CAPITOL UPDATE

USCCB Action Alert: Ask Senate to Pass Child Tax Credit

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to contact their Senators to pass the Child Tax Credit (CTC) provision in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 without modification. The House of Representatives recently acted with strong bipartisan support to pass a tax package that included a strengthened and bipartisan CTC. Every year, the CTC lifts millions of American families out of poverty and helps them live with greater economic security. Learn more and take action here.

USCCB Action Alert: Ask Congress to Pass the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act

The USCCB is also urging Catholics to contact their Senators and Representatives to urge them to support the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act (S. 1885/H.R. 4285). Currently, the wait time for an EB-4 visa exceeds five years for all applicants. The current EB-4 backlog facing vulnerable minors is also preventing religious organizations from sponsoring foreign-born religious workers to serve American communities. This bill would ensure eligible youth have more timely access to lawful permanent resident status (i.e., a green card), in accordance with their humanitarian needs and increase the availability of EB-4 visas for religious workers who serve communities across the nation. Learn more and take action here.

WCC Supports Prohibition on Deep Fakes

On February 16, the WCC registered in support of SB-553 (Jacque, André) / AB-608 (Wichgers, Chuck), expanding the prohibition to capture or distribute representations of nudity (“deep fakes”) without the consent of the person depicted. Deep fakes are synthetic intimate representations using identifiable faces, likenesses, or other distinguishing characteristics. SB-553 has passed the Senate and awaits further action in the Assembly.

Assembly Passes Expungement of Records of Certain Crimes

On February 15, the Assembly passed AB-37 (Steffen, David), expunging records of certain crimes. Wisconsin is the only state that requires a judge to determine eligibility for expungement at the time of sentencing. This bill eliminates the mandate to grant or deny expungement at the time of sentencing, clarifies employer disclosures of expunged records, and removes the age limit of 25. The WCC previously testified in support. Unfortunately, as in the last session, the bill will not move in the Senate. 

Assembly Passes Ban on Internet Pornography for Minors

On February 15, the Assembly passed AB-730 (Gustafson, Nate), prohibiting the distribution of certain materials to minors. The bill prohibits businesses from knowingly and intentionally publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the Internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material, unless the business entity performs reasonable age verification methods. Companion bill SB-683 (Wanggaard, Van) awaits further action in the Senate committee. The WCC registered in support.

Assembly Passes Human Trafficking Bills

On February 15, the Assembly passed AB-970 (Tittl, Paul), AB-972 (Gundrum, Rick), AB-973 (Gundrum), AB-974 (Steffen, David), AB-976 (Billings, Jill), AB-977 (O’Connor, Jerry), and AB-979 (O'Connor) to combat human trafficking in Wisconsin. The package emerged from a bipartisan Speaker’s Task Force on Human Trafficking. To learn more about the bills, read the Task Force report. The WCC previously testified in support of all the bills, except AB-977.

Assembly and Senate Pass Ban on AI Child Pornography

On February 15, the Assembly passed SB-314 (James, Jesse), prohibiting the possession of AI-generated child pornography and providing a penalty. The bill prohibits conduct related to the possession of obscene material that contains a depiction of a purported child engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The bill has now passed both houses and will be sent to the Governor for his signature. The WCC registered in support.

Assembly Passes Child and Dependent Care Credit

On February 15, the Assembly passed AB-1023 (Binsfeld, Amy), expanding the child and dependent care credit. The bill increases the amount of the state credit that an individual may claim by increasing the employment-related expense limitation to $10,000 for one qualifying dependent and $20,000 for two or more qualifying dependents. The bill now awaits a floor vote in the Senate. The WCC registered in support.

Assembly Passes Married Persons Credit

On February 15, the Assembly passed AB-1022 (Schutt, Ellen), expanding the married persons credit. The bill doubles the maximum income tax credit for married persons filing jointly from $480 to $870. The bill now awaits a floor vote in the Senate. The WCC registered in support.

WCC Opposes Discrimination Clause in Direct Primary Care

On February 14, the WCC testified in opposition to AB-953 (Duchow, Cindi), regulating direct primary care agreements. While the bill helps to streamline operations for direct primary care in Wisconsin, it embeds gender identity in Wisconsin law and the Church teaches that gender and sex can be distinguished but not separated. This provision could force compliance and compelled speech on those who have sound medical objections, conscience, and religious freedom claims. Since the public hearing, the committee has taken no further action. Companion bill SB-905 (Cabral-Guevara, Rachael) awaits a floor vote in the Senate.

Assembly and Senate Pass Hiring Hotline for Formerly Convicted

On February 13, the Assembly passed SB-169 (Joint Legislative Council), establishing a hotline for employers interested in hiring individuals with a conviction record. The bill has now passed both houses and will be sent to the Governor for his signature. The WCC registered in support and testified in support of the Assembly companion bill.

Senate Passes Well Compensation Expansion

On February 13, the Senate passed SB-58 (Cowles, Rob), expanding eligibility for nitrate-contaminated wells under the well compensation grant program administered by the Department of Natural Resources. The bill now awaits a public hearing in the Assembly. The WCC registered in support.

Senate Passes Reentry Centers

On February 13, the Senate passed SB-172 (Joint Legislative Council), establishing and operating community reentry centers for people who were formerly incarcerated. The bill now awaits a floor vote in the Assembly. The WCC previously testified in support.

