Skip to content
Bills from the 2019–20 session

Senate Bill 812

Referral of legislation to the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties

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

    Feb 12, 2020

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Senate vote, not reached

  4. Assembly 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 Senate Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

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 provides that if any bill introduced in the legislature creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime and the bill is referred to a standing committee, the chairperson of the standing committee may request the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties to prepare a report on the bill. If the bill is not referred to a standing committee, the speaker of the assembly, if the bill is introduced in the assembly, or the presiding officer of the senate, if the bill is introduced in the senate, may request the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties to prepare a report on the bill. If a report is requested, current law requires the report to contain the costs that are likely to be incurred or saved if the bill is enacted, the consistency of the penalties proposed in the bill with existing penalties, any alternative language needed to conform penalties, and whether the acts criminalized under the bill are already prohibited under current law.

This bill provides that if any bill introduced in either the assembly or senate creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the bill must be referred to the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties and that the bill may not be passed by the house in which the bill is introduced until the committee prepares and submits its report. The bill also requires the report to contain an economic impact statement regarding the likely economic effects of the proposal on racial groups, economic classes, and gender groups, including a finding on whether the proposal is likely to have a disparate impact on a racial group, economic class, or gender group. The bill also allows the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties to prepare for the legislature and the director of state courts reports on acts passed in previous sessions that created a crime or revised a penalty for a crime.

Read the full summary

Finally, this bill requires that any report must reflect the opinions of all members of the committee.

Who's behind it

3 senators are its ⁠. All 3 are Democrats.

16 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 19 names

Authors (3)

Signed on in support (16)

What happened

  1. Apr 1, 2020

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Feb 12, 2020

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection.

  3. Feb 12, 2020

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Feb 12, 2020 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators L. Taylor, Larson and Smith; cosponsored by Representatives Bowen, Crowley, Brostoff, Goyke, Kolste, Neubauer, Stubbs, C. Taylor, Cabrera, Anderson, Considine, Gruszynski, L. Myers, Spreitzer, Subeck and Zamarripa

  2. Feb 12, 2020 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection

  3. Apr 1, 2020 · Senate

    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

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.

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