The Weekly Update

Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities

The Assembly Committee on colleges and Universities held an executive session last week and voted on the following UW related bills:

• AB 545, Relating to: course fees at University of Wisconsin System institutions. The Universities of Wisconsin testified in opposition to this legislation. The bill passed on a 7-4 vote.

Universities Of WI AB 545 Testimony pdf

• AB 659, Relating to: tuition and fee remission or grants for certain veterans and their dependents enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System, a technical college, or a private nonprofit institution of higher education; and the University of Wisconsin System nonresident tuition exemption for certain veterans. The bill passed on an 11-0 vote. The Universities of Wisconsin submitted testimony for information only on this legislation.

Universities Of WI AB 659 Testimony pdf

Assembly Floor Session

The Assembly convened twice last week on Tuesday, January 20, at 1pm.

You can view all floor actions for January 20 here.

Additionally, the six “Safeguard Wisconsin” bills were all considered during the January 22 Assembly floor session.

• Assembly Bill 415, Relating to: use restrictions on state and local government electronic devices. Passed 53-44
• Assembly Bill 662, Relating to: prohibiting state contracting with certain business entities and providing a penalty. Passed 53-44
• Assembly Bill 663, Relating to: imposing certain prohibitions on foreign influence at University of Wisconsin System institutions. Passed 53-44. The Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Madison submitted testimony for information only on this legislation.
• Assembly Bill 672, Relating to: penalty enhancer for crimes committed by a person acting as an agent of a foreign government or terrorist organization with the intent to silence or punish persons for their political view, criminalizing the enforcement of foreign laws without federal or state approval, and providing a penalty. Passed 53-44
• Assembly Bill 673, Relating to: banning the use of genetic software from foreign adversaries in medical and research facilities, the storage of any human genome sequencing data within the borders of a foreign adversary, and providing a penalty. The Passed 53-44. The Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Madison submitted testimony for information only on this legislation.
• Assembly Bill 683, Relating to: prohibiting critical telecommunications infrastructure from including equipment manufactured by a foreign adversary. Action on this bill was delayed.

You can view all floor actions for January 22 here.

Senate Floor Session

The Senate convened last week and voted on a number of bills including the Collective Bargaining Trades Agreement bills that previously passed unanimously on the Assembly Floor:

• AB 787, Relating to: ratification of the agreement negotiated between the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin State Building Trades Negotiating Committee, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, covering employees in the building trades crafts collective bargaining unit, and authorizing an expenditure of funds. Passed 32-1.
• AB 788, Relating to: ratification of the agreement negotiated between the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Wisconsin State Building Trades Negotiating Committee, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, covering employees in the building trades crafts collective bargaining unit, and authorizing an expenditure of funds. Passed 32-1.

The Senate also considered the following:

• SB 652, Relating to: race-based higher education programs and requirements. Passed via voice vote.
• SJR 119, Relating to: congratulating the University of Wisconsin– Oshkosh women’s volleyball team for winning the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championship. Passed via voice vote.
• AJR 102, Relating to: prohibiting governmental entity discrimination (second consideration). Passed 18-15.

You can view all Senate floor actions for January 21 here

Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy

The Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy held an executive session last week and considered AB 397, Relating to: reporting requirements for recipients of economic development grants and loans. The Office of Business and Entrepreneurship at the Universities of Wisconsin registered in favor of this legislation during the public hearing.

Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage

The Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage met last week and heard testimony on Senate Bill 753, relating to: funding for the department of financial institutions from the college savings program trust fund and making an appropriation. The Universities of Wisconsin registered in favor of this legislation.

Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs

The Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, January 27, at 10AM. The following bills are included on the agenda.

• Senate Bill 653, Relating to: imposing certain prohibitions on foreign influence at University of Wisconsin System institutions.
• Senate Bill 649, Relating to: banning the use of genetic software from foreign adversaries in medical and research facilities, the storage of any human genome sequencing data within the borders of a foreign adversary, and providing a penalty.

Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development

The Senate Committee will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, January 27, at 11:31AM. SB 562, Relating to: reporting requirements for recipients of economic development grants and loans, is included on the agenda.

Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities

The Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities will be holding a public hearing on Wednesday, January 28 at 2PM on the following bills:

• Assembly Bill 818, Relating to: demonstration charter school operators.
• Assembly Bill 757, Relating to: the appointment of certain employees of the University of Wisconsin System and faculty governance.

Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection

The Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection will hold a public hearing at 11am on Thursday, January 29. Among other bills, AB 406, relating to: University of Wisconsin System resident undergraduate tuition and fees, will be discussed.

Senate HELP Committee Inquiries

Last week, Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee sent letters to 35 institutions of higher education related to declining math scores and college preparedness.

At the time of the announcement, Senator Cassidy said, “The United States faces a crisis in student achievement at the K-12 level that has begun to spill over into higher education, especially in math. This state of affairs is unacceptable and demands immediate corrective action. To that end, as Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I am launching an inquiry to better understand the prevalence and root causes of declines in math preparation at selective institutions of higher education.” 

As included in the linked release, “Cassidy is requesting information from Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford University, Tufts University, Tulane University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Miami, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University.”

Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking

On January 26, the US Department of Education announced its intent to “establish the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee to develop proposed regulations that would, among other goals, simplify the Secretary’s recognition of emerging and existing accreditors; examine the extent to which accreditation contributes to rising higher education costs and credential inflation; safeguard against undue influence from related private trade associations; eliminate standards or policies that discriminate on the basis of immutable characteristics; and refocus quality assurance and improvement on data-driven student outcomes.”

At the time of the announcement, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said, “Accreditation functions as the central nervous system of higher education, and the system cannot be made healthy without addressing its deepest flaws. Rather than focusing on whether member institutions offer high-quality programs that benefit students and the workforce, the current accreditation regime has become a protectionist system that shields existing players, fuels rising costs, drives credential inflation, adds administrative bloat, allows undue influence from related trade associations, and promotes ideologically driven initiatives. We welcome nominations from key stakeholders willing to challenge the status quo to help reform this unhealthy system, restore accountability, and ensure our higher education institutions deliver high-quality postsecondary education.” 

As indicated in the Department’s press release, the committee is expected to consider Executive Order 14279, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education as it convenes.

For more on the negotiated rulemaking process, you can click here.

FY26 Appropriations Update

Last week, the House of Representatives advanced the final minibus appropriations bill through the chamber as further detailed in the House Appropriations Committee Press Release, and President Trump signed H.R.6938 - Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act of 2026 into law.

Later this week, the Senate is set to return to Washington DC where discussions and votes on FY26 funding are expected to continue.

For those agencies that have not been funded for the duration of the federal fiscal year, funding is set to expire with the expiration of the current continuing resolution on January 30^th. 

Full House and Senate Hearing Schedule

If interested, you can see a full list of upcoming hearings on the Senate Hearings & Meetings Page. A review of the committee hearings in the House of Representatives is available via the Committee Schedule within the House of Representatives Legislative Activity section on the Chamber’s main page.  

House and Senate Floor Schedules

When the House of Representatives and Senate return to Washington, a full list of votes will be found on the respective websites for the House of Representatives and the Senate.