The Wisconsin State Senate meets today (3/12) at 11am in floor session to take up a large calendar full of appointments, legislation and constitutional amendments. This is expected to be the last legislative action of the 2023-24 state legislative session. After today, any bills that have not passed through both houses of the legislature (in identical form) are not becoming law this session. This includes the following legislation related to K-12 education the WASB has been tracking (SB=Senate Bill/AB=Assembly Bill):
SB-990 Literacy Training (Stroebel, Duey) Mandatory early literacy professional development. This bill, as amended, contains provisions that delay the first required administration of the not-yet-selected statewide early literacy screener. This will help ensure that schools have time to prepare (train staff, IT prep, etc.) once that screener is selected. This bill was previously passed by the Senate but was amended before being passed by the Assembly. The Senate is slated to concur in the Assembly amendment today clearing the way for it to head to the governor.
AB-232 Hmong American Instruction (Snyder, Patrick) Directing school boards to provide instruction on Hmong Americans and Asian Americans. This bill previously passed the Assembly unanimously on 2/20.
AB-377 School Sports Participants (Dittrich, Barbara) Designating athletic sports and teams operated or sponsored by public schools or private schools participating in a parental choice program based on the sex of the participants. This bill was moved forward to a vote despite not being recommended for passage by committee. This bill passed the Assembly 63-35 (party-line) on 10/12/23.
AB-1050 Office of School Safety (Novak, Todd) Position authorizations in the Office of School Safety and making an appropriation. This bill temporarily funds the OSS by means of concealed carry permit fees until the next budget debate when permanent funding for the office will be sought. This bill passed the Assembly 95-2 on 2/22.
You can follow the debate on the Legislature’s website and Wisconsin Eye.
