the average age of a first-time homebuyer in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 38, said Tom Larson, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. He said that the average price of a home in Wisconsin is $340,000, and that over the last 15 years, Wisconsin has built fewer housing units per capita than the national average. 

“Housing prices continue to rise faster than wages, and the longer it takes somebody to purchase a home, the longer it takes for them to build wealth, the longer it takes for them to establish roots in our community, which has a direct impact on our labor force and our economy,” Larson said. “Wisconsin’s [housing] affordability is worse than any of our surrounding neighbors. It’s worse than Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa.”

He said the Wisconsin real estate industry is “cautiously optimistic that the passage of these bills will help address Wisconsin’s affordability crisis.” 

New WHEDA programs 

One bipartisan bill, coauthored by Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) and Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) would create a Workforce Home Loan Program through the WHEDA. The bill has two Democratic coauthors as well: Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay).

Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown), who is also an author on the home loan legislation, said the bill is intended to help Wisconsinites who want to become homeowners. 

“Instead of putting down roots, people have been stuck in renting situations and are unable to build equity or stability, so, how do we do that to help them get into that first step of home ownership?” Knodl asked rhetorically. 

The program would allow first-time home buyers access to second mortgage loans of up to $60,000 at 0% interest. The loans could be used to help with down payments and closing costs. Knodl said the repayment terms would be flexible and tailored to household income, and there would be the option to defer payments for low-income families.

He said that the program would sustain itself through the repayments borrowers make.

“Home ownership is about more than buying a house. It’s about building stronger communities, investing in schools and growing local economies,” Knodl said.

Another bill proposed by Rep. Dave Murphy (D-Greenville) would require the agency to establish a grant program to support developers who want to convert multifamily housing to condominiums. 

WHEDA would be required to direct $10 million from the Main Street Housing Rehabilitation revolving loan fund to the grant program, which would cover up to $50,000 in reasonable attorney fees, state and local permitting fees, and any other costs associated with the conversion. 

Changes to help speed up, support development

A handful of the Republicans’ proposals would change laws to support more development and  standardize the process for a variety of housing developments.

Rep. David Armstrong (R-Rice Lake) has proposed creating residential tax increment districts, or TIDs. A TID is a financial tool  municipalities can use to designate certain areas for economic development and use the district’s property tax growth to help pay for improvements to the area. 

Armstrong said the TIDs are one of the biggest tools that municipalities have to do something about housing, and his bill would help address the biggest barrier to building more workforce housing — the cost of subdivision infrastructure, including sidewalks, curb and gutter, water, sewer and utilities. 

His bill would establish a “pay-as-you-go” TID, applying a portion of the tax increment from new homes  to offset the cost of subdivision development.

“In my area, a starter home is $400,000,” Armstrong said. “That’s not a starter home. That’s not what my workforce can afford.”

Armstrong also has a second bill that would require communities to align  comprehensive plans and the zoning ordinances. He said it would provide clarity and predictability for municipalities, builders and developers. 

Rep. Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) has authored a bill to provide a statewide framework for local regulations of “accessory dwelling units” — secondary housing units located on the same property as a primary residence. 

“Currently, Wisconsin lacks a unified approach, resulting in a confusing, patchwork of regulation that varies across local governments,” Goeben said. She said her bill “addresses that confusion” and gives property owners a pathway to add accessory units. “This legislation strikes a balance, ensuring individual property owners can efficiently add housing while maintaining reasonable community standards,” she said. 

According to the bill draft, local regulations would be allowed to limit the size and height of an accessory unit , require that a unit satisfy current setback and lot coverage requirements, and prohibit units built  after the effective date of the bill from being turned into short-term rentals.

Rep. Rob Kreibich (R-New Richmond) is proposing a bill that would set out a process for local governments and developers seeking to build a subdivision, including providing an opportunity for developers to meet informally with local representatives before submitting plans. He said the bill is meant to place local governments and developers on the same page “from the beginning of the process all the way through to the end of the process.” 

“Over the next five years, we’re gonna probably need about 140,000 housing units in the state of Wisconsin. At the current pace, we’re not going to even get close,” Kriebich said. “Delays and miscommunication oftentimes leads to delays or no subdivisions whatsoever, so this will clean up that process and again allow some tweaks in statutes to fast track new home construction in the state of Wisconsin.”

Delay new building codes

Rep. William Penterman (R-Hustisford) is seeking to delay the deadline for the implementation of new codes for commercial and multi-family residential buildings. The code changes are the first major updates to the codes in over a decade, and are being implemented following a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down lawmakers’ ability to indefinitely block administrative rules.

“Unfortunately, there was a recent Supreme Court ruling that will mandate that the new building code need to go into effect, and while we’re not here to prevent that, we need to have clarity as to when exactly that’s going to happen,” Penterman said. 

Currently, the Department of Safety and Professional Services has said that all commercial building plans submitted to DSPS for approval must meet the standards set in the upgraded code starting on Oct. 1, though the new code technically went into effect on Sept. 1.

Penterman has proposed a bill that would delay that requirement until April 2026. 

“This gives businesses, commercial buildings, residential housing and municipalities more time to review these plans, make sure everything’s all set to go,” Penterman said.

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