2025-2026 Legislative Bulletin

November 11, 2025

In this edition of the League's Legislative Bulletin, you'll find:

1. Beloit Hosts the Last ReVITALize Event in 2025

2. First Application to the Innovation Grant Program

3. State Capitol Updates - The Four Quarters of Legislation

4. Recently Introduced Legislation of Municipal Importance

5. Agency Actions, including:

a. EMS Licensing Report Released by DHS

b. 2025 Statistical Report of Property Values

c. Housing Trust Fund Application Period Open

d. Battery Collection Best Practices Toolkit

e. Preliminary Broadband Grant Award Map

“Being at the center of so many state highways, it's really important that our infrastructure keeps pace with the business needs and the needs of our residents,” said Gabrielatos. “The funding for Beloit and other Wisconsin communities is just not adequate.” Bill Frisbee, Beloit’s Director of Public Works, commented “The last couple of years, there have been increases in General Transportation Aid from the state, but the increases don’t even keep up with inflation.”

Gabrielatos and Frisbee were joined by Beloit City Engineer Scot Prindiville, Blackhawk Technical College President Dr. Tracy Pierner, and You Buy We Fly business owner Demetrius Jones. Each speaker shared their unique perspective on the state highways running through their vibrant city and their importance on the region and its residents and businesses. 

Additional photos and a press release from the event will be shared on the ReVITALize Wisconsin Community Highways Facebook page. A short video highlighting the comments from the speakers will also be shared in an upcoming edition of the Legislative Bulletin.

Beloit is the fourth stop in the ReVITALize Wisconsin Community Highways campaign and will be the final stop in 2025 before the campaign continues in Spring 2026. This effort, launched by the League and our partner, the Transportation Development Association, aims to call attention to long-overdue road improvements on state highways running through the heart of Wisconsin communities and the need for a long-term, sustainable plan to support transportation infrastructure.

If your municipality is interested in sharing your story about the impact of deteriorating state trunk highways in your community, please contact Toni and Evan at the email addresses listed at the end of this Bulletin.

🎉First Application to the Innovation Grant Program

Recently, the Village of Kewaskum became the first applicant to the Innovation Grant Program! Congratulations to leaders in Kewaskum and the City of West Bend for demonstrating leadership and collaboration that will benefit residents and taxpayers. According to the application, by transferring EMS duties from Kewaskum to West Bend, the village will see significant cost savings of approximately $175,000 per year. If their grant application is approved, their grant award will nearly cover the full cost of payments to West Bend for providing EMS for the term of the award.

The Innovation Grant Program allows municipalities to receive grant funding to support the transfer of an allowable service or duty to another entity. If the agreement is for a minimum of three years and will result in a total cost that does not exceed 115% of the total costs for that service or duty in the year prior to the agreement, applicants are eligible for up to five annual grant payments. These grants are equal to 25% of the total costs for the service or duty by the transferring municipality in the year prior to the agreement.

In October, the League hosted a webinar featuring Valeah Foy, Administrator of the Division of State and Local Finance at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR). A recording of that webinar may be found on the League’s YouTube page, and slides from the webinar may be found on the League’s website.

A total of $300 million is available in this program which underwent substantial and exciting eligibility changes in the most recent state budget. To take full advantage of the program, you’re encouraged to apply now! First Round applications are due by March 31, 2026. More information on the program may be found on DOR’s website. 

State Capitol Updates - The Four Quarters of Legislation

With the NFL in mid-season, we wanted to put a synopsis of several State Capitol happenings in football terms. The legislative process can be thought of as a four-quarter endeavor: 1) co-sponsorship period and introduction; 2) committee process; 3) floor votes; and 4) governor action. This week’s update will take the four quarters in reverse order, starting in the fourth quarter highlighting proposals at the end of the process first.

Fourth Quarter

On Halloween, Governor Evers took action on 19 bills passed by the Legislature during September and October floorperiods. This includes Senate Bill 159 which was signed into law as 2025 Wisconsin Act 39. This legislation, which was supported by the League, modernizes the statutes for lighting on police vehicles and improves the ability for local governments to make decisions that promote safety.

Under law prior to Act 39, the requirements for lighting on police vehicles was strictly prescribed. This legislation allows for additional lighting on police vehicles once that statutory baseline – which was also previously the limit – is met. These lights may increase visibility to motorists and others of a law enforcement response, improving safety for both the officers and the public.

