Top Democrat in the Wisconsin Senate Believes There's Still Time to Pass Bipartisan Bills in the Final Week of the Session

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 -- 9:00 AM

(Robert D’Andrea, Wisconsin Public Radio) The top Democrat in the Wisconsin Senate believes there is still time to pass bipartisan bills in the final week of the legislative session this month. 

According to Robert D'Andrea with Wisconsin Public Radio, speaking at a Wispolitcs luncheon Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said she thinks both parties can work together to pass bills that the state Assembly already approved.

Hesselbein, D-Middleton, pointed to a potential for a compromise on funding that would address PFAS pollution. She said a bill limiting competition between companies building new power lines in Wisconsin has bipartisan support. And she said she hopes the Senate will take up a bill the Assembly passed that  would change the criteria for the expungement of criminal convictions.

“I think there’s a lot that we can get done. I think there’s a lot that the governor is signaling that he would like to sign,” she said. “It’s just a matter of the Republican Party having the will to put these things forward on the agenda that we can vote for.”

Hesselbein said she isn’t ready to give up on a voting bill to give Wisconsin clerks extra time to process absentee ballots. Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, have said they do not believe the bill will come to a vote.

The bill passed the GOP-held Assembly in November, and Gov. Tony Evers previously signaled he would sign it if it eventually passed the Senate. But Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, who chairs the Senate election committee, has said he will not schedule a committee vote this session.

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