Assembly Bill 961
A state minimum wage, allowing the enactment of local minimum wage ordinances, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (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.
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Introduced, passed
Feb 28, 2020
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Assembly vote, not reached
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Senate vote, not reached
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Governor, not reached
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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 Labor and Integrated Employment. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
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Terms on this page
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. 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
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
AB961,1,20 Currently, the state minimum wage law requires that employers pay the applicable minimum wage set in statute to their employees. Under that law, the current minimum wage for employees generally is $7.25 per hour. This bill raises the minimum wage for employees generally as follows:
- See PDF for table Beginning six years after the bill's effective date, the bill requires the Department of Workforce Development annually to revise the minimum wage established under the bill by determining the percentage difference between the consumer price index for the preceding 12-month period (year) and the consumer price index for the year before the preceding year, adjusting the minimum wage then in effect by that percentage difference, and rounding that result to the nearest multiple of five cents. DWD, however, is not required to revise the general minimum wage if the consumer price index for the preceding year has not increased over the consumer price index for the year before the preceding year. DWD is required to publish the revised minimum wage in the Wisconsin Administrative Register and on DWD's Internet site.
Read the full summary Show less
The bill also repeals 1) provisions establishing a separate, lower minimum wage for tipped employees; 2) a provision that requires DWD to promulgate rules governing the counting of tips or similar gratuities toward payment of the minimum wage; 3) provisions setting specific meal and lodging allowances; and 4) provisions establishing minimum wages for minor employees, opportunity employees, agricultural employees, and others and instead requires DWD to establish the minimum wage for those employees by rule.
Finally, current law prohibits a city, village, town, or county from enacting and administering an ordinance establishing a minimum wage. This bill eliminates that prohibition.
Who's behind it
22 lawmakers are its . All 22 are Democrats.
8 more lawmakers .
See all 30 names Hide the names
Authors (22)
- Jimmy Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- David Bowen · Democrat, Assembly
- Jonathan Brostoff · Democrat, Assembly
- Chris Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Marisabel Cabrera · Democrat, Assembly
- Dave Considine · Democrat, Assembly
- David Crowley · Democrat, Assembly
- Jason Fields · Democrat, Assembly
- Evan Goyke · Democrat, Assembly
- Gary Hebl · Democrat, Assembly
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Tod Ohnstad · Democrat, Assembly
- Sondy Pope · Democrat, Assembly
- Daniel Riemer · Democrat, Assembly
- Melissa Sargent · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Amanda Stuck · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- JoCasta Zamarripa · Democrat, Assembly
Signed on in support (8)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- LaTonya Johnson · Democrat, Senate
- Lena Taylor · Democrat, Senate
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Janis Ringhand · Democrat, Senate
- Fred A. Risser · Democrat, Senate
- Jeff Smith · Democrat, Senate
- Bob Wirch · Democrat, Senate
What it would cost
State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.
What happened
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Apr 1, 2020
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Mar 13, 2020
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Feb 28, 2020
Sent to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Integrated Employment.
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Feb 28, 2020
Introduced in the Assembly.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Feb 28, 2020 · Assembly
Introduced by Representatives Sargent, Subeck, Anderson, Bowen, Brostoff, Crowley, Goyke, Hesselbein, Ohnstad, Pope, Riemer, Sinicki, Spreitzer, Stuck, C. Taylor, Zamarripa, Cabrera, Considine, Fields, Hebl, Neubauer and Stubbs; cosponsored by Senators Wirch, Carpenter, Larson, Johnson, Ringhand, Risser, Smith and L. Taylor
- Feb 28, 2020 · Assembly
Read first time and referred to Committee on Labor and Integrated Employment
- Mar 13, 2020 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- 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.
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. 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
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