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WISCONSIN CATHOLIC CONFERENCE
CAPITOL UPDATE
March 4, 2024
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USCCB Action Alert: Ask Senate to Pass Bipartisan Anti-Trafficking Legislation
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to contact their Senators to pass bipartisan legislation that would help combat the evil of human trafficking. The House of Representatives recently overwhelmingly voted to pass the bipartisan measure which includes funding for anti-trafficking measures, programs that prevent and detect child trafficking, and aid to survivors. Learn more and take action here.
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Assembly Adjourns for the Remainder of Session
On February 22, the Assembly adjourned for the remainder of the legislative session. Any bills that were awaiting action in the Assembly are essentially dead. The bills will not receive a hearing or a vote. The Senate remains in session and currently has floor periods scheduled for March.
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Governor Signs Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
On March 4, Governor Evers signed AB-1023 (Binsfeld, Amy) into law as 2023 Wisconsin Act 101, which expands the current child and dependent care tax credit from 50 percent to 100 percent of the federal 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 WCC registered in support.
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Governor Vetoes Married Persons Tax Credit
On March 1, Governor Evers vetoed AB-1022 (Schutt, Ellen), expanding the married persons credit. The bill would have doubled the maximum income tax credit for married persons filing jointly from $480 to $870. The WCC registered in support.
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WCC Opposes Planned Parenthood Petition to Find a Right to Abortion in Wisconsin Constitution
On February 26, the WCC issued a press release opposing Planned Parenthood’s February 22 petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to find a constitutional right to abortion. Planned Parenthood is claiming that §940.04, Wisconsin’s abortion ban, violates Article I, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution. On February 28, Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a similar petition, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bypass the Court of Appeals and address a constitutional right to abortion.
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WCC Supports Healthy Food Program
On February 23, the WCC registered in support of SB-948 (Ballweg, Joan) / AB-1013 (Joers, Alex), establishing a healthy food incentive program statewide. The bills allow Wisconsinites participating in FoodShare to utilize matching dollars exclusively for locally grown fruits and vegetables. AB-1013 has passed the Assembly and SB-948 awaits a floor vote in the Senate.
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Assembly and Senate Pass Community Reentry Centers
On February 22, the Assembly passed SB-172 (Joint Legislative Council), establishing and operating community reentry centers and making an appropriation. The bill has now passed both houses and awaits the Governor’s action. The WCC testified in support.
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Assembly Passes Earned Release
On February 22, the Assembly passed AB-181 (Joint Legislative Council), offering incarcerated individuals the opportunity for earned release upon the completion of an employment readiness training program. Companion bill SB-170 awaits a floor vote in the Senate. The WCC testified in support.
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Assembly Passes Rental Readiness
On February 22, the Assembly passed AB-182 (Joint Legislative Council), requiring the Department of Corrections to include training on rental readiness in its pre-release reentry programming and to issue a certification of rental readiness to individuals who successfully complete the training. Companion bill SB-171 awaits a committee vote in the Senate. The WCC testified in support.
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Assembly Passes Task Force on Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls
On February 22, the Assembly passed AB-615 (Stubbs, Shelia), creating a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls. The task force must examine various factors that contribute to violence against African American women and girls and submit a report on actions that can be taken to eliminate this violence to the Legislature. Companion bill SB-568 (James, Jesse) awaits a hearing in the Senate. The WCC registered in support.
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Assembly Passes Direct Primary Care
On February 22, the Assembly passed 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. Companion bill SB-905 (Cabral-Guevara, Rachael) awaits a floor vote in the Senate. The WCC testified in opposition and asks Catholics to contact their Senators to oppose the bill.
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Assembly & Senate Pass Refugee Resettlement
On February 22, the Assembly passed SB-916 (Tomczyk, Cory), 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 placement and make a recommendation on whether to pass a resolution regarding its position on the proposed refugee placement. The bill has now passed both houses and awaits the Governor’s action. The WCC testified in opposition.
