(The Center Square) – A group of bills dubbed the Red Tape Reset are on the move after passing a Senate committee with a 3-2 vote on a party line.
The set of bills include regulatory sunsetting, regulatory budgeting, a one rule per scope statement and a proposal challenging the validity of administrative rules.
The bills were the subject of an Oct. 9 joint public hearing on regulatory reform.
“When agencies are creating new regulations that raise costs, they’ll have to offset them,” said Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin. “This is really about accountability and restoring balance.”
The bill aims to cut down on the 165,000 restrictions currently in state law with the sunsetting bill requiring all chapters of administrative code be reviewed, updated or allowed to expire every seven years.
“Red tape hurts real people,” Bradley said. “… The bills in the red tape are just going to clear the path so that they can move forward.”
The budgeting bill requires any new administrative code regulation with an economic impact to be offset by the repeal or revision of existing regulations of equal or greater impact.
The single scope bill blocks allowing agencies to use a single scope statement to create multiple regulations over time.
The challenge bill would require courts to award attorney fees and costs to plaintiffs who successfully challenge unlawful administrative rules.
The bills come as a Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty study estimated that a 20% reduction in regulatory restrictions in the state would increase Wisconsin’s economy by $23 billion by 2037.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. Senator is not on board with the plan that could reopen the federal government.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin took to social media late Sunday night to explain her “no” vote on the Senate agreement.
“A wink and a nod to deal with this health care crisis later – with no actual guarantees – is just not enough for me or the Wisconsin families I work for,” Baldwin wrote. “I refuse to sign off on a deal that doesn’t lower working families’ health care costs.”
Eight Senate Democrats voted Sunday night to move forward with a plan. The vote did not open the government, but it shows that there is support from Democrats on Capitol Hill to do so, possibly by the end of the week.
Baldwin has voted against every Senate attempt to reopen the government. She has blamed President Donald Trump for the shutdown for weeks.
“Donald Trump could have avoided all of this if he had chosen not to use hungry families as a bargaining chip,” Baldwin wrote on X on Thursday. “Thankfully, a judge stepped in and is making him fully fund SNAP. The President needs to listen to the court – millions of hungry families are relying on it.”
Wisconsin’s two Democratic members of Congress, Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore, were silent Sunday about the Senate vote.
Green Bay-area Republican Congressman Tony Wied, however, was not.
“Even after her more reasonable colleagues came to a deal, @SenatorBaldwin is getting ready to vote ONCE AGAIN to keep our government closed and continue to hurt our service members, farmers, federal employees, and families in need,” Wied wrote on X. “Wisconsinites deserve so much better.”

(The Center Square) – The Town of Palmyra board violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Act on five occasions, a Jefferson County judge recently ruled.
The claims ranged from Town Board supervisors Rob Martens and Josh Gajewski discussing town business over email instead of at a board meeting, discussing the lease of a Bobcat to the Town Airport at a meeting without that item appearing on the agenda and going into closed session three times without sufficient notice of the reason, including twice to interview town attorney candidates when those interviews should not have been done in closed session.
The case was brought by the Wisconsin Transparency Fund on behalf of former board member Weenonah Brattset.
“The judge said the Town was ‘categorically noncompliant’ with the Meetings Law,” explained Tom Kamenick, President and Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Projec. “He said he had ‘no difficulty’ concluding that they broke the law.”
Brattset was awarded $35,000 in attorney fees and court costs while forfeitures were issued against Town Board chair Frank Sauter ($300) and both Martens ($350) and Gajewski ($250).
“As a new Palmyra Town Board member 10 years ago, I too failed to follow Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law when I requested that an item be placed on the agenda that did not fully apprise the public of the subject of the discussion,” Brattset said in a statement. “I pleaded ‘no contest,’ paid my fine, and paid the court costs at no cost to town taxpayers.
“Through that experience, I learned that meeting laws are clear and not difficult to follow.”
A sixth complaint is set to go to trial where Sauter and Martens allegedly met with the chair of the Airport Commission to discuss the Bobcat in what would be considered an unnoticed meeting of the Town Board.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection said this week that it will lower its proposed increases to fees related to items such as animal markets, animal dealers and animal trucker licenses as receiving large pushback to the change.