Thank you to the authors of this effort, Senator Wanggaard (R-Racine) and Representative Jacobson (R-Mosinee), for this commonsense reform. With the actions by the Governor in October, 47 bills have been signed into law thus far in the 2025-2026 Legislative Session.

Third Quarter

While the bills above, already passed by both legislative chambers, have seen recent action by the Governor, other bills are awaiting action on the floor of the Senate, Assembly, or both. The Senate has announced they will hold a floor session on Tuesday, November 18th. The Assembly has not yet announced when they will be on the floor in November, though it’s expected they could hold a session that Tuesday as well. Calendars for these sessions will likely be released later this week.

Second Quarter

These November dates will be the final floorperiods in 2025 before picking back up in January 2026, committees are busy this week hearing and voting on a number of proposals. This includes a public hearing in the Assembly Committee on Transportation on Assembly Bill 502. Previously noticed for a hearing on October 29th, a scheduling change resulted in this bill being heard this Wednesday, November 12th. This legislation revises the process for handling outdoor advertising signs that do not confirm with local ordinances during a state transportation project.

First Quarter

Last week, a group of Democratic legislators led by Senator Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) and Representative Clinton Anderson (D-Beloit) unveiled the Strengthening Local Communities bill package. This package includes seven bills touching on Shared Revenue payments, tax incremental financing, municipal funding, local prohibitions, and more. The legislation is currently circulating for co-sponsorship and will be introduced in the coming weeks. More information on the package may be found in Senator Spreitzer and Representative Anderson’s joint press release. 

Recently Introduced Legislation of Municipal Importance

The following bills have been recently introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature and have been added to the list of those being monitored by the League. Unless otherwise indicated, no formal position has been taken on these proposals to date. 

• Senate Bill (SB) 596: Notice of Assessor Site Visits - Sen. Wimberger (R-Oconto) and Rep. Goeben (R-Hobart) - Under current law, an assessor must provide written notice to a property owner of their rights if they are requesting to view the interior of the owner’s residence for the assessment. This legislation requires local governments to provide a property owner with written notice at least seven days before a tax assessor enters their property to conduct a tax assessment.

• Assembly Bill (AB) 617: Various Elections Law Changes - Rep. Krug (R-Rome) and Sen. Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) - This legislation makes a series of changes to the laws governing elections. First, it requires that alternative absentee ballot sites must be fixed locations in a building. Second, it requires that clerks must return an absentee ballot certificate with a defect to the voter if time permits the voter to correct the defect. Third, it requires reporting by clerks of the total number of ballots canvassed and remaining on election night starting at 10pm and every hour thereafter. Fourth, it prohibits municipalities from utilizing a central count location. Various other changes to elections laws and process are also made in this legislation.

• AB 616: Funding for Required Absentee Voting Hours - Rep. Krug (R-Rome) and Sen. Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) - To accompany the requirements in AB 312, this legislation provides $10 million to reimburse municipalities for the hours a clerk is required to provide in-person absentee voting prior to an April or November election. Under an amendment to AB 312, reimbursement would be provided at $50 for each required hour of in-person absentee voting.

• AB 606: Regulation of Hemp-Derived THC Products - Rep. Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) and Sen. Wimberger (R-Oconto) - This legislation regulates hemp-derived THC products in a similar manner to alcohol. Hemp-derived THC products are commonly known as Delta-8 and similar derivatives, and are found in beverages, vapes, and food products and have similar effects to marijuana but are lawfully sold due to a legal loophole. Under this comprehensive legislation, purchasers must be 21 years or older, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers must be licensed, products must be independently tested, and certain safety standards including warning labels and packaging requirements would all be imposed. Municipalities would be allowed to permit retail sales but may limit the number of licenses and enforcement capacity would be provided.

⭐If you would like to contact your legislators on any bills mentioned in the Legislative Bulletin, you can find contact information for all legislators here. To find out which legislators represent your community, use the "Find Your Legislator" function on the right side of the page. 

Email questions or comments to:

Toni Herkert, Government Affairs Director, therkert@lwm-info.org

Evan Miller, Government Affairs Specialist, emiller@lwm-info.org