State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
Signing Statement – Senate Bill 488
It is a new day in Wisconsin, and today is a beautiful day for democracy.
Today I am signing into law fair legislative maps for our state. Fair maps that are long overdue, and fair maps the people of Wisconsin have long been clear they want.
When I ran for this office in 2018, I promised I’d never stop working to secure fair maps for Wisconsin. After a bipartisan vote in both chambers those maps—maps I drew and submitted to our State Supreme Court—are on my desk.
In December, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Republicans’ most recent gerrymandered maps, ruling that they were unconstitutional and that no further elections could be conducted under those maps. Absent my action today, Wisconsin currently has no legislative maps in place for elections this year. The Court said it would accept maps for them to consider and that they’d hire nonpartisan, independent experts to review the maps that were submitted.
Those experts reviewed the maps submitted in litigation, including my maps that sit before me now as Senate Bill 488. Those Court-appointed experts concluded maps submitted by Republicans in the Legislature and their allies were both “partisan gerrymanders.” In other words, more of the same. On the other hand, the experts concluded the other submissions scored well, including on partisan fairness metrics. My maps, they said, “reflect the political competitiveness of the state.” They said, “The four other submitted plans are similar on most criteria” and are “nearly indistinguishable.”
I now have the opportunity to sign the fair maps I submitted to the Court into law. My maps that I’m signing today are fair, responsive, and reflect the will of the people.
I believe, as I’ve often said, that the people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. And under the maps I’m signing today, I am making good on that promise.
This is a great day for Wisconsin, and there is much to celebrate. And there is also much more work to do. I will continue to fight for a fair, independent, and nonpartisan redistricting process for Wisconsin, because while this bill gives us fair maps for our legislative districts now, the people deserve the guarantee that fair maps will always be the outcome when our state redistricts after each federal census.
Today is a victory, not for me or any political party, but for our state and for the people of Wisconsin, who’ve spent a decade demanding more and demanding better of us as elected officials. I am proud to deliver fair legislative maps by signing this bill into law.
Sincerely,
TONY EVERS
Governor
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Legislative Reference Bureau Corrections
Corrections In:
ASSEMBLY AMENDMENT 1,
TO 2023 SENATE BILL 174
Prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau
(February 15, 2024)
In enrolling, the following correction was made:
hist1896161. Page 2, line 1: delete “The treatment of”. SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO 2023 SENATE BILL 314
Prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau
(February 16, 2024)
In enrolling, the following correction was made:
hist1896171. Page 4, line 10: after “948.12,” insert “948.125,”. ****Note: Adds a missing cross-reference so that the list matches a previous list in the same statute.
2023 SENATE BILL 351
Prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau
(February 15, 2024)
In enrolling, the following corrections were made:
hist1896181. Page 2, line 10: delete “(70)” and substitute “(71)”. 2. Page 2, line 24: delete “(70)” and substitute “(71)”.
3. Page 2, line 25: delete “(70)” and substitute “(71)”.
4. Page 3, line 1: delete “(70)” and substitute “(71)”.
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Messages from the Assembly Considered
Assembly Bill 37
Relating to: expungement of records of certain crimes and discrimination based on expunged conviction.
By Representatives Steffen, Tittl, Goyke, C. Anderson, Andraca, Armstrong, Baldeh, Bare, Billings, Brooks, Cabrera, Clancy, Conley, Considine, Donovan, Doyle, Drake, Edming, Emerson, Gundrum, Gustafson, Haywood, Hong, Joers, Kitchens, Krug, Macco, Madison, McGuire, Moore Omokunde, Moses, Mursau, Myers, Novak, O'Connor, Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Ratcliff, Riemer, Rozar, Schmidt, Schraa, Shankland, Shelton, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Snyder, Sortwell, Stubbs, Subeck, Vining, Zimmerman and Jacobson; cosponsored by Senators Cabral-Guevara, Wimberger, Roys, Felzkowski, James, L. Johnson, Larson, Spreitzer, Taylor, Wanggaard and Wirch.
hist189620Read first time and referred to the committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. Assembly Bill 237
Relating to: requirements for releasing a prisoner to parole or extended supervision.
