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Recent Executive Actions by the Governor
The following bills have passed both houses and if not called for before then, will be delivered to the Governor on April 3rd for executive action. The following bills have recently been acted on by the Governor.
Signed into Law - Arranged by Act Number
SB 023 MA Eligibility Sen. James (R-Thorp) Extension of eligibility under the Medical Assistance program for postpartum women. Signed (Act 102)
SB 264 Breast Cancer Screenings Sen. Cabral-Guevara (R-Fox Crossing) Coverage of breast cancer screenings by the Medical Assistance program and health insurance policies and plans. Signed (Act 103)
SB 461 DOT Projects Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) Alternative delivery of projects contracted by the Department of Transportation. Signed (Act 104)
SB 787 Small Claims Actions Sen. Wanggaard (R-Racine) Increasing jurisdictional amounts in small claims actions. Signed (Act 105)
AB 089 Theft Crimes Rep. Penterman (R-Hustisford) Theft crimes and providing a penalty. Signed (Act 106)
SB 419 Criminal Defendant Testing Sen. Feyen (R-Fond du Lac) Emergency testing of a criminal defendant for certain diseases. Signed (Act 107)
AB 543 Tax Exemption Rep. Steffen (R-Howard)) The sales tax exemption for memberships sold to real estate brokers. Signed (Act 108)
SB 395 Telecommunications Providers Sen. Nass (R-Whitewater) Requirement for certain telecommunications providers to provide basic voice service. Signed (Act 109)
SB 825 Highway Projects Sen. Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) Environmental review prerequisites for certain major highway project actions. Signed (Act 110)
AB 572 Bingo Rep. Dallman (R-Markesan) The definition of bingo. Signed (Act 111)
AB 666 Unclaimed Property Rep. O'Connor (R-Fond du Lac) Fraudulent claims for unclaimed property and providing a penalty. Signed (Act 112)
AB 443 Municipal Court Rep. Kaufert (R-Neenah) Increasing the maximum fee for court costs collectible in a municipal court action. Signed (Act 113)
SB 331 UTVs Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) Operation of all-terrain and utility terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and snowmobiles and revision of the Department of Transportation highway maintenance manual. Signed (Act 114)
AB 598 Admission Consent Rep. Snyder (R-Weston) Consent to admissions to certain health care facilities by patient representatives without requiring a petition for guardianship or protective placement. Signed (Act 115)
AB 180 FoodShare Rep. Moses (R-Menomonie) Requiring the Department of Health Services to seek any necessary waiver to prohibit the purchase of candy or soft drinks with FoodShare benefits. Signed (Act 116)
SB 576 Tax Exemption Sen. Cabral-Guevara (R-Fox Crossing) A property tax exemption for prefabricated recreational structures. Signed (Act 117)
SB 529 Obsolete Provisions Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) Repeal of obsolete tax credits and tax provisions. Signed (Act 118)
AB 459 Notice Thresholds Rep. O'Connor (R-Fond du Lac) County public works notice and competitive bidding thresholds. Signed (Act 119)
AB 737 Neighborhood Improvement Districts Rep. Armstrong (R-Rice Lake) Financing certain infrastructure by special charge approved by a neighborhood improvement district. Signed (Act 120)
SB 078 Fertilizers Sen. Jacque (R-New Franken) The distribution and labeling of fertilizers and soil or plant additives produced from manure. Signed (Act 121)
SB 593 Insurance Law Sen. Quinn (R-Birchwood) Various changes to insurance laws. Signed (Act 122)
AB 668 Involuntary Commitments Rep. Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc) Reports on the competency of involuntarily committed individuals to refuse medication or treatment based upon an examination by an advanced practice registered nurse. Signed (Act 123)
SB 748 Metal Bullion Sen. Cabral-Guevara (R-Fox Crossing) Sales tax exemption certificates for the sale of precious metal bullion. Signed (Act 124)
SB 448 Videoconferencing Sen. James (R-Thorp) The use of videoconferencing technology in certain civil actions. Signed (Act 125)
AB 223 Nomination Papers Rep. Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus) Residency requirements for persons circulating nomination papers or recall petitions. Signed (Act 126)
AB 924 Correction Bill (Law Revision Committee) Revising various provisions of the statutes for the purpose of making corrections and reconciling conflicts (Correction Bill). Signed (Act 127)
AB 925 Correction Bill (Law Revision Committee) Revising various provisions of the statutes for the purpose of making corrections and reconciling conflicts (Correction Bill). Signed (Act 128)
AB 926 Correction Bill (Law Revision Committee) Revising various provisions of the statutes for the purpose of making corrections and reconciling conflicts (Correction Bill). Signed (Act 129)
AB 927 Correction Bill (Law Revision Committee) Revising various provisions of the statutes for the purpose of making corrections and reconciling conflicts (Correction Bill). Signed (Act 130)
AB 928 DATCP Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Required livestock premises activities (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection). Signed (Act 131)
