The 2025-26 regular legislative session has concluded, and legislators have headed back to their districts to start preparing for campaign season. However, the last several weeks have been filled with action over in the East Wing, as hundreds of bills have been sent to him for his review. Many were signed into law, while many others (some expected some not) were vetoed.

On March 20 the Governor signed several bills in to law, including:

• SB 461, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 104: Broadens and makes permanent the alternative project delivery pilot program (which, under current law, uses a process known as design-build)
• AB 89, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 106: Creates a penalty enhancer for theft and retail theft if the person has prior convictions for such offenses
• AB 598, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 115: Creates a state hospital price transparency provision to ensure continued transparency for patients in the event the existing federal transparency provision is repealed.

Also of note, the Governor vetoed:

• SB 7, prohibiting certain foreign principals from acquiring, owning, or holding any interest in real property in the state.
• SB 214, to allow out-of-state health care providers to provide telehealth care services in Wisconsin.
• AB 415, prohibit state agencies from using state-owned devices or software tied to a foreign adversary, require statewide IT policies for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

On March 23, the Governor signed AB 180, as 2025 Wisconsin Act 116, or the FoodShare (SNAP) bill, funds DHS implementation and quality control efforts, requires a waiver request to prohibit certain junk food purchases under FoodShare, and creates new electronic platform and reporting requirements.

On March 27, the Governor signed numerous bills and vetoed:

• SB 16, bars school districts from belonging to an interscholastic athletic association unless that association agrees to follow the same public records and open meetings laws as state and local government bodies.
• SB 432, requires child welfare departments to refer all reports of suspected or threatened abuse to local law enforcement, expanding current law beyond only sexual abuse and trafficking cases.
• SB 610, creates a penalty enhancer for delivering, distributing, or possessing with intent to deliver certain controlled substances in, on, or within 1,000 feet of a shelter.
• AB 225, which limits venue in business litigation to where the entity is incorporated or has its principal place of business.
• AB 674, prohibits health plans, including self-insured plans and Medicaid, from covering organ transplants or related care when the transplant or donated organ originated in certain countries.

On March 30, the Governor signed (AB) 651, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 145, which makes several improvements to Wisconsin’s worker’s compensation system and partially vetoed AB 650 relating to DWD unemployment insurance funding. He also vetoed AB 602, to opt into the federal private voucher program.

On March 31, the Governor vetoed five bills pertaining to gender-related issues and LGBTQ topics.

On April 2, the Governor acted on 33 bills including signing:

• SB 367, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 146, prohibits insurers from requiring providers to accept reimbursement by virtual credit card, reducing avoidable costs that particularly burden small, independent, and rural providers.
• SB 822, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 147, allows providers to offer prompt-pay discounts of up to 15% when tied to avoided collection costs and publicly disclosed, while preserving existing insurer contracts and compliance with federal law.
• AB 192, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 148, establishes fatality review teams under state law.
• AB 619, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 164, lets WEDC award up to $120 million in tax credits to one aviation biofuel manufacturer using at least 80% Wisconsin-sourced wood.
• AB 813, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 175, streamlines WEDC’s Opportunity Attraction and Promotion Program by replacing grants with sponsored applications, broadening eligible events, and capping spending on nonpublic events at 25% of program funds.

On April 3, the Governor signed:

• SB 376, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 183, creates a Wisconsin tax credit matching the federal employer-provided child care credit for in-state expenses, including the same recapture and automatic federal conformity provisions.
• AB 217, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 188, raises local government notice and bidding thresholds.
• AB 856, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 195, updates Wisconsin’s OWI refusal laws for motor vehicles and other recreational vehicles to align with recent Wisconsin and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
• AB 866, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 196, updates county sheriff office and medical examiner administration, including deputy discipline, vacancy procedures, service of process, and appointment authority.

In addition, the Governor vetoed:

• SB 36, adopts the federal tip-income deduction for Wisconsin taxes, allowing up to a $25,000 deduction on qualified tips from 2025 through 2028.
• AB 750, codifies technical college admission policies allowing special-circumstance exceptions—including hardship, special need, workforce partnerships, and sponsored protective service students—within residency-based admissions rules.

On April 6, the Governor signed two bipartisan bills, known as the “PFAS Package” AB 130, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 200, and AB 131, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 201, concluding years of negotiations on the PFAS Trust Fund and provides protections for Innocent Land Owners.

On April 8, the Governor acted on numerous bills, including:

• SB 248, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 210, strengthens ignition interlock device penalties, creates an appeals process, removes occupational license waiting periods when an IID is installed, and extends restrictions to motorcycles.
• SB 96, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 211, clarifies the EV charging tax by covering all residential charger levels, excluding golf carts and micromobility devices from the EV definition, and requiring LLC-owned charging stations to register and file under the LLC’s name.
• SB 482, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 220, extends the research tax credit carryforward from 15 to 50 years and applies the change retroactively to unused, unexpired prior credits.
• AB 968, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 226, requires cryptocurrency kiosk operators in Wisconsin to be licensed as money transmitters and comply with consumer protection and fraud prevention standards.
• AB 699, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 227, creates new tax and license fee credits tied to long-term care insurance assessments, adds a dedicated security fund account, and strengthens protections for policyholders in the event of insurer insolvency.
• AB 700, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 228, creates a sum-sufficient appropriation to fund refundable payments under the long-term care insurance assessment credit established in 2025 Wisconsin Act 227.
• AB 604, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 233, directs DHS to seek a federal Medicaid waiver to provide eligible incarcerated individuals with up to 90 days of pre-release coverage for care management, substance use treatment, and a 30-day medication supply to support reentry and reduce recidivism.

The Governor chose to use his partial veto on the controversial bill pertaining to the name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals for student athletes (AB-1034) to change it so to better align the NIL funding with legislative intent by directing support toward existing athletic facility debt service while preserving flexibility so UW can use the funding more effectively and maximize the state’s investment.

And finally, on his last day of taking Executive Action, the Governor signed law on April 9 several bills including:

• AB 759, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 240, allows certain first-time DACA recipients with valid work authorization to obtain and renew DSPS occupational credentials for as long as their federal employment authorization remains valid.
• SB 782, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 245, extends existing penalties for falsely reporting an emergency by 911 call to also cover false text messages sent to 911.
• AB 601, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 247, or the online gambling bill. While the Governor signed this legislation into law, he did issue a signing statement stressing that the next phase of implementation should prioritize an equitable, tribe-led revenue-sharing model that allows all 11 Tribal Nations to participate meaningfully in the benefits of statewide mobile sports wagering.