2025 Wisconsin legislative session
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| 2025 Wisconsin legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: January 6, 2025 Scheduled session end: December 31, 2025 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 3, 2026 Last Election: November 5, 2024 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2025 legislative sessions |
In 2025, the Wisconsin State Legislature is scheduled to convene on January 6 and adjourn on December 31.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2024 elections. Republicans won an 18-15 majority in the Senate and a 54-45 majority in the Assembly. The Democratic Party controlled the governorship, creating a divided state government. At the start of the 2025 session, Wisconsin was one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2025
Wisconsin State Senate
- Senate president: Mary Felzkowski (R)
- Majority leader: Devin LeMahieu (R)
- Minority leader: Dianne Hesselbein (D)
Wisconsin State Assembly
- Speaker of the Assembly: Robin Vos (R)
- Majority leader: Tyler August (R)
- Minority leader: Greta Neubauer (D)
Partisan control in 2025
- See also: State government trifectas
Wisconsin was one of 12 divided state governments at the start of 2025 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Wisconsin was also one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Wisconsin State Legislature in the 2025 legislative session.
Wisconsin State Senate
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 15 | |
| Republican Party | 18 | |
| Total | 33 | |
Wisconsin State Assembly
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 45 | |
| Republican Party | 54 | |
| Total | 99 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2025 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation has met these criteria yet in 2025. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Legislation trackers
- See also: Legislation Trackers
Ballotpedia’s legislation trackers are your go-to resource for staying on top of key legislative topics. We capture any bill introduced on the topic across all of the 50 state legislatures, and we track the movement of the bill every step of the way. We provide real-time updates and translate legislative legalese into easily understandable language. As of the 2025 session, Ballotpedia provided tracking on the following topics. Click on the links below to view related bills from the 2025 session:
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, there were 87 standing committees in Wisconsin's state government, including 10 joint legislative committees, 32 state Senate committees, and 45 state Assembly committees.
Joint legislative committees
- Employment Relations Committee
- Information Policy and Technology Committee
- Joint Finance Committee
- Joint Legislative Audit Committee
- Joint Legislative Council Committee
- Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties
- Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems
- Legislative Organization Committee
- Review of Administrative Rules Committee
- Tax Exemptions Committee
Senate committees
- Administrative Rules Committee
- Agriculture and Tourism Committee
- Committee on Economic Development and Technical Colleges
- Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage
- Committee on Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry
- Committee on Insurance and Small Business
- Committee on Labor, Regulatory Reform, Veterans and Military Affairs
- Committee on Licensing, Constitution, and Federalism
- Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children, and Families
- Committee on Universities and Revenue
- Committee on Utilities and Technology
- Economic and Workforce Development Committee
- Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics Committee
- Financial Institutions and Revenue Committee
- Government Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection Committee
- Government Operations, Technology, and Consumer Protection Committee
- Housing, Commerce and Trade Committee
- Human Services, Children and Families Committee
- Insurance, Licensing and Forestry Committee
- Judiciary and Public Safety Committee
- Labor and Regulatory Reform Committee
- Natural Resources and Energy Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Finance Committee
- Senate Health Committee
- Senate Organization Committee
- Sporting Heritage, Mining, and Forestry Committee
- Sporting Heritage, Small Business and Rural Issues Committee
- Transportation and Local Government Committee
- Universities and Technical Colleges Committee
- Utilities, Technology, and Telecommunications Committee
- Veterans and Military Affairs and Constitution and Federalism Committee
Assembly committees
- Aging and Long-Term Care Committee
- Agriculture Committee
- Assembly Organization Committee
- Audit Committee
- Campaigns and Elections Committee
- Children and Families Committee
- Colleges and Universities Committee
- Constitution and Ethics Committee
- Consumer Protection Committee
- Corrections Committee
- Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
- Education Committee
- Employment Relations Committee
- Energy and Utilities Committee
- Environment Committee
- Family Law Committee
- Finance Committee
- Financial Institutions Committee
- Forestry, Parks, and Outdoor Recreation Committee
- Government Accountability and Oversight Committee
- Health Committee
- Housing and Real Estate Committee
- Insurance Committee
- Jobs and the Economy Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Labor Committee
- Labor and Integrated Employment Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Mental Health Committee
- Public Benefit Reform Committee
- Regulatory Licensing Reform Committee
- Review of Administrative Rules Committee
- Rules Committee
- Rural Development Committee
- Science and Technology Committee
- Science, Technology and Broadband Committee
- Small Business Development Committee
- Sporting Heritage Committee
- State Affairs Committee
- Substance Abuse and Prevention Committee
- Tourism Committee
- Transportation Committee
- Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
- Workforce Development Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the Wisconsin Constitution can be amended:
Article XII of the Wisconsin Constitution provides two methods of amendment:
- A legislatively referred constitutional amendment may be proposed to the voters if approved by a simple majority of both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature in two legislative sessions.
- If an amendment is approved by a majority in both chambers of the Legislature in one session, that proposed amendment must then be considered by the state legislature chosen at the next general election in the state.
- Before that second legislative session, the proposed amendment that will be considered must be published for three months prior to the election.
- Should the amendment be approved by a simple majority of the second session that considers it, the proposed amendment is then placed on a statewide ballot at a special or general election.
- If it is approved by a simple majority of the state's electorate, it becomes part of the constitution.
- Constitutional conventions can also be used to propose amendments to the state's constitution.
- If a simple majority of both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature votes in favor, a constitutional convention question is placed on a statewide ballot.
- If the electors of the state agree by a simple majority to call a constitutional convention, then the legislature needs to convene a convention during its next session.
Wisconsin citizens do not have the power of amending the constitution through initiated constitutional amendments.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Party Control: 1992-2025
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | R | R | R | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
Republicans won control of the Wisconsin State Senate in 2010. In 2024, they won a 18-15 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Wisconsin Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Wisconsin State Senate election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 15 |
| Republicans | 15 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 18 |
Historical Assembly control
Republicans won control of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010. In 2024, they won a 54-45 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Wisconsin State Assembly following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Wisconsin State Assembly election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 52 | 48 | 47 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 47 | 52 | 38 | 39 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 45 |
| Republicans | 47 | 51 | 52 | 55 | 56 | 58 | 60 | 52 | 46 | 60 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 63 | 61 | 64 | 54 |
Analysis
Adopted legislation, 2011-2024
- See also: The State Legislative Decade - Wisconsin
In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.
See also
| Elections | Wisconsin State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
