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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Senate Bill 1153

Campaign contribution limits

Topics: Attorney General, Elections: Campaign expense, Governor, Legislature: Member, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Supreme Court, Treasurer: State

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

    Mar 19, 2026

  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, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development. The committee's chair at the time was Dan Feyen. 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 Assembly as AB 1219. 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.

Current law allows unlimited campaign contributions to certain entities, such as political action committees, legislative campaign committees, and political parties, but prohibits a political action committee from contributing more than $12,000 in any calendar year to a political party or legislative campaign committee. This bill limits the contributions that an individual may make to a political party or legislative campaign committee to the amounts that an individual may make to a candidate committee, as provided under the bill. The bill also limits the contributions that a political party or legislative campaign committee may make to a candidate committee to the amounts that an individual may make to a candidate committee, as provided under the bill. In addition, the bill limits the contributions that a candidate committee may make to a political party or legislative campaign committee to the amounts that the candidate committee may make under current law to another candidate committee but retains the unlimited contributions under current law for contributions that a candidate makes to the candidate’s candidate committee from the candidate’s personal funds.

The bill also decreases the individual and candidate committee contribution limit from $20,000 to $10,000 for contributions made to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent, or justice of the supreme court and reduces by half the limits that apply to political action committee contributions to candidates. The limits under the bill are the same, generally, as those that applied to political action committee contributions prior to 2016.

Read the full summary

Finally, current law allows a political party or legislative campaign committee to establish a segregated fund to use for general purposes but not for making contributions to a candidate committee or for making disbursements for express advocacy. Persons other than a political action committee, corporation, cooperative, labor organization, or American Indian tribe may make unlimited contributions to the segregated fund. A political action committee, corporation, cooperative, labor organization, or American Indian tribe may make a contribution to the fund in amounts not to exceed $12,000 in the aggregate in a calendar year. The bill eliminates the provision allowing a political party or legislative campaign committee to establish such a fund.

Who's behind it

4 senators are its ⁠. All 4 are Democrats.

20 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 24 names

Authors (4)

Signed on in support (20)

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Mar 19, 2026

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.

  3. Mar 19, 2026

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 19, 2026 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Larson, Smith, Dassler-Alfheim and Keyeski; cosponsored by Representatives Sinicki, Tenorio, Miresse, Clancy, Kirsch, Johnson, Udell, Moore Omokunde, Bare, Billings, Roe, Arney, Fitzgerald, Sheehan, Brown, McCarville, Stroud, Palmeri, Stubbs and Mayadev

  2. Mar 19, 2026 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development

  3. Mar 23, 2026 · 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.

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