In this update:

Election Updates
Administration Updates
Legislative Updates
Committee Schedule
Upcoming Events

Election Updates

Felzkowski rules out gubernatorial bid if Tiffany runs

Following this week’s JCOER hearing, Senate President Mary Felzkowski stated in an interview with WisPolitics, “I will not run against Tom Tiffany,” and added she remains undecided about entering the race for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District should Tiffany pursue a gubernatorial bid.

Zamarripa launches bid for Secretary of State

Milwaukee Alderperson and former State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa has officially launched her campaign for Wisconsin Secretary of State. Elected in 2010 as the first Latina in the state legislature, Ms. Zamarripa served five terms. Since 2020, she has represented Milwaukee’s near south side on the Common Council, focusing on city service, housing, and economic development. Her campaign centers on using the office’s platform to advocate for working families — addressing rising costs, child care, and school funding. As a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public lands, she aims to leverage the office’s oversight of $1.3 billion in public trust funds to invest in Wisconsin’s future.

She stated, “I’m running for Secretary of State to be a strong voice for all Wisconsinites — from small towns to big cities, from our farmworkers to our frontline workers. This office may not come with sweeping powers, but it comes with a platform — and I’ll use it to fight for affordable child care, safe and stable housing, and better funding for our public schools.”

Read the full press release here.

Scheffler enters race for WI-08 Congressional District

Mark Scheffler, a lifelong Wisconsin resident and retired owner of Appleton Wealth Management Group, officially launched his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. Running as a progressive Democrat, Scheffler promises a grassroots-driven campaign free from corporate PACs, special interests, and national party influence With a budget of $5 per vote — totaling over $2 million — he aims to invest locally and build broad coalitions across political lines, pledging to focus on honesty, fairness, and stewardship. Stating, “People in the 8th Congressional District are like a lot of people in the country. They’re just sick of the partisanship. They’re sick of the partisan politics. And the thing that I hear time and time again from Republicans–I hear this all the time– They will elect someone that they can trust.”

Former Green Bay School Board member Rick Crosson has also entered the race as a Democrat, setting the stage for a primary contest. Crosson’s platform emphasizes leadership that unites, economic security, healthcare as a right, strong education policy, and defending democratic institutions.

The seat is currently held by Republican Representative Tony Weid, who was elected with 57.3% of the vote in a 2024 special election following Mike Gallagher’s resignation.

AdImpact projects $253M in political ad spending for 2026

AdImpact projects a record-breaking $10.8 billion in political ad spending for the 2026 cycle around the country — a 21% jump from 2022. Wisconsin is expected to see $253 million in spending, driven by an open gubernatorial race and at least one competitive congressional seat. That includes $133 million for the governor’s race and $40.5 million for legislative and down-ballot contests, with control of both chambers of the state legislature at stake.

In comparison, in 2022, AdImpact reported $362 million in political ad spending in Wisconsin. This exceeded their prediction of $344 million in spending for the 2022 cycle. That included:

$227 million for the US Senate race
$128 million for the gubernatorial race
The remaining $7 million was spread across other that and local contests.

Administration Updates

Evers Urges Congressional Opposition to Trump Budget

Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter last Friday to members of Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation urging that they oppose cuts to “critical, effective, commonsense” programs which are included in President Trump’s budget. Gov. Evers stated in his letter that these proposed cuts mean that Wisconsinites will be less protected from harmful chemicals in drinking water and less prepared for natural disasters like the recent flooding in Milwaukee.

Legislative Updates

Upcoming Floor Calendar

Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R) shared with members in an email to hold next week open to be on the floor. However, the office of Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) shared that the Senate will not be on the floor next week. The Legislature has available floor dates in September through Thursday, September 11th and can come back on to floor starting on October 7th.

Legislative Dems introduce labor package

At a news conference attended by legislative Democrats and union members, Democratic lawmakers unveiled a series of bills as part of a labor package that would overturn several laws enacted under former Gov. Scott Walker (R). Dubbed “Build A Stronger Wisconsin,” the four bills would repeal the “right-to-work” law, restore prevailing wage requirements and project labor agreements, and toughen worker misclassification laws. “At a time of rising costs, a widening financial divide, and economic chaos fueled by the Trump Administration’s policies that put billionaires first, strengthening Wisconsin’s economy depends on building and supporting a strong middle class. Strong labor unions are the rising tide that lifts all workers across many sectors and it makes good fiscal sense to support and encourage good union jobs,” Democratic legislators said in a joint statement. “These bills do just that.”

Republican legislative leaders have not yet commented on the proposal.

The package of bills include:

LRB-0718 relating to eliminating the right-to work law
LRB-0711 relating to project labor agreements and public contracts
LRB-4295 relating to employee misclassification
LRB-0709 relating to prevailing wage

Assembly health committee asks DHS to change language in rule

During a public hearing on Wednesday, the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care voted 8-5 along party lines to ask the Department of Health Services to remove language from a proposed rule that would replace the phrase “mother” and “woman” with “member,” and “father” with “other parent." Committee Chair Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) acknowledged a recent state Supreme Court ruling has largely left legislative committees powerless to force rule changes. Referring to the absence of DHS representatives at the public hearing on the proposed rule, Rep. Kitchens said "they know we don’t have any power so they don’t have to answer to us."

During testimony at the hearing, Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), the Co-Chair of JCRAR, agreed lawmakers have limited options in the wake of the ruling and urged legislators to restore checks and balances to the rule-making process. “If we remove the objection power, then there is nothing to hold agencies accountable to make sure that there is some legislative oversight in this process,” Rep. Neylon said. Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Lisa Subeck of Madison said the hearing was a “colossal waste of time” because the committee lacked power to force rule changes and a “charade” meant to advance the GOP’s political agenda.

Read the full story.

Vos & Felzkowski speak about process for pay increases

Following Governor Evers’ implementation of a pay increase for state employees without the sign-off of the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER), Co-Chairs Speaker Robin Vos (R) and Senate President Mary Felzkowski spoke about the process and the committee. Speaker Vos vowed that the process to increase pay for state employees will be “dramatically different” in the next state budget. Senate President Felzkowski stated that she was “extremely disappointed the governor continues to consolidate executive power.” She also added that “Legislative Republicans will continue to respect and abide by the separation of powers.”

Read the statement here

Committee Schedule

The following meetings have been noticed as of 12:00 pm Friday. Committee and Agency meeting notices are frequently updated and can be found here (for the Legislature) and here (for the Administration).

Monday, September 8

No meetings currently scheduled.

Tuesday, September 9

Assembly Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention

Executive Session at 9:45 AM

Assembly Committee on Urban Revitalization

Information Hearing at 10:00 AM

Wednesday, September 10

Assembly Committee on Local Government

Executive Session at 10:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Local Government

Public Hearing at 10:01 AM

Thursday, September 11

Assembly Committee on Rules

Public Hearing at 11:00 AM

Friday, September 12

No meetings currently scheduled.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, September 16th at 11:30am - Meet the Cabinet with Department of Natural Resources Secretary-Designee Karen Hyun

Friday, September 12th at 8:30am - Capitol Chats with Rep. Tara Johnson (virtual)

ABOUT US

If you would like any additional information about the above topic, or if you would like to find time to discuss the above matter in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies contact.

Have a great day,

Wisconsin GR Team