Much of that pushback came through the efforts of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Americans for Prosperity – Wisconsin, which organized informational campaigns about the fee increases and AFP delivered hundreds of letters opposing the increases during the public comment portion of the new rulemaking led by AFP Grassroots Engagement Director Nicole Tyc.
One example of the DATCP changes was increasing a livestock market fee from $420 to $7,430. The trucker license fees went from $60 to $370 and animal dealer fees from $220 to $670.
The changes came following a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that blocked legislators from oversight on rulemaking with Gov. Tony Evers telling agencies to bypass having rules heard in committee and instead simply enact them.
DATCP did not present a new proposed fee schedule but said it would be “an inflationary adjustment to account for the roughly 17 years since the fees were last adjusted.”
“DATCP appreciates the many stakeholders and interested parties who engaged in this public comment process for proposed revisions to ATCP 10 and 12,” DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski said in a statement. “Once the public comment period closed, DATCP expeditiously reviewed the comments and began work on substantial modifications to the rules, including significantly reducing the proposed fees that fund these important animal health programs. Wisconsin farmers and businesses rely on these animal health programs, and it’s important that DATCP work with the industry to find a sustainable way to fully fund them.”
Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, introduced Senate Bill 622 to keep the fees the same as they were in December 2024 and take away DATCP’s power to establish fees for animal market licenses, animal dealer licenses, animal trucker licenses and animal transport vehicle registrations.
“Our rural and agricultural communities deserve better,” AFP-WI State Director Megan Novak said when the petitions were delivered. “These fee increases are yet another example of the Administration’s top-down approach that puts a burden on our neighbors, friends, and families. AFP-WI will continue to hold the Evers/Rodriguez Administration accountable to protect Wisconsin’s economy and the livelihoods of our hardest-working citizens.”

(The Center Square) – One Wisconsin lawmaker wants people to know just how much they are paying in taxes the next time they fill up.
Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, introduced legislation that would have the state add gas tax price stickers to pumps across the state.
“While the final price is clearly visible, the components of that cost are often a mystery to consumers,” Allen said.
Wisconsin charges 32.9 cents per gallon in gas taxes, and the federal government charges another 18.4 cents per gallon. Allen said it is important for people to understand that more than 51 cents per gallon of gas goes toward the government.
“[This would] provide the public with information and ensure they understand exactly where their hard-earned money is going, especially the significant portion dedicated to funding our roads and infrastructure. We believe drivers deserve a clearer picture,” Allen added.
Allen says his plan would not cost gas stations across Wisconsin anything.
His legislation orders the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to print the gas tax stickers, then would use state inspectors to get them on the pumps.
“State or municipal weights and measures inspectors will be required to affix this sticker to the face of every motor vehicle fuel pump during their regular inspection process,” the legislation states.
State Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, is the Senate sponsor of the plan.
“We believe transparency is a fundamental pillar of good government,” Jacque said. “This is a straightforward step to provide the public with a better understanding of gas pricing, making the process seamless and ensuring our consumers are fully informed every time they fill up.”
The plan now heads to lawmakers for co-sponsors. After that it will likely be sometime next spring before the legislation gets a hearing and sees its first votes at the statehouse.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin spent at least $160,000 to send Gov. Tony Evers, his wife and several staff members and security along with former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes and WEDC staff to Germany and France earlier this year, according to documents acquired through public records requests by The Center Square.
The costs included $69,000 for a chauffeur and limousine service, nearly $19,000 to AHP International for consulting and printed materials related to the trip and a nearly $3,200 group welcome dinner at Zucker restaurant in Braunschweig, Germany.
The expenses also included $1,600 for a VIP service that greeted Evers and his wife during layovers at the Paris and London airports with a personalized name sign, luggage assistance and moving through the airports and customs from a company called Fastrack.
The expenses also included a $182 staff lunch that Hughes purchased that didn’t include a receipt and instead had a “lost” receipt for saying the expense was from a restaurant in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The expenses included per diem food costs for trip participants along with Madison airport parking, seat upgrades and extra bags on the flights.
Evers’ office and the WEDC did not respond to multiple attempts over multiple months to seek comment related to the trip, starting when WEDC produced a press release on the trip on April 1.
The WEDC took nearly seven months to produce the records from the trip.
