Senate Wraps, Gaveling Out the 2025-26 WI Legislative Session

The Wisconsin Legislative Session wrapped today. Earlier this week was the last opportunity for the State Senate to act on bills before gaveling out. Legislators will return January 2027 under a new legislative session. 

Bills passed by the Senate that have already passed the Assembly will be sent to the Governor, who will decide whether to sign or veto the bill. Bills that did not pass the Senate will not become law this session. 

The State Senate decided the fate of several items of importance to the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) this week. WFU supported the passage of: 

• AB 180: FoodShare Funding

  • Outcome: PASSED 

  • The Assembly amended AB 180 to include funding that the Department of Health Services (DHS) needs to meet new federal requirements that were included in federal HR 1. HR 1 made changes to the SNAP program that means more paperwork for more people, more work for the state, less federal funding to run the program, and a potential penalty of up to $205 million in additional costs if Wisconsin's error rate rises too much. AB 180 includes additional state funding needed now to help Wisconsin comply with new federal requirements, as well as a new policy that would limit what people can buy with FoodShare.

• AB 130 & 131: PFAs

  • Outcome: PASSED 

  • Collectively, the two bipartisan bills will (1) release $125 million from the PFAS Trust Fund, which was first set aside in the 2023 state budget; (2) protect innocent landowners; and (3) provide staffing resources at the DNR for PFAS management and water conservation efforts. The bills are a result of multiple sessions of strong coalition efforts that WFU has proudly been a part of. AB 130 & 131 now head to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law

• AB 759: Occupational Credentials

  • Outcome: PASSED 

  • AB 759 would expand eligibility to receive occupational credentials to recipients of deferred action under the federal Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, also known as “Dreamers.” WI has nearly 6,000 DACA recipients. This bill opens more workforce opportunities for Dreamers and addresses labor shortages for our state. WFU has supported this bill along its path to passage, including identifying it as a 2026 Farm and Rural Lobby Day priority. 

WFU did not support the passage of: 

• AB 024: Immigration Functions

  • Outcome: PASSED 

  • AB 24 would require county sheriffs to check the immigration status of people held in county jails and force them to cooperate with ICE’s immigration enforcement tactics, through expansion of 287(g) agreements. This harmful bill creates fear, increases the risk of family separation, and damages trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement. WFU urges the Governor to veto this harmful legislation and stand with immigrant families across Wisconsin. 

• AB 1027: Food Stamp Program Data

  • Outcome: PASSED 

  • AB 1027 is a bill that would require DHS to share SNAP (FoodShare) data with the USDA. The bill passed the Senate on March 17, 2026, with a 18-15 vote, following its Assembly passage on February 19. The bill focuses on data verification for food assistance programs, with its main focus ensuring ineligible immigrants don’t receive FoodShare. This request was from President Trump’s Executive Order 14243, which is subject to ongoing litigation. This action by the State to disclose all household names, dates of birth, residential and mailing addresses, and all data records used to determine eligibility (children are included) may be considered premature. WFU urges Governor Evers to veto this legislation, as the FoodShare program provides many economic benefits to WI farmers selling to markets and accepting EBT. 

AB 840: Data Centers

• Outcome: FAILED to be considered on the Senate Floor

• AB 840 attempted to address a major subject in our State and others, regulation of data centers. While WFU had mixed feelings on this bill and wanted to see certain amendments come through to address concerns around renewable energy and other issues, the bill put guardrails in place for the significant energy demands of large-scale data centers and provided consumer projections around higher electric bills tied to private developments coming into WI. While the bill passed the Assembly, it did not get voted on before the Senate adjourned, meaning this issue will surely be revisited in 2027. 

Senate Bill 23, a bipartisan bill that extends postpartum health care coverage from 60 days to 12 months, was already passed by the Senate on April 22nd, 2025. After holdouts in the Assembly allowed the bill to move forward at the end of February 2026, the bill passed the Assembly on February 19th, 2026 and was messaged to the Governor. Governor Evers signed the bill into law yesterday, March 18th, 2026. This is a huge win, as Wisconsin joins 48 other states in extending this coverage to new mothers on Medicaid, potentially saving many future lives. 

During this Legislative Session, a number of retirements were announced: 

Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) - Assembly Speaker, announced retirement in February

Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) - announced retirement yesterday 

Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) - announced retirement last month 

Sen. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) - announced retirement earlier this month 

This year, Governor Evers has called for a special session to work on passing a constitutional amendment that prevents gerrymandering and accepts fair voter maps for state elections. Legislators will also hold informational sessions throughout the year on topics they hope to build support for leading into January 2027. 

The Legislature and Governor are also still discussing the use of a portion of our state’s $4.6 billion budget surplus, with the discussion focused around investments in public schools and property taxes. More updates to come on that front in a future Policy Note!

Subscribe to the Policy Note to receive future updates on the Wisconsin Farmers Union’s Government Relations work.