Gov. Evers Takes Action on 34 Bills

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today took action on 34 bills. The bills signed by the governor today include efforts to keep kids, families, and communities safe, including roadway safety and increasing penalties for human trafficking and trafficking of a child, making changes to several medical related boards and joining a multi-state Respiratory Care Interstate Compact to promote the health and safety of Wisconsinites, supporting local governments, exempting Gold Star family members from the personalized license plate fee for a Gold Star specialty license plate, and initiatives to expand access to quality, affordable housing statewide, among others.

Today, the governor signed 34 bills, including:

Senate Bill 422, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 49:

• Designates the overpass of Interstate Highway 39 over state trunk highway 82 in Marquette County as the “Greg Quinn and Larry Millard Memorial Bridge”; and
• Requires the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to erect the markers upon receipt of sufficient contributions to cover the costs of erecting and maintaining the markers.

Senate Bill 38, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 50:

• Exempts a Gold Star family member from the personalized license plate fee for a Gold Star specialty license plate.

“Honoring the commitment of our service members and recognizing the immense strength of our Gold Star families is something we are committed to as a state,” said Gov. Evers. “This is something we can do to show Gold Star families that their loved one is remembered, honored, and respected, and that we recognize the sacrifices their surviving family members, friends, and loved ones make each and every day.”

Assembly Bill 271, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 51:

• Creates an exemption to state law requiring rearview mirrors on commercial motor vehicles if the vehicle is equipped with a camera system approved by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Assembly Bill 302, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 52:

• Authorizes the use of a flashing purple light on vehicles participating in a funeral procession as an alternative to a flashing amber light.

Assembly Bill 346, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 53:

• Allows heavy trucks up to 54,000 pounds and heavy trailers up to 80,000 pounds to be registered under existing fleet registration options; and
• Allows any combination of the following vehicle types, in an amount of 10 or more, to be registered as a fleet:
  • Motor trucks with a gross weight between 8,001 and 54,000 pounds;
  • Truck tractors or road tractors with a gross weight between 4,500 and 54,000 pounds; and
  • Trailers with a gross weight of not more than 80,000 pounds.

Assembly Bill 409, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 54:

• Applies the requirement for a motorist to change lanes or slow down in the presence of an emergency or roadside service vehicle on a roadway to scenarios where a vehicle is flashing its warning or hazard lights, emergency flares have been placed, or one or more visible persons are attending a motor vehicle; and
• Broadens the requirement that motorists are required to slow down or change lanes to include “disabled vehicles” that are parked or standing on or within 12 feet of a roadway.

Assembly Bill 136, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 55:

• Increases the penalty for impersonating a peace officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical services practitioner, or an emergency medical responder from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class I felony.

Assembly Bill 265, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 56:

• Increases the penalties associated with human trafficking and trafficking of a child;
• Creates mandatory minimum sentences for human trafficking and trafficking of a child; and
• Increases the statute of limitations for prosecuting human trafficking.

“Crimes of this nature—most especially when it comes to our kids—should be punishable by the full extent of the law,” said Gov. Evers. “With this bill, we are helping ensure that we’re protecting some of our most vulnerable youth and holding predators accountable, most especially when they prey on our kids.”

Assembly Bill 74, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 57:

• Requires public, private, and charter schools to notify a pupil’s parent or guardian if the pupil is an alleged victim, target, or recipient of several types of alleged sex offenses while at school; and
• Requires each school board of a public school to annually provide parents and guardians with information regarding their rights to access records regarding school employee discipline, as provided under state law around public records.

“Doing everything we can to keep our kids safe at school, at home, and in our communities is a top priority for me, as well as our schools and education professionals, who are frontlines of doing what’s best for our kids every day,” said Gov. Evers. “This bill will strengthen transparency by making sure parents and family members are notified if any misconduct at school affects their kids’ safety or well-being and bolster accountability by ensuring they know what their rights are and what their kids’ rights are.”

Senate Bill 279, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 58:

• Creates a grant program administered by the Wisconsin Department of Justice to provide law enforcement agencies with funding to acquire a data-sharing platform that meets certain requirements.

Senate Bill 423, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 59:

• Extends the statute of limitations for prosecuting the crime of hiding or burying a corpse.

Senate Bill 193, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 60:

• Clarifies how transfer-on-death designations can be revoked to prevent accidental cancellations and reduce disputes;
• Simplifies the process for recording property transfers and satisfactions of judgment, saving time and paperwork for property owners, title companies, and local officials;
• Provides clear authority for title companies and escrow agents to return deposits when a real estate wholesaler contract is cancelled; and
• Modernizes outdated procedures to make property transfers and estate settlements more efficient and consistent statewide.

Senate Bill 310, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 61:

• Establishes a uniform framework for the duration of local emergency declarations; and
• Clarifies which local officials may exercise emergency authority, bringing greater consistency to local emergency procedures.

Senate Bill 358, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 62:

• Establishes an exception from current law restrictions on fee increases for certain fees charged by a county for coroner or medical examiner services.

Senate Bill 421, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 63:

• Requires the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to provide $42 million to Domtar Paper Company LLC for the modernization of a dam associated with the company’s mill in the village of Rothschild, utilizing a $42 million investment included in the 2025-27 Biennial Budget;
• Stipulates that if Domtar does not commence the dam modernization project by Dec. 31, 2026, it must return to the state the full amount of the financial assistance Domtar received from the state; and
• Stipulates that if Domtar sells either its mill in the village of Rothschild or its mill in the city of Nekoosa prior to the completion of the dam modernization project, Domtar must return to the state any unexpended amount of the financial assistance Domtar received from the state.

