(The Center Square) – A bill that would significantly limit the amount of farmland foreign persons or entities may own in Wisconsin is moving on to an executive session in a Senate committee after a public hearing this week.
If Senate Bill 219 is signed into law, the amount of agricultural land a foreigner could own would be limited to 50 acres.
“Preserving Wisconsin’s agricultural traditions and rural way of life is of the utmost importance,” Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, said after the hearing concluded. “This bill protects our farmers and keeps our land in the hands of Wisconsinites.”
Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, said the bill will safeguard Wisconsin’s future as an “agricultural powerhouse” and would also “[promote] America’s national security.”
Under current law, foreign persons can own, acquire, or hold no more than 640 acres of farmland or forestry in Wisconsin.
According to a 2023 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 600,000 acres of Wisconsin farmland, or 2.6% of the state’s total farmland, is foreign-owned.
However, the statement by Moses and Safsholt argues the country is facing a staggering increase in foreign-owned farmland, stating that the amount of U.S. agricultural land that is foreign-owned increased by 15% in only a two-year span, taking the country’s total foreign-owned farmland to 45.9 million acres.
“Our state’s agricultural industry contributes $116.3 billion annually to Wisconsin’s economy, and I fundamentally do not believe our food-producing farm fields should be owned by any foreign government or foreign company,” the statement said.
While the bill would limit foreigners from owning more than 50 acres of farmland, it states there is no limit for foreign-owned land used for mining exploration and operations, manufacturing, mercantile business, retail and fuel industry activities.
The bill would also eliminate the 640-acre limit on foreign-owned forestry land, only tightening the restrictions for agricultural land.

(The Center Square) – It will soon be more expensive to just apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Regents voted to increase the application fee from $70 to $80, starting in August, bringing questions from students while defending the action as a way to generate new money for outreach.
Madison student body president Landis Varughese questioned the price hike, saying colleges across the country are facing an “unprecedented moment.”
“Raising the application fee for UW-Madison at a time when the financial aid landscape across higher education remains fragile only poses serious barriers for prospective students,” he said in a statement.
But UW leaders defended the price hike.
The university said raising the application fee will bring-in new money that can be used “to make investments in recruitment and outreach, communications, data, and IT systems management areas.”
And it’s not a small amount of money.
UW-Madison expects to take-in more than $600,000 a-year with the new fee.
Interest in UW-Madison has only grown over the past few years, and nearly 80,000 students applied for next fall’s school year. Numbers from the UW show that’s up almost 12% from last fall and up 59% over the past five years.
UW-Madison set its application fee at $60 in 2016. The school then increased it to $70 in 2023.
At $80, UW-Madison’s application fee is in-line with other Big Ten universities, but it’s the most expensive application fee in the UW System.
In fact, 10 UW schools don’t charge any application fees at all. UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse both charge $25 fees.
The Madison application fee may not be the only new charge for students.
UW President Jay Rothman has said the university will likely have to raise tuition if lawmakers don’t give the UW an extra $855 million in the next state budget.

(The Center Square) – A pair of legal groups have filed to intervene and add an additional argument to the case hoping to overturn Wisconsin’s congressional maps as unconstitutional.
Law Forward and the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School additionally argue that Wisconsin’s maps of its eight congressional districts use an anti-competitive gerrymander.
“All Wisconsin voters, no matter who we are or where we’re from, deserve an equal voice and an equal say in electing leaders whose decisions impact our lives,” Jeff Mandell of Law Forward said of the motion to intervene. “Wisconsin’s current congressional plan is a textbook example of an anti-competitive gerrymander. Candidates regularly win races by a margin of 30% or more. Wisconsin’s congressional map is an outlier, and it has been suppressing voters’ voices for too long.”
The original lawsuit came from Elias Law Group representing nine Wisconsin voters in early May, claiming the current maps are gerrymandered, leaving the state with two Democrats in Congress despite Democrats winning state offices such as governor and a recent state supreme court race.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty wrote a statement in early April about how such a challenge would be unconstitutional.
The new motion says that, in the decade since Act 44 was passed during Gov. Scott Walker’s term, no incumbents have lost congressional elections and no seats have flipped from one party to the other.
Since the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved the current maps in 2022, the 16 district races have had a median margin of victory close to 30 percentage points.