John Mozena is the president of the Center of Economic Accountability and recently testified about the value of overseas economic development trips in a committee meeting discussing the topic in Michigan.
“These economic development subsidy programs run all too often not as economic tools but as political tools, a way for elected officials to essentially get taxpayers to fund re-election advertising on the cheap,” Mozena said. “These things aren’t being done to create jobs, they’re being done to make voters believe that you’re responsible for creating jobs.
“These international trips are a way for governors and other elected or high ranking officials to get a nice trip on the taxpayer dime but also to show how hard they’re working, supposedly, when in fact the real issues that companies are … sitting back at home not being addressed.”
Mozena noted that face-to-face meetings with governors and economic development officials are not an essential part of bringing businesses to states and cited a survey from Area Development magazine of U.S. business site selectors showing that state and local incentives were the ninth most important factor behind things such as energy availability and cost, workforce availability, available land, skilled labor and regulatory environment.
“They don’t do nearly as much as the folks that go on them would like to have everyone believe,” Mozena said, noting that the trips always seem to be to nice places where he and tourists would also visit “but I’m paying for it and not letting the taxpayers do it.
He also noted that meeting a governor isn’t really a big or important meeting for a multi-national corporation.
Evers’ office and the WEDC did not respond to questions on how the trip was paid for but the WEDC’s budget plan summary includes $900,000 for trade missions and foreign direct investment that it says includes trips planned to Japan, Canada, Mexico and Germany.
Hughes has since resigned her post and is currently running for governor while touting her economic development work, including Foxconn in Pleasant Prairie, which is now set to be a pair of data centers within tax increment districts.
“I had to come in and clean up that mess,” Hughes reportedly said at a Thursday morning candidate forum.
“I think Foxconn is the perfect example of the problems and dangers and limitations of this kind of thing,” Mozena said. “Foxconn is easily the highest profile international economic deal that Wisconsin’s ever had and it’s a disaster.”
Mozena said that he isn’t sold that placing data centers on those properties is a taxpayer win either.
“If you were trying to design the dumbest possible thing to subsidize, it would be a data center,” Mozena said. “… They are these big, dark buildings where virtually nobody works. Most of the high-value work at those facilities isn’t being doing by people on-site, it’s being done programmers in Silicon Valley or Shanghai or Mumbai or someplace like that.”

(The Center Square) – In the midst of the ongoing government shutdown, a number of Democrat governors, mayors and other officials are flying to Brazil climate change convenings in Brazil.
Founder and executive director of Power the Future Daniel Turner told The Center Square: “Calling the shutdown a ‘disaster’ and then jetting to Brazil is politics at its phoniest.”
Power the Future is a nonprofit dedicated to Americans working in reliable energy sources, according to its website.
Turner told The Center Square: “If politicians can find time for COP30 [U.N. Climate Change Conference] selfies, then their crocodile tears over the shutdown are as sincere as AOC or Bill Gates telling us the world is going to end.”
“These climate boondoggles are little more than elitist gatherings where politicians sip cocktails, pose for cameras, and lecture working families about sacrifice,” Turner said.
“Meanwhile, our oil and gas workers continue to show up rain or shine – because these politicians will need fuel to fly home after their vacation,” Turner said.
As an example of Turner’s point, U.S. Climate Alliance Co-Chair and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is a part of leading the delegation gathering in Brazil, but also recently declared a state of emergency over the government shutdown.
Similarly, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is a part of leading the delegation, decried the Trump administration’s response to the government shutdown as it concerns SNAP funds
Neither Evers’ nor Grisham’s media relations responded to The Center Square’s two individual requests for comment.
The delegation Evers and Grisham were put in charge of leading is made up of more than 100 local leaders including “U.S. governors, mayors, and other top city and state officials,” an America Is All In press release said.
America Is All In is a coalition of leaders in support of climate action in the U.S., according to its website.
The release explained that at the climate convenings, “participating U.S. leaders will reinforce their commitment to the Paris Agreement’s goals and share local climate solutions that are lowering energy costs, growing jobs, and cutting dangerous pollution in America.”
Two other leaders of the delegation besides Evers and Gresham are Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego – who also serves as Climate Mayors’ chair and C40 Cities vice chair – and America Is All In managing co-chair Gina McCarthy.
