In this long-lasting legislative session, WCRIS took action on and closely monitored nearly 50 bills that would impact private K-12 education.
As usual, the 2023-25 session was unpredictable and fast-paced as 1,229 bills were introduced in the Assembly and 1,113 in the Senate. Out of those, only around 350 of them made it to the governor’s desk. He enacted 272 of them into law as of the date of publication.
The governor wielded his veto pen 76 times this session, for a total of almost 200 bills vetoed during his over five years in office – more vetoes than any other governor in state history according to WisPolitics.
Under state law, a lobbying organization must report its communications with a legislator, aide or other state official, and every organization’s position on any bill is a public record, found here.
But so that our members can see just what we’ve been up to at the State Capitol, we’ve created WCRIS’ first-ever Legislative Lift report.
While reading it, keep in mind that it’s difficult to capture the intricacies of almost 50 bills in a one-page report for your quick reading. Even though the topic of a proposed bill may seem worthy, there’s often concerns of how its regulations may impact private schools.
Our positions and actions are always based on input from our board of directors and member schools and WCRIS’ past positions. If you have ANY questions on the report, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.
To sum up WCRIS’ work this session: We opposed unwanted government intervention in our schools and tried to win much-needed funding for safety initiatives in K-12 schools.
Though it had several sponsoring legislators, WCRIS’ school safety bill unfortunately wasn’t taken up for a hearing in either the Senate or Assembly Education Committees. However, since the bill has been drafted, it’s in a prime spot to be taken up again next session or in the wake of an unthinkable tragedy.
For context, there are 730 registered lobbyists in the state of Wisconsin, including WCRIS’, and only 132 legislators, who are also balancing the interests of their thousands of constituents. It’s a feat to even have an issue taken up and a bill drafted by the legislature.
The most lobbied bill had to do with transmission lines. Although over 2,000 lobbying hours were reported on it and despite being introduced early-on in the legislative session with plenty of time to pass and had hearings before key oversight committees, it didn’t make it to the governor’s desk.
This goes to show that there are so many variables that determine whether a proposal gets through the legislative process, despite the perceived worthiness of an idea or the amount of time that has been spent discussing it.
WCRIS wants to thank the hundreds of member schools and their families who advocated for our safety bill and who trust us to represent their school in Madison. Your response rate was lauded by Capitol watchers.
It’s been an honor to serve you this session, but our work isn’t done. State agencies are now working on the administrative rules for well-intended but tricky bills that were enacted into law, such as 2023 Wisconsin Act 20 (“Right to Read Act”) and 2023 Wisconsin Act 12 (crime reporting).
Administrative rules directly impact how these laws are implemented at your school. We’ll continue to monitor them during the next several months and share updates in Current Events.
