Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said today he might add to next week’s session his bill to eliminate licensing requirements for Wisconsin bakers.
Vos, R-Rochester, made the comments as the Assembly took a break from its session so the Rules Committee could finalize next Wednesday’s calendar, which includes a bill punishing UW students who disrupt campus speakers and another placing new restrictions on those seeking a recount of election results.
Assembly GOP leaders say they expect next week’s session, along with another to approve the state budget, to be the last before the chamber returns in the fall.
Vos is the author of the Bakery Freedom Act, which goes significantly further than another bill the Senate passed today, SB 271. Both bills come after a circuit court judge this spring overturned a state ban on selling homemade baked goods.
Vos’ bill removes licensing requirements for all bakers in Wisconsin, while SB 271 is targeted toward home bakers whose gross receipts every year are less than $25,000.
SB 271 ensures those bakers would no longer have to get a food processing license or other certifications from the state and local governments.
Vos said in an interview he opposes SB 271 and introduced his own bill because everyone should be subject to the same standards.
“I just think it’s inherently wrong that we create carve-outs for some while everybody else is expected to follow the rules,” Vos said.
Vos told Dems on the committee he might bring up his bill directly to the floor during Wednesday’s session. Doing so would likely mean his bill won’t get a public hearing, unlike SB 271.
Vos said in the interview that’s “what I want to work through” as he weighs bringing the bill to the floor next week. But he said people who are OK with the exemption under SB 271 should “be OK with one that is a lot greater.”
“Either you believe there’s a barrier to business entry or you don’t,” he said.
