Assembly to take up women's health care, online sports betting bills on final scheduled session date
CBS 58 MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Lawmakers in the state Assembly are set to take up dozens of bills in a mad dash Thursday afternoon as they look to wrap up their legislative work for the rest of 2026.
While Thursday is the final session date, lawmakers could always come back at a future date. Looming over the Capitol are the ongoing negotiations between GOP leaders and Democratic Governor Tony Evers about how to use the state's projected surplus of $2.5 billion.
Still, Thursday's Assembly calendar is packed with a mix of bills that were expected to come up for a vote and others whose inclusion came in a dramatic twist.
Lawmakers are set to vote on a pair of women's health care bills that easily passed the Senate but had hit roadblocks in the Assembly.
One would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for low-income mothers from 60 days after birth to 12 months. The other would require health insurance plans to cover breast cancer screenings and exams for women considered to be at high risk due to dense breast tissue.
Currently, Wisconsin and Arkansas are the only states that don't provide postpartum Medicaid coverage for up to 12 months. Both that bill and the one related to breast cancer screening coverage passed the Senate by 32-1 votes earlier this session.
State Rep. Pat Snyder (R-Weston) said in an interview Friday he was one of eight GOP lawmakers to push Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to allow a vote on the women's health care measures.
Snyder said the lawmakers are in competitive districts and didn't want to face voters after failing to pass the popular measures. He added he personally told Vos he wouldn't seek re-election if the bills weren't brought up for votes.
"I campaigned to the folks in the 85th [District] that this was important," Snyder said. "And I was gonna take the lead on this, and I just told the Speaker that I don't go back and say, 'Oh, I tried this time.' No, it's important enough that he knew I wouldn't return."
The Assembly is also set to take up a bill that would legalize online sports betting.
That bill had been sitting on the sidelines after originally being scheduled to receive a vote last fall.
The bill would modify state law by no longer considering sports wagers "gambling" if they were done online via a system that connects users to a server based on tribal lands.
Other bills set to receive votes Thursday included:
- A measure ending Evers' 2023 partial veto that allows school districts to raise property tax limits each year for 400 years. Evers will almost certainly veto the bill
- A constitutional amendment banning future governors from using partial veto powers to create or increase new taxes. If it passes as expected, the question will go before voters in a statewide referendum this fall
- A bill banning the use of FoodShare benefits, or food stamps, to purchase candy or soda products
- A bill requiring the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA) to comply with open records laws by banning public schools from joining athletic associations that don't comply with open records requirements
- A measure creating an appointed state position vacant once that position's term expires. It stems from GOP efforts to force Wisconsin Elections Commissioner (WEC) Meagan Wolfe out of her position. Democrats on WEC kept her on after her term expired, citing a legal standard created when GOP appointee Fred Prehn refused to leave the Natural Resources Board when his term expired
- A bill requiring nursing homes to allow a clergy member and family member to visit a person in poor health, even during an epidemic
- A measure expanding parental access to their minors' health records for HIV testing and mental health treatment. Currently, those records are exempt if the minor is 14 or older
- A bill allowing people to sue other individuals over cases of alleged sexual extortion, known as 'sextortion.'