By Representatives Maxey, Rettinger, Allen, Behnke, Binsfeld, Brandtjen, Donovan, Green, Gundrum, Murphy, Mursau, Penterman, Rozar, Tittl, Wichgers, Duchow, Michalski and Nedweski; cosponsored by Senators Bradley, Wanggaard, Ballweg, Hutton, Marklein, Nass and Testin.
hist189621Read first time and referred to the committee on Senate Organization. Assembly Bill 337
Relating to: eliminating the 13-week limit on the garnishment of earnings of certain debtors.
By Representatives Tusler, Allen, Behnke, Conley, Gustafson, Kitchens, Murphy, O'Connor, Penterman, Rettinger, Rozar, Spiros and Wichgers; cosponsored by Senators Hutton, Cabral-Guevara, Wanggaard, Ballweg and Stroebel.
hist189637Read first time and referred to the committee on Labor, Regulatory Reform, Veterans and Military Affairs. Assembly Bill 460
Relating to: index of discovery for district attorneys and public defenders.
By Representatives Sortwell, Donovan, Goeben, Magnafici, Moses and Mursau; cosponsored by Senators Wanggaard and Ballweg.
hist189622Read first time and referred to the committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. Assembly Bill 470
Relating to: an incumbent transmission facility owner's right to construct, own, and maintain certain transmission facilities and Public Service Commission procedures if the transmission facility is a regionally cost-shared transmission line.
By Representatives Petersen, Mursau, O'Connor, Plumer, Steffen, Swearingen and Wichgers; cosponsored by Senators Bradley, Marklein and Wanggaard.
hist189615Read first time and referred to the committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Assembly Bill 556
Relating to: expediting criminal proceedings when a victim or witness is an elder person and preserving the testimony of a crime victim or witness who is an elder person.
By Representatives Macco, Wittke, C. Anderson, Armstrong, Behnke, Conley, Dittrich, Donovan, Edming, Gustafson, Joers, Kitchens, Maxey, Michalski, O'Connor, Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Petryk, Snyder, Wichgers and Sinicki; cosponsored by Senators Testin, Carpenter, Ballweg, Hesselbein, Marklein and Quinn.
hist189623Read first time and referred to the committee on Senate Organization. Assembly Bill 627
Relating to: various changes to the business development tax credit.
By Representatives Armstrong, Macco, Behnke, Donovan, Hurd, Maxey, Mursau, O'Connor, VanderMeer and Zimmerman; cosponsored by Senators Feyen and Ballweg.
hist189638Read first time and referred to the committee on Universities and Revenue. Assembly Bill 664
Relating to: disclosures regarding content generated by artificial intelligence in political advertisements, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.
By Representatives Neylon, C. Anderson, J. Anderson, Armstrong, Bare, Behnke, Conley, Considine, Dittrich, Emerson, Gundrum, Joers, Kitchens, Krug, Mursau, O'Connor, Riemer, Rettinger, Schraa, Snodgrass, Snyder, Tittl, Wichgers and Goeben; cosponsored by Senators Quinn, Spreitzer, Feyen, Hesselbein and Cabral-Guevara.
hist189624Read first time and referred to the committee on Senate Organization. Assembly Bill 730
Relating to: the distribution of certain materials to minors.
By Representatives Gustafson, Rozar, Allen, Behnke, Bodden, Brandtjen, Dittrich, Gundrum, Murphy, Mursau, O'Connor, Rettinger, Spiros and Wichgers; cosponsored by Senators Wanggaard and Jacque.
hist189626Read first time and referred to the committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families. Assembly Bill 742
Relating to: eliminating obsolete statutory references regarding property, sales, and income taxes; the uniform unclaimed property act; and lottery games.
By Representatives August and Shelton; cosponsored by Senators Ballweg and Smith.
hist189640Read first time and referred to the committee on Senate Organization. Assembly Bill 793
Relating to: modifying the tax treatment of college savings accounts and the employee college savings account contribution credit.
By Representatives Binsfeld, Joers, Allen, Behnke, Brandtjen, Callahan, Conley, Dittrich, Goeben, Goyke, Kitchens, Macco, Maxey, Melotik, Mursau, Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Penterman, Ratcliff and Rettinger; cosponsored by Senators Cabral-Guevara, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Larson, Nass, Spreitzer and Wirch.
hist189641Read first time and referred to the committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage. Assembly Bill 851
Relating to: license requirement exemption for retail food establishments that sell or process cotton candy.
By Representatives Goeben, Gustafson, Penterman, Rozar, Sapik and Sinicki; cosponsored by Senator Cowles.
hist189642Read first time and referred to the committee on Agriculture and Tourism.