When reached, Gallego’s media team said she did not have a comment.
America Is All In media relations did not respond in time for publication, but Gina McCarthy said in the release concerning the convenings: “When the federal government fails to act in our country’s best interest, America Is All In is stepping up to organize U.S. leaders who are ready, willing and able to come to Brazil in force.”
“We are determined to deliver on the promises we made to the American people and our international partners,” McCarthy said.
The November climate convenings listed in America Is All In’s release were the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP30), the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, and the C40 World Mayors Summit.
America Is All In, Climate Mayors, and the U.S. Climate Alliance hosted events at COP30 Local Leaders Forum and C40 World Mayors Summit, the release said.
The Center Square reached out to Climate Mayors media relations and U.S. Climate Alliance media relations twice each, neither of whom responded

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s high school sports association doesn’t want to be subject to open meetings and public records laws, the subject of a legislative effort that has reached the governor’s desk and been vetoed multiple times.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is concerned about being inundated with public records requests, especially in cases of transfer eligibility, Executive Director Stephanie Hauser said.
“I think we’re going to get pummeled with them,” Hauser said.
Hauser and WIAA officials pointed out that the organization is private and does not accept tax money.
But the group makes most of its funding from “host tournaments and through private donations,” according to Hauser and “subjecting a private organization to open records policies is akin to forcing a church, small business or any other sort of private organization to such policies.”
Many of those tournaments and the majority of teams competing in them are from public schools and teams.
Proponents of Senate Bill 16, however, say that the WIAA has a monopoly on high school sports in the state, giving public schools no other options, and the organization is selectively transparent when governing those schools, often leaving public schools, coaches, parents and students in the dark related to important decisions.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty advocated for the bill, saying the Legislature has never granted power over public school athletics to the WIAA.
“WIAA is a nominally private membership association that exercises governmental power by playing gatekeeper over interscholastic athletics, a government-provided benefit,” WILL wrote.
“The Department of Public Instruction even says WIAA is the ‘regulatory agency’ for interscholastic athletics.”
WILL said it believes the WIAA lacks transparency and meaningful oversight and it abuses that power.
But the WIAA noted in a letter against the bill that former Gov. Scott Walker vetoed a similar bill in 2015 and Gov. Tony Evers vetoed one in 2021.
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the legislature’s insertion into the decision-making process of a private, member-driven organization,” Evers wrote in his veto message.

(The Center Square) – The plan to make English the official language in Wisconsin is moving forward at the state capitol.
The Assembly Committee on Science, Technology and AI approved Assembly Bill 377 which would set an official state language.
Supporters say the plan both requires that all government business be conducted in English and allows for the use of technology as a way to help implement the new policy while providing cost saving to local governments and the court system.
“This bill is not about exclusion, but a practical and unifying measure aimed at encouraging immigrants to become active participants in American civic life,” Sen. Ande Jacquee, R-DeePeere said in a statement.
Jacquee is the Senate author of the plan.
Thirty states, including Wisconsin’s neighbors Illinois and Iowa, already have English as their official language. A little more than a third of those states put the question to voters.
Jacque said surveys continue to show that most Americans want to see English as their state’s official language.
“A Rasmussen poll early this year found that 73% of voters supported making English the official language, including 93% of Republicans, 61% of Democrats and 63% of independents,” Jacque added. “Similarly, a Pew Research Center found 72% support, with 51% saying it is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important to make English the official language.”
Jacque also said the legislation would help people who don’t speak English, particularly in court.
Local and state governments and courts are often required to provide interpreters. Jacque said his plan will allow governments to use A.I. to assist with translation, and to use things like Zoom to help avoid the unnecessary expense of physically providing an interpreter.
“Particularly in our rural counties, where local governments may have to spend considerable taxpayer funds to accommodate immigrants who are not yet fluent in English, this legislation will help reduce costs by taking advantage of emerging technology,” Jacque added.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin school districts will be eligible for $2,000 per student extra in funding for the first year if a series of bills in the state are passed into law.
A group of Republican lawmakers are pushing the bills as the state’s K-12 student population declines by an estimated 10,000 students. The state’s largest school district, Milwaukee public schools, saw a total enrollment drop of nearly 30,000 students (32.8%) between 2006 and 2024.
