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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Assembly Bill 729

Inmate access to transparent windows and making an appropriation. (FE)

Topics: Corrections, Department of, Jail, Prison, Sheriff

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

    Dec 3, 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 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 742. 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.

This bill requires the Department of Corrections and county sheriffs to ensure that in every state correctional institution and county jail, in every inmate residential cell that is connected to an exterior wall, a window that is at least 1.5 square feet in size and that provides at least 92 percent visibility to the outdoors be installed by October 1, 2030, provided that the correctional institution or county jail will remain structurally sound with the windows in place.

The bill also requires DOC or the county sheriff to provide every inmate with three hours per day of outdoor viewing time through a window that provides 92 percent visibility to the outdoors. This requirement may be met by time spent outdoors, by time spent in the inmate’s cell if the cell has such a window, or, if the inmate’s cell does not have such a window, by moving the inmate to a location within the state correctional institution or county jail that does have a window that provides at least 92 percent visibility to the outdoors.

Read the full summary

The bill provides to DOC $500,000 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $3,000,000 in fiscal year 2026-27 for the purpose of installing windows in state correctional institutions to meet the requirements of the bill.

Who's behind it

14 representatives are its ⁠. All 14 are Democrats.

3 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 17 names

Authors (14)

Signed on in support (3)

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 21, 2026

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Jan 12, 2026

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Dec 3, 2025

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Corrections.

  5. Dec 3, 2025

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Clancy, Madison, Arney, Hong, Phelps, Tenorio, Bare, Joers, Prado, Rivera-Wagner, Stroud, Stubbs, Taylor and Udell; cosponsored by Senators Drake and Larson

  2. Dec 3, 2025 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Corrections

  3. Jan 12, 2026 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Jan 21, 2026 · Assembly

    Representative Moore Omokunde added as a coauthor

  5. 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