WCC Supports Combining School Choice Programs

On February 9, the WCC registered in support of SB-989 (Stroebel, Duey) / AB-1042 (Rodriguez, Jessie), combining the school choice programs. The bills streamline the administration of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, and the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program into a single program, without changing eligibility requirements. Both bills have passed out of committee and await floor votes in both houses.

WCC Opposes Firearm Possession in Places of Worship

On February 9, the WCC registered in opposition to SB-754 (James, Jesse) / AB-801 (Pronschinske, Treig), which permit possession of a firearm by a licensee in a place of worship located on the grounds of a private school. The WCC in previous sessions has opposed firearms on school grounds. SB-754 passed out of committee and AB-801 awaits a public hearing.

WCC Supports Prohibiting Life Sentences without Parole for Minors

On February 8, the WCC testified in support of AB-845 (Novak, Todd), prohibiting a court from sentencing a minor to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or release to extended supervision, and creating new mitigating factors that a court must consider when sentencing a youthful offender. The bill also creates a sentence adjustment procedure for individuals convicted to life without parole or release for crimes committed before they turned 18 years old. Since the public hearing, the committee has taken no further action.

WCC Opposes Restricting Refugee Resettlement

On February 6 and 7, the WCC testified in opposition to SB-916 (Tomczyk, Cory) / AB-1004 (Hurd, Karen), requiring additional consultation with various units of local government (city, village, town, county, or school district) before refugee resettlement can take place in Wisconsin. The bills require every local unit of government in a 100-mile radius to hold a public hearing on the proposed placement of refugees and designate a representative to consult with the placement agency. Then, all designees in the county where refugees would actually be placed must meet to discuss the proposed placement of refugees. The committee must then hold a public hearing regarding the proposed placement of refugees and make a recommendation on whether the local governmental unit should pass a resolution regarding its position on the proposed refugee placement. Both bills have passed out of committee and await floor votes in both houses.

WCC Public Policy Positions: Promote Racial Justice and Reconciliation

Here we elaborate on each of the WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions. The complete document can be found below. You can learn more about Catholic Social Teaching on the USCCB website.

Promote Racial Justice and Reconciliation. Any theory or form of racism and racial discrimination is morally unacceptable. Lasting reconciliation requires addressing the root causes of racism. Wisconsin must ensure justice for all, end disproportionate incarceration, and improve access to quality education, employment, and housing. 

As Catholics, we are called to recognize, cherish, and defend the dignity of every human life, uniquely made in the image and likeness of God. In accordance with this inviolable dignity, every human person deserves to live free from fear and harm.

However, we find in our world many forms of racism and racial discrimination. “Racism arises when—either consciously or unconsciously—a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior, and therefore judges persons of other races or ethnicities as inferior and unworthy of equal regard. When this conviction or attitude leads individuals or groups to exclude, ridicule, mistreat, or unjustly discriminate against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity, it is sinful. Racist acts are sinful because they violate justice. They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love (Mt 22:39)” (Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love–A Pastoral Letter against Racism, 2018).

The disunity of the human family, “...is due to obstacles originating in materialistic and nationalistic ideologies that contradict the values of the person integrally considered in all his various dimensions, material and spiritual, individual and community. In particular, any theory or form whatsoever of racism and racial discrimination is morally unacceptable” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 881). 

To put it succinctly, in the words of Pope Francis, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life” (General Audience, June 3, 2020).

The USCCB has formally condemned racism in four pastoral statements: in 1958, 1968, 1979, and, most recently in 2018 through Open Wide Our Hearts, which considers especially the experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Yet never has the American Church been as engaged in open and difficult conversations about racism as it has since 2020 (e.g., Statement of the Catholic Bishops of Wisconsin on Unjust Killings and Recent Protests). At the USCCB, in dioceses, and in parishes, Catholics are examining the many ways that racism has harmed fellow citizens, distorted America’s laws and institutions, and has been part of the U.S. Church’s history.

Wisconsin should measure each public policy by how it affects the life and dignity of the human person, including those who suffer the injustice of racism. This examination must extend to discriminatory practices in hiring, housing, education, incarceration, immigration, healthcare, and more.

The WCC supports efforts to create a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls, recognize Black Catholic History Month, and eliminate racial disparities in infant and maternal mortality. The disproportionate incarceration rates of people of color in Wisconsin is a grave and ongoing concern of the Wisconsin Catholic Bishops and has informed the Conference’s advocacy on criminal justice reform. 

Discrimination can also be seen in immigration. The WCC continues to support restoring drivers licenses to undocumented individuals, offering resident tuition for undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients, and allowing DACA recipients to obtain occupational credentials. Among other things, the WCC has also opposed bills that would restrict refugee resettlement. 

Updates from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

• Bishop Chairman Raises Serious Concerns with Migration Provisions in Senate Supplemental (February 6)
• USCCB Submits Comments to EPA Regarding Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper (February 5)
• Church Celebrates National Marriage Week 2024 from February 7-14

WCC 2023 Public Policy Positions

The WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions are designed to inform state legislators, policy makers, and other interested parties about the Church's public policy positions and the principles that undergird them.

2023-24 Legislature and Citizen Resources

To find out who your legislators are, go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's home page and enter your address under Who Are My Legislators. Other legislative resources include:

• 2023-24 Session Schedule
• Senate Directory
• Assembly Directory
• Committees
• Monthly Schedule of Committee Activities
• How a Bill Becomes a Law

You can also follow state government by tuning in to WisconsinEye, the independent, nonpartisan news service that provides uncut video coverage of state government proceedings.