“Anti-competitive gerrymanders are just as harmful as partisan and racial gerrymanders,” Law Forward Attorney TR Edwards said in a statement. “Without competition, voters’ interests can be ignored and their concerns overlooked— politicians take more extreme positions, and polarization takes hold. Competitive races, on the other hand, force politicians to listen to all constituents, not just those who agree with them, to consider the issues, and not just toe the party line.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee approved adding more than $732 million into its budget for the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund that funds the Clean Water Fund Program.
That program provides loans at below-market rates so that local wastewater and drink water capital projects can be completed. The loans start at 2.2%, below the 4.0% market rate, for the loans while some smaller communities can receive rates of 1.3% or lower rates.
Committee Co-Chair Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said that this funding will clear up the unmet demand for funds from the program for the state for the next four years.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, said that the state’s Department of Natural Resources received $89.9 million more in applications for funding for projects than the fund could award.
“Communities across Wisconsin are facing aging infrastructure and new contaminants such as PFAS,” Wimberger said in a statement. “With these additional funds, municipalities will be able to access low-interest loans to modernize their water systems, saving local taxpayers millions of dollars and keeping their water clean for years to come at the same time.”
Wisconsin Conservation Voters said that the funding was one of its largest priorities and that there are more than 1,000 projects already planned hoping for funding across the state.
“Everyday around this state, cities and villages with populations ranging from less than 100 to over 500,000 work tirelessly to ensure the delivery of safe and drinkable water to homes, schools, and businesses, and consistently ensure wastewater effluent is safe and clean for release back into the environment,” Toni Herkert, the Government Affairs Director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, said in a statement. “This is not only a labor-intensive process, but is also capital-intensive. The result of this work ensures that three quarters of the state’s residents and nine-tenths of the state’s businesses continue to have unimpeded delivery of these critical municipal services.”

(The Center Square) – A bill that would give tax credits for people relocating to Wisconsin from the disasters of Hurricane Helene or the Los Angeles wildfires passed a committee vote and is on its way to be voted on by the full state Assembly.
Assembly Bill 139, dubbed the “Disaster Relief Tax Credit,” would create a nonrefundable, one-time income tax credit of up to $10,000 effective for tax year 2025 to encourage victims to move to the Badger State.
U.S. citizens who live in Los Angeles County or North Carolina up until the Los Angeles wildfires of 2025 or Hurricane Helene of 2024 and who moved to the state due to either disaster would be eligible.
“This bill presents a great opportunity for Wisconsin to address our workforce shortages by encouraging highly skilled people who were affected by these devastating disasters and want a fresh start to move to our wonderful state,” the bill’s author, Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, said in a statement. “These people need a place to live, and I can’t think of a better place than right here in Wisconsin.”
Duchow said she is confident Assembly legislators will support the bill when it receives a full vote.
The bill’s fiscal estimate states that the taxpayer cost of the bill can be estimated using the past tax liabilities of movers from California and North Carolina from 2021 and 2022.
“To the extent that the number of households moving to Wisconsin from Los Angeles and North Carolina in 2024/2025 is larger or the average tax liability of movers is larger than in 2022, the fiscal effect will also be larger,” the estimate reports.
U.S. migration data compiled by the IRS says there were 406 households from Los Angeles County in 2021 who filed in Wisconsin in 2022.
Similarly, there were 1,005 households from North Carolina in 2021 that filed in Wisconsin in 2022.
“Of the part-year returns filed in Wisconsin for 2022, the average net tax liability (capped at $10,000) was $1,304,” the estimate says. “Using 2022 as a proxy, if these 1,411 households were to claim an average of $1,304, it would have reduced revenue by approximately $1.8 million in fiscal year 2023.”
The one-time impact of this bill on taxpayers will fall in fiscal year 2026.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin hospitals could soon be forced to post information online to give patients an idea of the cost of common services.
The legislation was introduced Thursday “to empower patients and reduce health care costs through health care price transparency,” according to a news statement released by the bill’s co-authors, Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia.
“Imagine waking up with sudden pain, but you’re scared to go to the doctor because the unknown cost could financially ruin you,” Bradley said. “Our bill aims to end that uncertainty.”
Bradley said hospital patients deserve to see upfront prices clearly, enabling them to make informed choices about their health care.
LRB-1381 would require hospitals to publish standard service charges on a “prominent location” on the home pages of their websites, and must include certain information, including a description of each item or service provided.
