“It Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Get Republican Lawmakers To Do The Right Thing.”

MADISON– 2025 Senate Bill 23, a bill that extends postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year, has 75 co-sponsors in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Yet Assembly Republicans–led by Speaker Robin Vos–refuse to bring it to a floor for a vote. Assembly Democrats in the Committee on Rules last week attempted to place the bill on today’s calendar, but Republicans voted this down. Assembly Democrats then tried to circulate a petition to force a vote, but Assembly Republicans moved the bill to a different committee, thus nullifying the petition. A new petition cannot be circulated for 21 days. Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) sought to introduce Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 156, which would have added postpartum Medicaid expansion to the bill. However, she was gaveled down and had her microphone cut off when she tried to speak on the amendment. Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) released the following statement:

“It shouldn’t be this hard to get Republican lawmakers to do the right thing. Wisconsin women deserve access to quality, affordable healthcare, and that includes postpartum care. It is an absolute disgrace that Wisconsin is one of only two states that has failed to pass postpartum Medicaid expansion, and this is particularly disgraceful because we have the bipartisan support to do it. Republican lawmakers pretend they support this important bill, but continue to block actual votes that would make this lifesaving healthcare coverage a reality for Wisconsin families. Today, we tried to take actions to force such a vote, yet Republicans blocked these attempts–again.

“Postpartum Medicaid expansion passed the Senate 32-1 in April, and 75 out of 99 Assembly members have co-sponsored the bill. Wisconsin Democrats want to see this bill signed into law and have jumped into action, and are pressing to get it passed. In July I proposed a state budget amendment to pass postpartum Medicaid expansion, but Republicans blocked a vote on it (see Propublica article on that here). Assembly Democrats in the Committee on Rules attempted to place the bill on today’s calendar, but Republicans once again blocked a vote on it last week. And today, Assembly Democrats announced a petition to force the bill to come to the Assembly floor for a vote. This petition would have required a simple majority of representatives’ signatures and if only a handful of Republicans had joined with Assembly Democrats, we could have gotten it done, brought the bill to the floor, and passed it. But Assembly Republicans once again blocked the vote, moving the bill to a different committee–which nullifies the petition and prevents us from circulating a new one for 21 days. And so I offered the bill as an amendment on another bill today, but Assembly Republicans once again blocked the vote.

“Let me be clear: Wisconsin Democrats are not taking the ‘Republican no’ for an answer–we are fighting for Wisconsinites and we will not stop until we get this bill signed into law. Wisconsin women deserve this. Wisconsin families deserve this. We shouldn’t have to get tied up in the weeds of parliamentary process to get this done, but if that’s what it takes, we are here to keep fighting and will explore every procedural option.

“Nearly 50 Wisconsin women died in 2023 due to causes related to childbirth (and those are the postpartum deaths that we know about). Postpartum medicaid expansion saves lives and Wisconsinites should not have to wait any longer for access to life-saving healthcare. Republicans lawmakers in the Assembly need to stand in truth on the bill they cosponsored and hold a vote on this immediately.”

“We already found common ground for the common good–let’s get this done so Wisconsin families can move forward, together.”

Rep. Vining represents the 13th Assembly District, which includes Elm Grove, and parts of Wauwatosa and Brookfield. For more information visit Rep. Vining’s website here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.