2025-26 Legislative Session Update
Tyler Clark, The Hamilton Consulting Group, LLC

On behalf of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel (WDC), the Hamilton Consulting Group monitors developments impacting civil litigation, insurance law, and worker’s compensation policy in Wisconsin, including Legislative opportunities and threats impacting Wisconsin’s civil litigation environment. The Hamilton Consulting team is available to serve WDC and its members and can be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].

I.              Introduction

At the time of writing in late February, the Wisconsin Legislature was two months into the 2025-26 Legislative Session. With a Supreme Court Election between former Attorney General and current Waukesha Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford looming, tense ongoing budget discussions between Governor Evers and the Legislature, several cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court impacting Legislative powers and the Governor’s powerful veto pen, and a host of new legislators and leadership changes on both sides of the aisle, the legislative session kicked off slowly. Very few proposals affecting civil litigation, whether positive or negative for civil defense practitioners, were formally introduced for consideration by the legislature.

II.            New Faces in the Wisconsin State Legislature

With new Legislative maps in place, the November 2024 election produced a host of new faces and changes in the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly. Overall, the Wisconsin Legislature welcomed 34 new members, including 27 Democrats and seven Republicans.

The majority in both houses shifted from the previous session. During the 2023-24 State Legislature, Republicans controlled the state Assembly by a 64-35 seat margin and controlled the state Senate by a 22-11 seat margin. This session, margins have slimmed significantly; Republicans are currently holding onto a 54-45 seat majority in the state Assembly, and an 18-15 seat majority in the state Senate. Going forward, this could continue to slow down negotiations in both houses as it may be harder for the majority party to pass high-profile legislation, including the state budget.

Of the 99 members in the State Legislature, nine are attorneys. They are:

State Assembly:

  • Representative Ron Tusler, 3rd Assembly District (Republican – Harrison) – Chair of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary
  • Representative Brent Jacobson, 87th Assembly District (Freshman Republican – Mosinee) – Member of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary
  • Representative Andrew Hysell, 48th Assembly District (Freshman Democrat – Sun Prairie) – Member of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary
  • Representative Tip McGuire, 64th Assembly District (Democrat – Kenosha) – Member of the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety
  • Representative Ryan Spaude, 89th Assembly District (Democrat – Ashwaubenon) – Member of the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety
  • Representative Steve Doyle, 94th Assembly District (Democrat – Onalaska) – Member of the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety

State Senate:

  • Senator Eric Wimberger, 2nd Senate District (Republican – Oconto) – Member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
  • Senator Kelda Roys, 26th Senate District (Democrat – Madison) – Member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
  • Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin, 8th Senate District (Freshman Democrat – Whitefish Bay)

III.          Governor Evers’ 2025-27 Biennial Budget

Governor Evers delivered his fourth biennial budget address on Tuesday, February 18th, unveiling his 2025-27 executive budget. His proposal included an operating budget of $118.9 billion over the next two fiscal years. For comparison, the final 2023-25 state budget spent $97.4 billion.

By law, Governor Evers’ budget has been introduced as a bill in the Wisconsin Legislature. The Joint Committee on Finance (usually Joint Finance Committee, JFC) will spend several months reviewing and altering the proposal. Based on previous budgets, the process should proceed in the following order, roughly:

  • The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) will release a plain-language summary of the budget
  • JFC will hold agency briefings and conduct statewide public hearings on the budget recommendations
  • The co-chairs of JFC will identify non-fiscal policy items and slate them for removal from the budget bill
  • JFC will vote, agency by agency, on changes to the budget
  • By mid-June, the full budget should be available for debate and passage by both houses of the Legislature.
  • Governor Evers will then decide whether to veto the budget, approve the budget, or veto pieces of the Legislature’s budget proposal

The Governor’s new spending plan included many new and old proposals, some of which would impact civil litigation in Wisconsin. Governor Evers’ proposals related to civil litigation are non-fiscal in nature and will therefore be removed by Republican Legislators during their budget deliberations. These items are extremely unlikely to be included in the final budget bill. They include: 

  • Create a false claim with qui tam provision to allow trial lawyers – in the name of the state – to sue private parties alleging public program fraud and allowing the trial lawyer to be awarded a bounty of up to 30% of the amount recovered.
  • Create new avenues for civil suits against employers alleging gender identity and expression discrimination, unfair honesty testing, and unfair genetic testing.
  • Create a new private right of action to sue broadband providers alleging provision of service discrimination.
  • Create a new means by which service employees may sue employers alleging an employer is denying the employee’s right to a predictable work schedule.
  • Create a new public intervenor office to facilitate civil suits against health insurance companies relating to coverage disputes with policyholders.

