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Bills from the 2017–18 session

Assembly Bill 615

Sparsity aid and making an appropriation. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Nov 8, 2017

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 28, 2018: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Education. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

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

This bill changes the appropriation for sparsity aid from a sum certain appropriation to a sum sufficient appropriation and makes additional school districts eligible for sparsity aid.

Under current law, a school district is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of $300 per pupil if the school district's membership in the previous school year did not exceed 745 pupils and if the membership divided by the school district's area in square miles (pupil density) is less than ten. Also under current law, as affected by 2017 Wisconsin Act 59 , the 2017 Biennial Budget Act, a school district that was eligible to receive sparsity aid in the previous school year but that is not eligible to receive sparsity aid in the current school year may receive up to 50 percent of the aid the school district received in the previous school year. Currently, in any school year in which the amount appropriated to the sparsity aid program is insufficient to pay the full amount to all eligible school districts, the Department of Public Instruction must prorate the payments.

Read the full summary

Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, the per pupil payment to eligible school districts with a pupil density of less than ten increases to $400. In addition, the bill makes a school district that has a pupil density of less than ten and a membership of between 745 and 1,000 pupils eligible for sparsity aid. Also under this bill, beginning in the 2018-19 school year, a school district with between 1,001 and 2,700 pupils and a pupil density of less than seven pupils per square mile is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of $100 per pupil. The bill eliminates the need to prorate payments among eligible school districts.

Who's behind it

21 lawmakers are its ⁠. All 21 are Democrats.

8 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 29 names

Authors (21)

Signed on in support (8)

What it would cost

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

What happened

  1. Mar 28, 2018

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Nov 21, 2017

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Nov 8, 2017

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Education.

  4. Nov 8, 2017

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Nov 8, 2017 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Pope, Genrich, Hebl, Kolste, Doyle, Spreitzer, Hesselbein, Goyke, Sargent, Hintz, Anderson, Shankland, Berceau, Riemer, Subeck, Bowen, Zamarripa, Ohnstad, Meyers, Sinicki and Billings; cosponsored by Senators Bewley, Vinehout, Larson, Shilling, Erpenbach, Johnson, Ringhand and Hansen

  2. Nov 8, 2017 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Education

  3. Nov 21, 2017 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Mar 28, 2018 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

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

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

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

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

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

Author

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

Official term: Author, coauthor

Signed on in support

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

Official term: Cosponsor

Cost estimate

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

Official term: Fiscal estimate