SB 432 Wisconsin Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Relating to: mandatory reporting requirements and referring cases of threatened or suspected child abuse to law enforcement. (FE)

SB 432 requires certain professionals, including social workers and agency employees who interact directly with children or handle child welfare cases, to report suspected or threatened child abuse to law enforcement. It mandates that county departments, the state department, and licensed child welfare agencies refer most abuse cases to police within 12 hours (excluding weekends/holidays) and adopt written policies for reporting specific types of abuse or neglect defined in state law. The bill adds a new reporting category for child welfare employees and clarifies when written policies must be created for certain abuse cases. This changes existing procedures by expanding who must report and requiring standardized policies for specific scenarios.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Sep 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Nov 2025
Assembly Passage
Feb 2026
Vetoed
Mar 2026
Introduced Sep 29, 2025 Vetoed Mar 27, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill Text Text as Enrolled · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill updates Wisconsin's mandatory reporting laws for child abuse and neglect. It expands the list of mandatory reporters to include all employees who directly interact with children or handle child welfare cases, rather than just licensed social workers. Additionally, it mandates that child welfare agencies refer all suspected or threatened abuse cases to law enforcement within 12 hours, removing previous discretion to decide which cases to report.
Scope change
The scope of mandatory reporting was expanded from specific licensed professionals to a broader category of agency employees with direct child contact.
ELIGIBILITY

Changed the definition of 'social worker' as a mandatory reporter from a specific licensed certificate holder to any employee with duties involving direct interaction with children or handling child welfare cases.

REQUIREMENT

Mandated that child welfare departments must refer all cases of suspected or threatened abuse to police within 12 hours, eliminating the previous requirement to only adopt a policy for referring non-sexual abuse cases.

Added a new statutory subsection explicitly defining the expanded group of mandatory reporters.

Floor votes · Assembly Feb 12, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
28
Key actions
4
Committee
2
Mar 27, 2026
Vetoed
Report vetoed by the Governor on 3-27-2026
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read a third time and concurred in, Ayes 61, Noes 37
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Placed on calendar 2-12-2026 by Committee on Rules
lower
Nov 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
Read a third time and passed, Ayes 18, Noes 15
upper
Nov 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report passage recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 5, Noes 3
upper
Sep 29, 2025
Introduced
Introduced by Senators Quinn, James and Marklein; cosponsored by Representatives Green, B. Jacobson, Piwowarczyk, Brill, Dittrich, Duchow, Goeben, Gundrum, Hurd, Kitchens, Knodl, Kreibich, Maxey, Melotik, Murphy, Novak, Penterman, Petersen, Snyder, Summerfield and Tittl
upper
3 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors