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Bills from the 2019–20 session

Assembly Bill 389

Creating a Blue Ribbon Commission in the University of Wisconsin System. (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

    Aug 28, 2019

  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, Apr 1, 2020: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities. 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 creates a 19-member Blue Ribbon Commission in the University of Wisconsin System. Members of the commission include the president of the UW System, four faculty and four academic staff members of UW System schools that the UW System has identified as underserved or undergoing significant programmatic changes, four UW System students, one higher education expert, one workforce development expert, and four legislators. The commission must study, and facilitate discussion of, a public agenda for higher education; a set of long-term goals and priorities for higher education; and accessibility and affordability of higher education. In addition, the commission must do all of the following: 1) define the goals of higher education for this state; 2) identify strengths to continue and expand, and weaknesses that need to improve, in this state's institutions of higher education;

3) identify demographic trends that will affect all institutions of higher education in this state; 4) identify a new funding structure or new revenue streams for the UW System; 5) identify new ways to administer financial aid; 6) offer recommendations to encourage and develop innovations among institutions of higher education; 7) offer recommendations to encourage and develop partnerships between institutions of higher education; 8) offer recommendations to encourage more students to seek higher education; 9) study the success rate of programs designed to increase retention in this state's work force of this state's graduates; 10) study the success rate of programs designed to increase accessibility of higher education; and 11) study the feasibility of establishing a state program to provide debt-free college education to all Wisconsin residents. The commission must submit a report to the legislature that includes all of this information by December 31, 2022. Upon submission of the report, the commission terminates, unless the governor renews the commission for an additional two-year period. The governor may continue to renew the commission for successive two-year periods.

Who's behind it

21 lawmakers are its ⁠. 20 are Democrats and 1 is a Republican.

5 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 26 names

Authors (21)

Signed on in support (5)

What it would cost

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

What happened

  1. Apr 1, 2020

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Sep 16, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Aug 28, 2019

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.

  4. Aug 28, 2019

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Aug 28, 2019 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Shankland, Skowronski, Anderson, Billings, Bowen, Cabrera, Emerson, Fields, Gruszynski, Hesselbein, Kolste, Neubauer, Sargent, Sinicki, Spreitzer, Stubbs, Subeck, C. Taylor, Vruwink, Zamarripa and Brostoff; cosponsored by Senators Hansen, Larson, Schachtner, Smith and L. Taylor

  2. Aug 28, 2019 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Colleges and Universities

  3. Sep 16, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Apr 1, 2020 · 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