AB 929 Terminology Correction (Law Revision Committee) Correcting terminology for making additional contributions to the Wisconsin Retirement System; eliminating a social security account maintained in the public employee trust fund and removing a provision regarding liability for state employer social security remittances; and clarifying who may participate in an income continuation insurance plan provided by the Group Insurance Board (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Employee Trust Funds). Signed (Act 132)
AB 930 DFI Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Correcting a cross- reference related to enforcement of regulations applicable to earned wage access service providers (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Financial Institutions). Signed (Act 133)
AB 931 HealthNet Grants (Law Revision Committee) Gants to HealthNet of Rock County, Inc.; a reference to generalized public health nursing programs; and updating terminology from “advanced practice nurse prescriber” to “advanced practice registered nurse” (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Health Services). Signed (Act 134)
AB 932 DOJ Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Fixing a cross-reference in a definition of “violent crime” and updating terminology to reflect changes in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (suggested as remedial language by the Department of Justice). Signed (Act 135)
AB 933 DPI Remedial Legislation Rep. Allen (R-Waukesha) Updating references to PI 34 of the administrative code and eliminating an obsolete grandfather provision related to a license to teach industrial arts (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Public Instruction). Signed (Act 136)
AB 934 DOR Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating the definition of relative for purposes of the lottery; the definition of taxable property in a tax incremental district; the order of certain withholdings and deposits in income tax computations; and eliminating an adjustment made to the economic development surcharge for certain businesses (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Revenue). Signed (Act 137)
AB 935 DVA Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Repealing expired programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs; definition, terminology, and grammatical changes for the Department of Veterans Affairs, mental health services for post-traumatic stress disorder; reporting on rules proposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs; asset calculation for determining eligibility for veterans assistance payments; and deceased veterans’ graves (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Veterans Affairs). Signed (Act 138)
AB 936 DWD Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Definition of personal assistance services for the purposes of vocational rehabilitation; updating reference to federal vocational rehabilitation law; updating references to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014; updating reference to federal law for certificate of registration as a migrant labor contractor; updating statutory reference to federal Social Security Act; and updating references to federal law for safety standards for vehicles used to transport traveling sales crews (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Workforce Development). Signed (Act 139)
AB 938 Courts Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) An optional final hearing by affidavit for the dissolution of a marriage (suggested as remedial legislation by the Office of the Director of State Courts). Signed (Act 140)
AB 939 SPD Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating obsolete provisions regarding the term of a state public defender and the removal of the state public defender (suggested as remedial language by the State Public Defender). Signed (Act 141)
AB 940 WEDC Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating defunct references to certain economic development positions (suggested as remedial language by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation). Signed (Act 142)
AB 446 Antisemitism Definition Rep. Tusler (R-Harrison) Consideration of a certain definition of antisemitism for purposes of laws, ordinances, policies, or criminal penalty enhancers concerning discrimination based on race, religion, color, or national origin. Signed (Act 143)
Vetoed
31 bills have been vetoed in the past two weeks. A full listing is available here.
League Note: We’ll provide a more detailed recap of the Governor’s actions relevant to municipalities in next week’s edition of the Legislative Bulletin.
Failed to Pass
As of March 19th, Assembly Bills have been listed on the Legislative website as “Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.” As of March 23rd, Senate Bills have also been listed on the Legislative website as “Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.” That means all the 2025-26 Session bills are done – either passed or failed to pass. There have been no updates on an Extraordinary Session calls on a tax proposal from legislative leaders.
