Assembly Bill 726
Minimum wage for all inmates and residents of state correctional institutions and county jails and making an appropriation. (FE)
Topics: Corrections, Department of, Jail, Prison Industries Board, Prisoner: Work program, Wage: Minimum
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.
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Introduced, passed
Dec 3, 2025
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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, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ”
It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Corrections. The committee's chair at the time was Dean Kaufert. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
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The same bill was also filed in the Senate as SB 743. That version died when the session ended.
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.
Current law provides that the Department of Corrections sets the rate of pay for inmates of state prisons or residents working in state correctional institutions and the Prison Industries Board sets wages for inmates employed by the Bureau of Correctional Enterprises. Under current law, BCE employees may be paid an hourly rate plus an incentive wage based on productivity in some instances, but wages may not be set at a rate that would cause a deficit on operations.
The bill provides that all inmates and residents that perform labor must be paid a wage and, in addition to the standards under current law, provides that no inmate or resident of a state correctional institution may be paid a wage that is less than the rate for tipped workers, which is currently $2.33 per hour. The bill removes the provision that wages may not be set at a rate that would cause a deficit on operations.
Read the full summary Show less
The bill increases all wages established by PIB for payment to inmates employed by BCE by $2.33 on the effective date of the bill.
The bill provides that any prisoner in a county jail, house of correction, huber facility, or work camp must be paid a wage that is not less than the rate for tipped workers, which is currently $2.33 per hour.
The bill also provides to DOC $58,933,600 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $88,400,400 in fiscal year 2026-27 to pay the wages of inmates in state correctional institutions and $873,300 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $1,310,000 in fiscal year 2026-27 to pay the wages of inmates engaged in labor under BCE.
Who's behind it
16 representatives are its . All 16 are Democrats.
5 more lawmakers .
See all 21 names Hide the names
Authors (16)
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Clancy · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelina Cruz · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Francesca Hong · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Priscilla Prado · Democrat, Assembly
- Amaad Rivera-Wagner · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Angela Stroud · Democrat, Assembly
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Sequanna Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelito Tenorio · Democrat, Assembly
Signed on in support (5)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- LaTonya Johnson · Democrat, Senate
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
What it would cost
State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.
What happened
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Mar 23, 2026
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Jan 30, 2026
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Jan 21, 2026
1 more representative signed on in support.
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Dec 3, 2025
Sent to the Assembly Committee on Corrections.
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Dec 3, 2025
Introduced in the Assembly.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly
Introduced by Representatives Madison, Clancy, Stubbs, Arney, Cruz, Goodwin, Hong, Rivera-Wagner, Tenorio, Joers, Sinicki, Stroud, Subeck, Taylor, Prado and Neubauer; cosponsored by Senators Drake, L. Johnson, Carpenter and Spreitzer
- Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly
Read first time and referred to Committee on Corrections
- Jan 21, 2026 · Assembly
Representative Moore Omokunde added as a coauthor
- Jan 30, 2026 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- 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.
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