Skip to content
Bills from the 2009–10 session

Assembly Bill 277

Prohibiting discrimination in housing because of domestic abuse victim status and providing a penalty

Topics: Crime and criminals, Discrimination in housing, Landlord and tenant, Sex crimes, Women

Passed the Assembly, then stopped

The Assembly passed it on Oct 29, 2009, but the Senate never voted on it. A bill has to ⁠. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    May 19, 2009

  2. Committee, passed

    Approved

  3. Assembly vote, passed

    Passed Oct 29, 2009

  4. Senate vote, stopped here

    Stopped here. The Senate never voted on it.

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 28, 2010: “Failed to concur in pursuant to ⁠”

Read the bill

Following saves it on this device. New actions show on your Following page. You can also get updates in a feed reader.

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Current law prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of sex, race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religion, national origin, marital status, family status, lawful source of income, age, or ancestry (protected class). A person who engages in an act of housing discrimination may be required to provide such relief as may be appropriate, including economic and noneconomic damages and injunctive or other equitable relief, and to pay a forfeiture of not more than $10,000, except that a person who is not a natural person may be required to pay a forfeiture of not more than $25,000 if the person has committed a previous act of housing discrimination within the preceding five years or a forfeiture of not more than $50,000 if the person has committed two or more previous acts of housing discrimination within the preceding seven years.

Current law also prohibits a mortgage banker, loan originator, or mortgage broker from treating a person unequally based on the person's membership in a protected class. In addition, current law prohibits a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, or time-share salesperson from treating a person unequally based on the person's sex, race, color, handicap, national origin, ancestry, marital status, or lawful source of income.

Read the full summary

Current law, however, does not prohibit an owner of housing from requiring that a person who is seeking to buy or rent housing supply information concerning the person's family status, marital status, and financial and business status, but does prohibit an owner from requiring information concerning a person's race, color, disability, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, or, subject to an exception for housing for older persons, age.

This bill prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of a person's status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking, which is defined in the bill as the status of a person who is seeking to rent or purchase housing or of a member or prospective member of the person's household having been, or being believed by the lessor or seller of housing to be, a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, sexual assault of a child, repeated sexual assault of a child, or stalking. The bill also prohibits an owner of housing from requiring that a person seeking to buy or rent housing supply information concerning the person's status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

"Domestic abuse" is defined under current law as the intentional infliction of physical pain, physical injury, or illness, the intentional impairment of physical condition, sexual assault, criminal damage to property, or a threat to engage in any of that conduct, by an adult family member or household member against another adult family member or household member, by an adult caregiver against an adult who is under the caregiver's care, or by an adult against his or her former spouse, an adult with whom he or she has or has had a dating relationship, or an adult with whom he or she has a child in common.

Who's behind it

25 lawmakers are its ⁠. 15 are Democrats, 7 are Republicans and 1 is a Independent. 2 have no party on record.

10 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 35 names

Authors (25)

Signed on in support (10)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

Versions and amendments

Every text the Legislature printed for this bill, including proposed changes. Each opens on the Legislature's site.

How lawmakers voted

There were 2 votes on this bill.

Assembly Committee on Housing vote on an amendment

Passed, 7 to 0 · Oct 20, 2009

No member-by-member record exists for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Official motion: “Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by committee on Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0”. Official record · This vote on its own page

Assembly Committee on Housing vote to recommend it

Passed, 7 to 0 · Oct 20, 2009

No member-by-member record exists for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Official motion: “Report passage as amended recommended by committee on Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0”. Official record · This vote on its own page

What happened

  1. Apr 28, 2010

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Nov 3, 2009

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing.

  3. Oct 29, 2009

    The Senate received it.

  4. Oct 29, 2009

    The Assembly passed it.

  5. Oct 29, 2009

    The Assembly adopted it.

  6. Oct 20, 2009

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Rules.

  7. Oct 20, 2009

    The committee voted to recommend passing it, 7 to 0.

  8. Oct 7, 2009

    The committee held a public hearing.

  9. Jul 21, 2009

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  10. May 29, 2009

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  11. May 26, 2009

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  12. May 19, 2009

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Housing.

  13. May 19, 2009

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. May 19, 2009 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Parisi, Suder, Seidel, A. Ott, Pocan, Van Roy, Young, Tauchen, Sherman, Petrowski, Grigsby, Wood, Roys, Spanbauer, Berceau, Hebl, Nygren, Pasch, Pope-Roberts, Zepnick, Shilling, Milroy, Sinicki, Toles and Dexter;Cosponsored by Senators Coggs, Taylor, Carpenter, Risser, Hansen, Holperin, Erpenbach, Plale, Sullivan and Lehman

  2. May 19, 2009 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to committee on Housing

  3. May 26, 2009 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. May 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. Jul 21, 2009 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  6. Oct 6, 2009 · Assembly

    Assembly amendment 1 offered by Representative Parisi

  7. Oct 7, 2009 · Assembly

    Public hearing held

  8. Oct 14, 2009 · Assembly

    Executive action taken

  9. Oct 20, 2009 · Assembly

    Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by committee on Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0

  10. Oct 20, 2009 · Assembly

    Report passage as amended recommended by committee on Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0

  11. Oct 20, 2009 · Assembly

    Referred to committee on Rules

  12. Oct 27, 2009 · Assembly

    Placed on calendar 10-29-2009 by committee on Rules

  13. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Read a second time

  14. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Assembly amendment 1 adopted

  15. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Ordered to a third reading

  16. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Rules suspended

  17. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Read a third time and passed

  18. Oct 29, 2009 · Assembly

    Ordered immediately messaged

  19. Oct 29, 2009 · Senate

    Received from Assembly

  20. Nov 3, 2009 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing

  21. Apr 28, 2010 · Senate

    Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Second chamber's vote

A bill has to pass both the Assembly and the Senate in the same form before it goes to the governor.

Official term: Concurrence. More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

Roll call

A vote where each lawmaker's yes or no is recorded by name.

Official term: Roll call vote. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Second chamber's vote

A bill has to pass both the Assembly and the Senate in the same form before it goes to the governor.

Official term: Concurrence

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate

More in the glossary

Roll call

A vote where each lawmaker's yes or no is recorded by name.

Official term: Roll call vote

More in the glossary