Additionally, the list must be available free of charge and without requiring a user account log-in.
The bill would accomplish a 2019 executive order by President Donald Trump requiring full hospital price transparency nationwide, the Republicans’ statement said.
According to the statement, Wisconsin has the fifth-highest hospital costs in the nation, and the highest in the Midwest.
Additionally, only 30% of Wisconsin hospitals are fully compliant with the executive order, according to a report by the nonprofit PatientRightsAdvocate.org.
“Between 1999 and 2022, the national average annual cost of an employer-sponsored family health plan has increased from $5,791 to $22,463,” Wittke said. “Health care is one of the main costs that businesses face, and high costs impact their ability to hire and grow.”
Wittke added that transparency drives competition, which in turn reduces costs for both patients and businesses.
However, the Wisconsin Hospitals Association pushed back on the legislation in a statement, saying no Wisconsin hospitals have been fined for noncompliance since federal price transparency rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services took effect in 2021.
“Despite constantly changing federal regulations and moving goal posts by CMS, Wisconsin hospitals are leading the country in transparency, not just meeting federal standards but exceeding them,” said WHA Senior Vice President of Government Relations Kyle O’Brien.
O’Brien said advocates for state-level price transparency legislation continue to “ignore the outstanding record Wisconsin hospitals hold in complying with federal price transparency regulations.”
However, Felzkowski argued state-level price transparency regulations are more effective than federal ones because transparency was largely ignored under the President Joe Biden administration.
“CMS is not doing their job, plain and simple,” Felzkowski said. “We think Wisconsin could do better…So we’re bringing that back to the state level and making sure that’s a priority at the state level.”
Felzkowski said medical bills are the number one reason for bankruptcy in the nation.
The legislators also launched a website, TheHospitalBill.com, to inform Wisconsin residents about the bill’s goals and allow the public to sign an online petition demonstrating their support.

(The Center Square) – A bill that would prevent a group of five food ingredients from being included in the food Wisconsin schools offer to students through the state-funded free- or reduced-price meals plan passed an Assembly committee and is advancing in both ends of the Legislature.
Those cancer-causing additives include brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylpraben, azodicarbonamide and Red Dye 3. Red Dye 3 has already been banned from being included in food and drugs federally by Jan. 15, 2027.
Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, said that the European Union bans these ingredients already and there is also a federal push to ban the ingredients.
“I don’t always agree with the things happening in other countries but I think that, when it comes to food choices, it is very night and day and that they are on the right path and I wish there was more in here, but I think we just have to start somewhere,” Cabral-Guevara said.
Cabral-Guevara said that, in Europe, the ingredients lists on many foods look very different than in the United States and gave the examples of Pringles and bread, saying she had never had bread like that before.
Cabral-Guevara said that combatting childhood diabetes and obesity by looking at additives included in food in the U.S. is important.
Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menominee, said he also would have liked to see a more extensive list of ingredients banned in Assembly Bill 226 but is using this bill as a starting point on ingredients and additives known to be dangerous.
He said that titanium dioxide, used for whitening foods such as cheese, was initially included in the bill and later removed.
“I do view this as a starting point,” Moses said.
Moses said that the incidence of diabetes is 2.5 times higher than it was even a decade ago.
“It’s amazing to me the stuff that we allow in our food supplies,” Moses said.

(The Center Square) – At least one Wisconsin lawmaker says Milwaukee Public Schools continue to show why the legislature needs a new look at the district’s finances.
Sen. Eris Wimberger, R-Oconto, said MPS missing another deadline shows there’s something broken in Milwaukee.
“It has been over a year since this mess with MPS began, and despite Gov. [Tony] Evers spending $2.5 million on two separate private audits, the district’s financial situation is no better today than it was last year,’ Wimberger said. “Gov. Evers, Superintendent [Jill] Underly, and MPS officials continue to ensure that this situation lacks the transparency that Milwaukee taxpayers deserve and expect.”
MPS was supposed to have the financial report for the 2023-2024 school year to Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction by the end of May.
That didn’t happen.
Because that didn’t happen, DPI announced it will withhold money from MPS. How much isn’t known, but MPS’ failure to turn-in its 2022-2023 report cost the district $16.6 million.
“For us to have a true understanding of how this situation got so dire, we must look at how state regulators at DPI neglected their duties, and the news [this week] reaffirms that suspicion,” Wimberger added.