What's Next
The rest of 2026 can be looked at, on the state level, in two paths.
Path 1 - Campaigns and Elections
At the state level, campaigns will quickly become the center of attention for most. The April 7th election will determine an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the November 3rd election will determine 99 Representative seats, half of the State Senate (odd numbered districts), the Governor and Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and all eight Congressional seats. For the November elections, the following dates are important (This is not an extensive listing – for complete dates please look at the WEC 2026 Election Calendar):
- April 7th - Spring Election
- April 15th - First day for candidates to circulate nomination papers for the General Election.
- May 22nd, 5pm - Notification of Noncandidacy - any incumbent officeholder who does not intend to seek re-election.
- June 1st, 5pm - Deadline for candidates to file nomination papers, declarations of candidacy, and campaign registration statements for the General Election with the filing officer.
- June 2nd - Deadline for filing officer to receive referendum questions or petitions for referendum intended for the Partisan Primary ballot.
- June 10th - Wisconsin Elections Commission sends Type B notice information and certification of candidates to county clerks for Partisan Primary.
- June 10th - Deadline for municipal governing body to designate an alternate location for requesting and voting an absentee ballot. This location will remain in use through the November general election.
- July 6th - Deadline for municipal clerks to submit Election Day Registration (EDR) Postcard data for the and Spring Election via WisVote.
- August 11th - Partisan Primary
- August 25th - Wisconsin Elections Commission sends Type B notice information and certification of candidates for General Election to county clerks.
- August 25th - Deadline for filing officer to receive referendum questions or petitions for referendum intended for the General Election ballot.
- November 3rd - General Election
Path 2 - Legislative Council Study Committees
The Joint Legislative Council’s primary responsibility (since it was established in 1947) is to establish study committees to study major issues identified by the Legislature. The establishment of the study committees is set by legislative leadership; different leaders have done it in different ways throughout the years, but once the leaders agree on the committees, a ballot will be completed creating the committees and their chairpersons. The 2024 Study Committees are listed below and linked here are some of the other recent committees.
2024:
During end of the year interviews with The Wheeler Report, the following things were brought up about study committees:
Assembly Speaker Vos - Vos said he plans to listen to the ideas offered, but one idea he is interested in studying is the use of court interpreters. He said, “It's been a huge problem to be able to find people who can translate and do it in a way that makes sense. We have wanted to use remote translators, but the courts have been very resistant to do that, so it's been very expensive and very cumbersome to find translators. So, I think we have a deal that we're going to pass in the spring that says we're going to do video conferencing requirements for civil trials, and I'd like to do a study committee on what do we do to do it for all trials, so we can do increased services for translators and make sure people have access to justice, but do it in a way that's affordable and actionable, knowing that translators in person are super hard to find.”
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer - She said, “I think it would be really good for us to be talking about how we’re going to support our public schools in Wisconsin. We saw a real gap in the last state budget with the failure to fund general aids by legislative Republicans. That means that we’re going to continue to see property taxes go up, and that’s not what the people of Wisconsin need and deserve. We should be doing more to fund our public schools.” Neubauer also highlighted the needs of local government saying, “I would like to see some conversations about our infrastructure. Republicans have chronically underfunded infrastructure in Wisconsin, including local government and their ability to fund essential services…I do hope that we are able to tackle some of those bigger sort of long-term issues facing Wisconsin.”
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein - She said, “I would love to see a rising costs committee and really looking at what we can do as a state to help people in the state of Wisconsin."
Group Insurance Board Approves GLP-1S
The Group Insurance Board approved cost-sharing changes for plan year 2027. According to the ETF website, “ETF presented several updated options for cost-sharing and plan design changes. The Board approved ETF’s recommendation for targeted cost-sharing alignment, with additional adjustments to the pharmacy benefit, which Segal projected would save approximately $29.3 million…Members in the program’s largest plan designs will have minimal cost-sharing increases for emergency room copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, and Level 1 drug copays. The maximum out-of-pocket limit for covered in-network medical services in the non-High Deductible Health Plan will be removed.” Additionally, the Board approved the coverage of GLP-1 anti-obesity medications (AOMs) and drug copay assistance. Members will have a $200 copay for weight-loss drugs. ETF Correspondence Memo regarding changes.
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