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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Assembly Bill 532

Unemployment insurance benefits. (FE)

Topics: Unemployment insurance, Wage

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. The last day for votes this session was Mar 19, 2026. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Oct 15, 2025

  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 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment. The committee's chair at the time was Paul Melotik. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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The same bill was also filed in the Senate as SB 515. That version died when the session ended.

What it would have done

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

EMPLOYMENT This bill makes changes regarding the amount of unemployment insurance benefits that a claimant may receive in a given week, as follows:

Increasing maximum weekly unemployment benefits Under current law, a person who qualifies for unemployment insurance receives a weekly benefit rate equal to a percentage of that person’s past earnings, but the weekly benefit rate is capped at $370. This bill changes the maximum weekly benefit rate in the following ways:

Read the full summary

1. For benefits paid for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 4, 2026, but before January 3, 2027, the maximum weekly benefit rate is capped at $497.

2. For benefits paid for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 3, 2027, the maximum weekly benefit rate is increased based upon the change in the consumer price index and is then increased on the same basis annually thereafter.

Increasing unemployment insurance benefit wage cap Under current law, a person who qualifies for unemployment insurance is ineligible to receive any UI benefits for a week if the person receives or will receive wages or certain other earnings totalling more than $500 (wage cap). This bill changes the wage cap in the following ways:

1. For weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 4, 2026, but before January 3, 2027, the wage cap is increased to $672.

2. For weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 3, 2027, the wage cap is increased based upon the change in the consumer price index and is then increased on the same basis annually thereafter.

Who's behind it

21 representatives are its ⁠. All 21 are Democrats.

11 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 32 names

Authors (21)

Signed on in support (11)

What it would cost

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

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Jan 8, 2026

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Dec 2, 2025

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Nov 11, 2025

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  5. Oct 15, 2025

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment.

  6. Oct 15, 2025

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Oct 15, 2025 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives McCarville, Anderson, Arney, Bare, Brown, Clancy, DeSmidt, Fitzgerald, Hong, Hysell, Joers, Kirsch, Madison, Miresse, Moore Omokunde, Ortiz-Velez, Roe, Subeck, Stubbs, Tenorio and Udell; cosponsored by Senators L. Johnson, Dassler-Alfheim, Larson, Ratcliff, Spreitzer, Keyeski, Habush Sinykin, Hesselbein and Roys

  2. Oct 15, 2025 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment

  3. Nov 11, 2025 · Assembly

    Representative Sinicki added as a coauthor

  4. Dec 2, 2025 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. Jan 8, 2026 · Assembly

    Representative J. Jacobson added as a coauthor

  6. Mar 23, 2026 · 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