Assembly Bill 221, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 64:

• Specifies whether a vehicle that is registered out-of-state is an all-terrain or utility terrain vehicle (ATV/UTV) in Wisconsin and whether that vehicle may operate on Wisconsin highways, ATV routes, or ATV trails;
• Provides that a vehicle registered out-of-state is considered an ATV/UTV if the manufacturer’s certificate of origin designates the vehicle as such, regardless of the vehicle type indicated on the vehicle’s registration, and if the vehicle meets the Wisconsin definition of an ATV/UTV, regardless of the manufacturer’s certificate of origin designation; and
• Modifies the definition of public ATV corridor to include ATV routes and hybrid trails.

Senate Bill 158, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 65:

• Expands eligibility for the county forest administration grant to include a county forest administrator who has a bachelor’s or associate degree in natural resources, conservation, or wildlife, and three years of experience in managing a county forest program, providing counties with more flexibility to recruit and retain qualified county forest administrators.

Senate Bill 164, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 66:

• Provides additional enforcement authority for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection regarding violations of seed potato certification requirements.

Assembly Bill 424, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 67:

• Makes various changes to the landlord-tenant statute regulating manufactured and mobile home communities, including modifying definitions, creating certain exceptions, creating default terms, and requiring notice in certain circumstances.

Assembly Bill 452, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 68:

• Addresses Wisconsin’s housing shortage by making subdivision approvals more transparent and predictable by making a series of changes to the subdivision plat approval process, including requiring counties and municipalities to provide subdividers an opportunity for informal, nonbinding review of proposed plats;
• Allows preliminary infrastructure plans to be submitted with preliminary plats;
• Requires timely release of building permits and plat certifications; and
• Updates statutory purpose statements to reflect current planning goals.

Assembly Bill 456, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 69:

• Increases transparency around the marketing and listing of residential properties, compensation of agents and firms, and disclosure of the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, in altering property pictures or listings.

Senate Bill 162, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 70:

• Requires counties that have a population of 250,000 or more and have at least two English language newspapers published daily in the county to invite proposals from the newspapers to publish and print county board proceedings and all other required notices or advertisements.

Senate Bill 215, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 71:

• Updates town procedures in several areas, including creating consistency and increased flexibility across all towns for clerk and treasurer appointments, which provides towns with additional flexibility in filling positions that are critical for effective governance.

Senate Bill 440, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 72:

• Requires legal notices published in a newspaper to be printed in any sans-serif typeface, rather than only Arial.

Assembly Bill 273, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 73:

• Adds the chair of the Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing Board to the membership of the Controlled Substances Board.

Assembly Bill 294, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 74:

• Modifies the current membership of the Board of Nursing by reducing the number of licensed registered nurses from five to three and adding two new appointments: one certified/licensed advanced practice registered nurse and one nurse educator;
• Changes “certified advanced practice nurse prescriber” to “licensed advanced practice registered nurse,” effective Sept. 1, 2026, to reflect the changes included in 2025 Wisconsin Act 17; and
• Specifies that the two currently licensed registered nurse members with the earliest term expirations, upon the effective date of this bill, would be replaced by individuals under the new appointment types created in this bill.

Assembly Bill 388, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 75:

• Requires the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to award a one-time grant to Rogers Behavioral Health to construct and build an integrated mental health facility in the Chippewa Valley Region, utilizing a $10 million investment from the 2025-27 Biennial Budget to support the project.

Senate Bill 190, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 76:

• Ratifies and enters Wisconsin into the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact to allow respiratory care practitioners to practice in compact member states.

Senate Bill 374, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 77:

• Modifies current statutes to exempt Minor League Baseball players from state minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping requirements when those players are employed under a collective bargaining agreement that specifically provides for wages and working conditions;
• Aligns Wisconsin law with the first-ever Minor League Baseball collective bargaining agreement established in 2023 between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the MLB Players Association; and
• Ensures that Wisconsin’s minor league players can receive the new benefits, pay increases, and protections negotiated under that agreement.

Assembly Bill 280, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 78:

• Modifies requirements to allow business owners to claim the Business Development Tax Credit if they invest in a third party that builds or rehabilitates workforce housing or establishes a child care program, including contributions to local revolving loan funds for those purposes;
• Removes the requirement that business owners can only claim the Business Development Tax Credit if they invest directly in workforce housing or a child care program for their business’s employees.

Senate Bill 11, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 79:

• Allows, upon the request of certain federally chartered youth membership organizations, the principal of a public school, including an independent charter school, to schedule at least one date and time at the start of each school year to allow certain federally chartered youth membership organizations to visit the school and encourage students to join the organization; and
• Provides that the organization may provide spoken and written information on how the organization helps with educational interests and civic engagement of pupils.

Senate Bill 210, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 80:

• Lowers the minimum high school size to designate one high school senior to receive an academic excellence higher education scholarship from 80 to one, so that all high schools with between one and 499 students are able to designate one senior for an academic excellence higher education scholarship;
• Repeals the cap of ten statewide academic excellence higher education scholarships allocated across all high schools with less than 80 students, and
• Clarifies that students enrolled in home-based education are ineligible.

Assembly Bill 123, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 81:

• Clarifies that references to “miles” for certain purposes in actions affecting the family, including the relocation of a child, refer to “driving miles,” which is defined as the actual distance traveled by road to get from one location to another.

Assembly Bill 153, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 82:

• Makes changes to the requirements for notice of a change of employer, address, and ability to pay for parties in child support and maintenance agreements.

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.