The five consolidation bills were introduced Wednesday by lawmakers.
They include a bill for a statewide consolidation feasibility study, a $25,000 grant for each district to conduct its own consolidation or shared services study, grants for districts that consolidate but have differing levy limits and school board consolidation grants of $500 per student for whole grade sharing.
The bills come after legislative Republicans announced they would be pushing for legislation to encourage school consolidation in early September.
“Our goal is to provide support, give tools and provide incentives for voluntary consolidation,” Wisconsin state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said in September while teasing the bills.
Nedweski is a co-sponsor of two of the bills, including the whole grade sharing bill along with Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk.
The bill allows for the $500 per student grant if a district agrees to share an entire grade of students with another district for one or more years, according to the Department of Public Instruction’s program requirements.
Nedweski and Felzkowski are also sponsors of the levy bill, which would provide aid for if a consolidated district’s levy is higher than the lowest allowable levy at the district that were consolidated to create the new district. The consolidation must take place after July 1, 2026.
The grant would be worth the “amount equal to the consolidated school district’s equalized value multiplied by the difference between the maximum allowable levy rate of the consolidated school district and the lowest levy rate of the underlying school districts.”
The per-student grant bill is sponsored by Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, and Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood.
The state currently provides consolidated district with $150 per pupil for the first five years after a consolidation but the new bill would raise that number to $2,000 for a new consolidation that takes effect in 2026, 2027 or 2028.
Rep. Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls, and Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, sponsored the bill providing $25,000 grants to districts for a feasibility study on either consolidation or whole grade sharing.
Quinn and Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, are sponsoring the statewide feasibility study to examine school district boundaries, facilities, student populations and 10-year projections and recommendations on potential consolidation.

(The Center Square) – An audit was ordered Wednesday in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s process to suspend, revoke and investigate teacher licenses.
The vote came after DPI Superintendent Jill Underly and staff explained the process to Wisconsin’s Joint Audit Committee, repeating much of the language she used at a press conference and Senate Committee on Education meeting the day before.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, questioned if DPI determines it will ask for a voluntary surrender of teacher licenses rather than conducting an investigation in cases where law enforcement isn’t already involved in order to fully look into accusations.
“There is more than just writing this down on paper,” Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, said before starting the hearing.
The audit scope includes identifying trends in allegations received and investigations, the timeframe from allegation to investigation, whether DPI follows its rules and policies, the evidence gathering and evaluation process and the patterns of DPI determinations.
The audit will also look at the amount of staffing and time put into the process along with the qualifications of investigators.
DPI advocated for more investigative power through state law as it looks into accusations.
“We have had hostile interaction with local school districts or law enforcement,” Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy said about issues with relying solely on local investigations.

(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are taking the first step to change how the state’s Elections Commission handles election complaints.
The Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections held a hearing on
the Help America Vote Act, officially known as AB 595.
The plan would stop the Wisconsin Elections Commission from dismissing election complaints when voters accuse the Elections Commission itself of
making a mistake or wrongdoing.
“If the commission receives a complaint that alleges that the commission itself is violating [the federal Help America Vote Act] and the complaint raises a substantial question of material fact, the commission must make a final determination on the merits of the complaint and issue a decision,” the legislation states. “The bill prohibits the commission from dismissing the complaint simply because the complaint alleges a commission violation.”
The legislation also requires changes to how Wisconsin handles data sharing agreements, how the Elections Commission removes ineligible voters from the state’s voter rolls, how much Wisconsin charges for its voter list and would require the Elections Commission to conduct a non- citizen voter audit.
Kyle Koenen, Policy Director at The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said Wisconsin needs to make every change in order to restore faith in the state’s electoral system.
“In September, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a report calling for a five-step audit of Wisconsin’s voter registration list to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in elections. The audit proposed in Assembly Bill 595 is similar to WILL’s proposal in many respects,” Koenen told lawmakers. “It will ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting, in compliance with the law.”
Koenen said being compliant with federal and state election laws should not be an option for Wisconsin’s election managers.
“[WILL] believes that regularly auditing Wisconsin’s statewide voter registration list is critical to ensuring the integrity of our elections and maintaining the public trust,’ he added.