IV.          Legislation

Several bills have been circulated for legislative support (see below) thus far that propose new private causes of action. As of this writing, they have not been formally introduced before the legislature and have therefore not been directed to the appropriate standing committee. Similar to previous legislative sessions, a notable and concerning trend for civil defense and insurance attorneys and the state’s business community is an increasing willingness among legislators of both parties to propose new civil causes of action as a way of advancing policy goals that could be accomplished by other means.

  • The Save Women’s Sports Act – Circulated by Representative Barbara Dittrich and Senator Rob Hutton. This bill defines “sex” as the sex of an individual determined at birth by a physician and requires educational institutions to prohibit students born male from participating in athletic competitions designated for females or using locker rooms designated for female. The bill also creates a private cause of action:
    • A female pupil may bring a cause of action against an educational institution if she is deprived of the opportunity to participate or suffers any harm because a pupil who was born a male is participating in a female sport.
    • A female pupil may bring a cause of action against an educational institution or athletic association if she is subject to retaliation or other adverse action by the educational institution or athletic association because she reported a pupil who was born a male is participating in a female sport.
    • An educational institution may bring a cause of action against a governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association if the educational institution is harmed by complying with not allowing a pupil who was born a male from participating in a female sport. 
  • Riot Legislation – Circulated byRepresentative Shae Sortwell and Senator Dan Feyen. The legislation would create a new civil action which may be brought by any person who suffers injury or loss to person or property as a result of an act committed in violation of an existing law prohibiting damage to property or a new statute prohibiting rioting. This new civil action could be brought against any person who committed the violation and against any person or organization that provided material support or resources with the intent that the material support or resources would be used to perpetrate the offense.
  • Under the bill “material support or resources” is defined to be currency, payment instruments, other financial securities, funds, transfer of funds, financial services, communications, lodging, training, safe houses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials.
  • If successful, the offender could be ordered to repair the damage. If successful, the plaintiff – in addition to recovering compensatory damages – could recover damages for emotional distress and attorney fees.

V.            WDC Legislative Meetings

To kick off the legislative session, WDC leadership and Hamilton Consulting made a concerted effort to reach out to legislators on behalf of the organization. The goal of the meetings was to introduce WDC to legislators serving on the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and the Assembly Committee on Judiciary as they will be the committees most likely to review legislation impacting civil litigation issues. Additionally, we took the time to provide legislators with WDC’s 2025-26 Legislative Agenda and answered any questions they had regarding WDC or civil litigation issues. 

WDC President Heather Nelson, Members of the WDC Board of Directors, Brian Anderson and Matthew Granitz, and DRI Representative Nicole Marklein each took time to join Hamilton Consulting in meeting with legislators in either Madison, the Fox Valley, or Milwaukee. Overall, WDC representatives along with Hamilton Consulting had productive and informative meetings with fourteen different Wisconsin legislators. 

If you have any questions about legislative or policy matters, please contact the author at [email protected]. 

Author Biography: 

Tyler Clark is a Lobbyist for the Hamilton Consulting Group, a full-service government affairs firm located in Madison. He joined the firm in 2024 and brings a decade of experience navigating Wisconsin’s legislative and political landscape. Tyler spent nearly four years as a Policy Analyst for Wisconsin’s longest-serving Assembly Speaker, Robin Vos, where he worked closely with lawmakers, legislative staff, state agencies, and stakeholder groups to advance key policy initiatives. 

Prior to his tenure in the Speaker’s office, Tyler served as an advisor to Assembly Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance, Mark Born. He also served three years for former Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, gaining a well-rounded perspective on legislative operations and leadership priorities. 

Tyler earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and History from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. His deep understanding of state government combined with his strategic insight makes him a trusted partner for clients looking to navigate Wisconsin’s legislative and regulatory processes.