Wimberger is one of the heads of the legislature’s Joint Audit Committee. That committee last year ordered an audit “to evaluate the processes that DPI has in place to review submitted financial data and audit findings from school districts.”
“The audit approved last session by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee is being performed by highly capable public servants who are accountable to the taxpayers, and I look forward to seeing the results,’ Wimberger said in a statement.
There’s no word when the legislative audit will be complete.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has threatened Wisconsin’s federal election funding for allegedly failing to follow federal voting integrity laws.
If the DOJ follows through, Wisconsin could lose its future federal funds for administering elections and election security.
In a letter from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon late Wednesday, the DOJ accused the Wisconsin Election Commission of failing to comply with the Helping Americans Vote Act by not providing a system to hear and respond to complaints against the commission regarding election integrity.
“Quite surprisingly, we have learned that the Wisconsin Elections Commission has refused to provide any administrative complaint process or hearing regarding HAVA complaints against the commission,” Dhillon said. “Rather, Wisconsin has decided to rely on a 2022 state court case opining that the commission cannot police itself.”
Dhillon claimed the commission’s actions has left complainants alleging HAVA violations by the WEC without any decision or interpretation of the law.
The letter argued a federal judge had already opined that the commission’s failure to create a system to receive and hear complainants was bad for Wisconsin voters, and that “with no opportunity or means to appeal, complainants are left stranded with their grievances.”
“We are hereby notifying the U.S. Election Assistance Commission of Wisconsin’s failure to follow federal election laws,” Dhillon concluded. “Your actions justify a bar against the Wisconsin Elections Commission receiving any future funding from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.”
Wisconsin received more than $18 million in federal funds for election security in 2024, according to a EAC report.
In addition, Wisconsin has received more than $77M in federal funding from 2003 to 2020, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
WEC declined to comment on this story at the time of publication.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously reversed a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court that prevented a Catholic charity from receiving a religious tax exemption.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked Catholic Charities Bureau from an exemption to pay into the state’s unemployment compensation system, arguing the organization did not primarily does secular work.
Catholic Charities appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and a group of 19 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the group’s case, the Center Square previously reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Wisconsin ruling Thursday.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court which said the Wisconsin court “imposed a denominational preference by differentiating between religions based on theological lines,” which violated the First Amendment to the constitution.

(The Center Square) – A pair of Republican lawmakers have begun circulating a plan to continue Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program through fiscal year 2029-2030.
The plan calls for $1 million annually to be set aside to acquire land for the Ice Age Trail, which was previously approved, along with $2 million annually for nonprofit conservation organizations to acquire and develop property.
The plan also calls for a new major land acquisition program for projects that cost more than $1 million. The proposed will requires the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to submit a list of major proposed acquisitions each year by Jan. 15, which the Wisconsin Legislature would then have to separately budget and approve.
Joint Finance Committee Vice Chairs Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, and Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, proposed the bill.
“We expect this bill to move quickly,” Team Knowles-Nelson posted on its website. “Today, Rep. Kurtz and Sen. Testin are circulating drafts for co-sponsorship. Committee hearings could take place as soon as next week, and the committees in the Senate and Assembly will be able to make amendments. This will be an important opportunity for input and engagement from members of the Team Knowles Nelson community.”
The Wisconsin DNR asked for $100 million each of the next 10 years for the program during budget meetings with Gov. Tony Evers, up from the current $33.25 million per year through 2026.
A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling from July 2024 said the Legislature can’t block conservation requests from Gov. Tony Evers. Evers claimed that the Joint Committee on Finance was unconstitutionally and unlawfully blocking his requests through the program.
This bill would make sure the Legislature had control over large grant requests.
Several groups announced support for the proposal, including Ducks Unlimited.
“This proposed legislation will allow much needed improvements to be made to our existing public lands, while also ensuring that a useable program will continue with input from both the legislative and executive branches,” Zach Hartman, Chief Policy Officer at Ducks Unlimited, said in a statement. “The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has helped provide more access and opportunities for Wisconsin’s hunters, anglers and trappers for more than 30 years and we are extremely pleased that members of the legislature are working to see that continue.”
The Wisconsin Counties Association, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Wisconsin Towns Association, the Wisconsin County Forests Association and the Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association released a joint statement on the proposal.
“Grants from the Stewardship Program have supported local government projects throughout the state which are utilized and enjoyed by Wisconsinites daily,” the statement read. “We are appreciative of the leadership from legislators including Representative Kurtz and Senator Testin and from Governor Evers in proposing paths forward for a Stewardship reauthorization.
Continuing to provide state support for local park, forest, and recreation projects will ensure residents and visitors may continue to enjoy all Wisconsin has to offer in the great outdoors.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin budget negotiations have reached an impasse with both sides pointing fingers at the other in Wednesday afternoon statements.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Republican Legislative leaders backed out of negotiations after he agreed to “an income tax cut targeting Wisconsin’s middle-class and working families and eliminating income taxes for certain retirees.” He said Republican leaders would not agree to “meaningful increased investments in child care, K-12 schools, and the University of Wisconsin System.”
Republican Assembly leaders said the two sides were “far apart. Senate leaders say Evers’ desires “extend beyond what taxpayers can afford.”
“The Joint Committee on Finance will continue using our long-established practices of crafting a state budget that contains meaningful tax relief and responsible spending levels with the goal of finishing on time,” said a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Finance Co-Chairman Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.
Evers said that there were meetings between the sides every day this week before the impasse.
“I told Republicans I’d support their half of the deal and their top tax priorities – even though they’re very similar to bills I previously vetoed – because I believe that’s how compromise is supposed to work, and I was ready to make that concession in order to get important things done for Wisconsin’s kids,” Evers said.
Senate Republican leadership said that good faith negotiations have occurred since April on a budget compromise.
“Both sides of these negotiations worked to find compromise and do what is best for the state of Wisconsin,” said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Senate Joint Finance Co-Chairman Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green.
In early May, the Joint Committee on Finance took 612 items out of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal, including Medicaid expansion in the state, department creations and tax exemptions.
Born previously estimated that Evers’ budget proposal would lead to $3 billion in tax increases over the two-year span.
Wisconsin Policy Forum estimated that the proposal would spend down more than $4 billion of the state’s expected $4.3 billion surplus if it is enacted.

(The Center Square) – Milwaukee’s Community Justice Council should look to receive stable funding from the city and county to increase staffing and ensure future policy implementation, a new report says.
The council’s stakeholders believe that while the council succeeds in bringing justice system leaders and representatives together to discuss common challenges and find consensus on certain issues, it falls short in other areas, according to a report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The council, founded in 2007 to promote better coordination and collaboration among Milwaukee County’s justice system, comprises Milwaukee-area criminal justice agencies and state, federal and additional local justice officials.
“Unfortunately, a lack of staff capacity continues to limit the CJC’s ability to fully meet its ambitious goals,” the report says. “Stakeholders do not see success when it comes to implementing policy initiatives, maximizing opportunities to share and use data, and speaking with one voice to the general public.”
The report says what underlies these problems is that the council is fully reliant on “precarious” and “time-limited” grants to fund its staff and operations.
While it receives money primarily from private grants and federal funds, the report suggests the council should consider changing its funding model, as a key source of its foundation grant funding is set to expire in 2026 and federal grant support may become uncertain due to changes in Washington.
Catoya Roberts, the council director, expressed similar concerns about the council’s funding. Roberts said moving forward the sustainability of funding from national foundations is very difficult in relation to grants.
Roberts told The Center Square, “We know that the majority of the criminal justice councils across the country have real investment at their local state level, so it’s important that we figure out how to make sure that happens here at Community Justice Council as well.”
The report also concurs that financial stability should be sought in local sources to better meet its goals, based on an analysis of peer justice councils nationwide.
“Each of the peer CJCCs we analyzed – unlike Milwaukee – rely at least somewhat on funding from their county government,” the report finds. “This support was critical to ensure that staffing levels remained consistent over time.”
For example, the report finds around 80% of the revenue for the justice coordinating councils in Toledo, Ohio, and Palm Beach County, Fla., come from local city, county or suburban municipalities.
The revenue allows both councils to provide more staffing and complete more comprehensive work, according to the report.
If Milwaukee’s council cannot find stable or increased funding, the report estimates “council leaders may need to consider narrowing their agenda to pursue fewer priorities with greater effectiveness.”
Alongside funding and narrowing expectations, the report says the council should focus on reconstituting under a larger nonprofit that can better support the its work, enlist greater participation from Milwaukee’s business and civic communities, and enhance communications about its work to the general public.