Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara

Maddy summarySB 498 establishes new Wisconsin statutes to protect free speech and academic freedom at University of Wisconsin System institutions and technical colleges. It defines "employee" to include faculty, staff, and graduate assistants, and specifies that institutions cannot restrict First Amendment-protected speech - including protests, discussions, or virtual gatherings (except during instructional classes) - in public campus areas or designated forums. The bill allows limited restrictions only for speech that violates law, constitutes false defamation, poses a genuine threat, or causes material disruption, requiring all rules to be content-neutral and viewpoint-neutral. It also clarifies that institutions must uphold these protections while ensuring reasonable time, place, and manner regulations for expressive activities.

Maddy summarySB 291 expands Wisconsin's business development tax credit to include certain employer-provided child care costs. It allows businesses to claim a tax credit equal to up to 15% of qualifying expenses for establishing or operating child care programs for employees, such as upfront setup costs, operational expenses, employee reimbursements, or reserved child care slots. The bill directly affects Wisconsin-based businesses that provide child care benefits to employees, making these costs eligible for the tax credit starting in 2025. Key provisions define "eligible child care costs" broadly to cover capital expenditures, operational spending, and reimbursements, while capping the credit at 15% of those expenses. The law applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.

Maddy summarySB 389 adjusts how Wisconsin school districts calculate their maximum allowable spending limits (revenue limits) for specific school years. It adds $325 per student to the calculation for the 2023-24 through 2026-27 school years, while removing previous adjustments that would have affected spending limits for the 2015-16 through 2018-19 years and the 2021-22 year. The bill also modifies rules for consolidated school districts, changing how their revenue limits are calculated during the 2020-21 through 2026-27 school years. These changes take effect for the 2027-28 school year and beyond, directly impacting all public school districts in Wisconsin.

Maddy summarySB 10 requires Wisconsin public high school boards to allow military recruiters access to common areas (like hallways or cafeterias) during school visits and during school days or school-sanctioned events. It does not require access to classrooms during instructional time. The bill implements federal law (10 USC 503(c)) by mandating this access for all public high schools, directly affecting school boards and military recruiters. The law applies starting with the 2025-26 school year.

Maddy summarySB 277 establishes a 6-year expiration cycle for most Wisconsin administrative rules, requiring state agencies to proactively renew rules before they expire. It mandates that agencies submit renewal notices between January 1 and March 1 each year for rules expiring that year, including detailed justifications and statutory references. Rules not renewed through this process will automatically be removed from the Wisconsin Administrative Code on January 1 following expiration. This directly affects state agencies responsible for creating and maintaining administrative rules, ensuring regular legislative review of regulatory changes.

Maddy summarySB 921 requires Wisconsin high schools to offer a 0.5-credit personal financial literacy course for graduation. The course must cover topics like money management, saving, investing, credit, and debt, and can be delivered through traditional classroom instruction or approved partnerships with local financial institutions. Schools may also award credit for completing an advanced placement business course with a personal finance focus. This requirement directly affects all Wisconsin high school students seeking graduation.

Maddy summaryThis bill's title claims to address LLC filing fees, but the provided text actually amends an unrelated education-related statute (183.0122) regarding student enrollment criteria. The bill text modifies a section defining where students must be enrolled to qualify for certain benefits, specifying they must be in a postsecondary institution, public/private/tribal high school, or home-based program in the state. The content does not relate to LLC fees or business filings as indicated in the title. The inconsistency between the title and the actual bill text suggests a potential error in the document provided.

Maddy summarySB 181 creates a levy limit exemption for local governments that fund regional emergency medical services (EMS). It allows counties or municipalities to count costs for regional EMS (via joint districts or agreements) toward their budget without triggering standard spending limits, provided the service area covers at least 232 square miles or 8+ municipalities. The bill requires that annual EMS funding increases stay within an inflation-adjusted cap (U.S. CPI plus 5%) and that the local government confirms a coordinated regional service area. This directly affects local governments operating regional EMS systems by making their funding more flexible under budget constraints. The exemption applies to costs for fire department-provided EMS and excludes these expenditures from standard spending limit calculations.

Maddy summarySB 480 modifies Wisconsin's rules for residential tax incremental districts (TIDs), which are special tax zones used to fund local development projects. It allows towns with sewer systems to create residential TIDs using city-level powers (previously limited to cities), extends the standard TID lifespan to 20 years (up from 15), and adds conditions for extensions: cities must provide an independent audit proving they cannot repay project costs within 20 years to request a 3-year extension. The bill also clarifies that project costs for residential TIDs can include expenses for newly platted single-family homes and adjusts lot size requirements for residential developments. These changes apply to TIDs created on or after October 1, 2004, with specific adjustments for districts approved after March 3, 2016.

Maddy summarySB 822 allows health care providers to offer discounts for prompt payment of fees to patients covered by disability insurance policies, while prohibiting them from reducing required coinsurance or deductibles under those policies. Key provisions require discounts to be no more than 15% of the fee, based on actual collection savings, and mandate providers to post their discount policy on their website. Providers cannot shift discount costs to other patients, include discounts in third-party payer agreements, or advertise the discount publicly (merely posting online is permitted). The bill directly affects health care providers, disability insurance patients, and insurers, with exceptions for undue financial hardship or federal law conflicts.