A divided Assembly voted along party lines to move forward with a bill that would put guidelines in place for the collection, testing and storage of sexual assault kits.  But Dems accused Assembly GOP lawmakers of playing politics with a similar bipartisan proposal by adding “poison pill” provisions such as

The Assembly approved largely along party lines a series of bills from the GOP “Tougher on Crime” package meant to increase penalties for repeat offenders. But Dems quickly criticized the package as going in the opposite direction of a national trend of criminal justice reform. “Today this is the last

The Assembly today passed a bill that would establish mandatory punishments for UW System students who “materially or substantially disrupt the free expression of others.” But Dems quickly decried the bill as unnecessary, saying it would have a chilling effect on free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment. Rep. Jimmy

The Assembly passed a joint resolution that would proclaim tomorrow, the 47th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, to be “Protect Life Day.” But many Dems dismissed the resolution as “political game-playing.” “This is what’s going on across this country in the hopes of building

Assembly lawmakers today passed a bill that would establish a mental health pilot program for schools in Outagamie County. Dems criticized AB 644, saying a pilot program doesn’t go far enough to cover youth mental health concerns in the state. They introduced a bill that would’ve expanded the program statewide

The Senate signed off on two of the seven bills from a package created out of the Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention. It also approved one of eight bills from the Speaker’s Task Force on Adoption. All three now head to the guv’s desk. The suicide bills include: *AB

The Senate unanimously approved a $1 million boost to grants supporting emergency homeless shelters as Dems pressed their GOP colleagues to do more. AB 119 is part of a package to address homelessness that cleared the Assembly overwhelmingly last year. But much of the eight-bill package has been hung up

A bill that would create a wide-ranging ban the use of firefighting foams containing a chemical that contaminates groundwater is on its way to the governor’s desk after passing both legislative houses today. The proposal would ban the use of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, except in emergency

The Assembly today passed bill that would allow Wisconsinites to contract directly with primary care physicians. But an amendment that removed protections against discrimination drew criticism on the Assembly floor. Rep. Joe Sanfelippo introduced the change today that eliminated lines of the bill which banned a health care provider from

The state Senate voted to place new limits on the use of firefighting foam that contains PFAs over the objections of Dems who said the bill didn’t go far enough. SB 310 cleared on a voice vote. But Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, said it doesn’t address clean-up costs for

The state Senate today unanimously confirmed Gov. Tony Evers’ picks to lead the Department of Workforce Development and to head the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Caleb Frostman at DWD and Joaquin Altoro at WHEDA cleared the chamber unanimously. There was no debate on Frostman, a former Dem senator

The Assembly unanimously approved a series of bills that would raise wages for collective bargaining employee contracts for construction projects. The move came after the Joint Committee on Employment Relations approved the contracts last month. AB 706, 708,709, 710 and 711 would ratify employee contract agreements between UW-Madison, the UW

A split Assembly today signed off on a set of bills that would overhaul aspects of the state’s adoption system. The eight-bill package stemmed from an adoption task force commissioned last year and chaired by freshman Rep. Barbara Dittrich, who said she learned through the process that there was no

The Assembly today approved a nine-bill package designed to update placement and support obligations for children whose parents are divorced or separated. The package, which passed via voice vote, includes proposals that would: *create a process for temporary delegating custodial duties during a parent’s military service. *allow a court to

Three Dems sided with Gov. Tony Evers to deny GOP lawmakers a veto on a bill that would have reduced the number of training hours required for nursing assistants. Republicans needed at least three Dems to flip their votes to override the veto and Dem Reps. Don Vruwink, of Milton,

The Assembly today approved a resolution to call the evergreen displayed each year in the rotunda the “Wisconsin State Christmas Tree.” The resolution, which just began circulating yesterday, comes after Gov. Tony Evers went back to calling it a “Holiday Tree” after former Gov. Scott Walker referred to it as

— A bill that would add 12 new circuit court branches passed the Assembly by voice vote today and is now on its way to the Senate.  AB 470 would add four new circuit court judges in August 2020, four in August 2021 and the final four in August 2022.

The Assembly today passed a measure that would bring Wisconsin’s hemp regulations in line with federal guidelines, boosting the state’s chances of gaining lead oversight of the nascent crop from federal regulators. “I know everybody is gonna push the green button because this is a great bill,” Rep. Tony Kurtz,

— The Assembly today passed a resolution to recognize the week of Thanksgiving as National Bible Week.  “For centuries the bible has been recognized as the greatest book ever written,” the resolution’s author Rep. Paul Tittle, R-Manitowoc, said on the floor. “Whether you’re Catholic, Jewish, baptist or you just like

GOP legislative leaders late Thursday quickly dismissed Tony Evers’ call for a special session on new gun restrictions and shrugged off criticism they were ignoring the will of voters by failing to even debate the two bills the guv urged them to take up. With largely just reporters watching, Senate