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WCC Testifies in Support of Combating Human Trafficking Package
On February 21, the WCC testified in support of a package of bills to combat human trafficking in Wisconsin. Since the public hearing, the following have passed out of committee: SB-940 (Knodl, Daniel), SB-942 (Johnson, LaTonya), SB-946 (James), SB-949 (James), SB-954 (Wimberger, Eric), SB-960 (Johnson), SB-961 (Jacque, André). Most of the bills have passed the Assembly and now await a floor vote in the Senate.
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Assembly Passes Instruction on Hmong & Asian Americans
On February 20, the Assembly passed AB-232 (Snyder, Patrick), directing school boards to provide instruction on Hmong Americans and Asian Americans. These bills add to a statute that already requires instruction on Native Americans, Hispanics, and Black Americans. Companion bill SB-240 (Tomczyk) awaits a floor vote in the Senate. The WCC registered in support.
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Assembly Passes Bill Criminalizing Homelessness
On February 20, the Assembly passed AB-689 (Dallman, Alex), criminalizing camping on public property, establishing structured camping facilities, and penalizing organizations receiving grants to serve the homeless that do not meet certain metrics. Companion bill SB-669 (Tomczyk) awaits a committee vote in the Senate. The WCC registered in opposition.
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Assembly Passes Palliative Care Council
On February 20, the Assembly passed AB-736 (Snyder), establishing a Palliative Care Council. The Catholic Church supports true palliative care, but the bill lacks an affirmation that palliative care excludes intentionally hastening, assisting in, or causing someone’s death. Companion bill SB-703 (James) awaits a committee vote in the Senate. The WCC testified in opposition.
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Senate Passes TAD Expansion
On February 20, the Senate passed SB-11 (Jacque), expanding treatment alternatives and diversion programs that offer alcohol or drug treatment services as alternatives to prosecution or incarceration in order to reduce recidivism, promote public safety, and reduce prison and jail populations. Companion bill AB-17 (Tittl, Paul) did not receive a hearing in the Assembly, which has since adjourned. The WCC registered in support.
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Senate Passes Bill Combining School Choice Programs
On February 20, the Senate passed SB-989 (Stroebel, Duey), 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. Companion bill AB-1042 (Rodriguez, Jessie) did not receive a floor vote in the Assembly, which has since adjourned. The WCC registered in support.
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WCC Public Policy Positions: Make Affordable Health Care Available to All
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.
Make Affordable Health Care Available to All. Health care is a basic human right. Wisconsin must provide its uninsured and underinsured residents with access to affordable and quality health care, including mental health care.
The Church has long taught that health care is a basic human right. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that society’s pursuit of the common good must include “food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance” (CCC 2288). Ensuring the health of individuals not only upholds human dignity and promotes the common good, but helps foster a higher quality of life for all.
Throughout the years, the Church has reaffirmed the centrality and importance of health care. For example, in Pope Saint John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris, health care is named as one of the basic human rights, along with life, clothing, and shelter. Additionally, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote in his 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens that “medical assistance should be easily available for workers, and that as far as possible it should be cheap or even free of charge.” Most recently, Pope Francis has stated that we must ensure the “right to health care for all is recognized.” He went on to say that “a world that discards the sick, that does not assist those who cannot afford care, is a cynical world without a future. Let us always remember this: health is not a luxury, it is for all” (Address to Health Professionals, January 2023).
Health care should always be in the service of life and the integrity of the human body. Recent efforts to promote abortion, assisted suicide, and gender transitioning as part of normal health care must be resisted, for they either destroy human life or destroy healthy parts of the human body. Such efforts also increasingly seek to compel health care professionals to perform such procedures, even when they are contrary to the professional’s medical judgment or deeply held religious and conscience beliefs. Put another way, health care professionals are not vending machines from which a patient can select any item or procedure of his or her choosing. True health care restores the mind and body to health, and where that is no longer possible, offers palliative care to manage pain and care for individuals who are dying. As Americans and Wisconsinites, we must do more to make true, high-quality health care available to all.
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Updates from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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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:
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.
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