Senate Bill 223
Discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, insurance coverage, national guard, jury duty, and adoption and in the receipt of mental health or vocational rehabilitation services
Topics: Children: Adoption, Discrimination, Discrimination in education, Discrimination in employment, Discrimination in housing, Insurance, Jury, Mental health, National Guard, Persons with disabilities, State agencies
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
Apr 25, 2025
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Senate vote, not reached
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Assembly 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 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 220. 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
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
This bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of an individual’s gender identity or gender expression. The bill defines “gender identity” as an individual’s internal, deeply held knowledge or sense of their own gender, regardless of the individual’s sex assigned at birth or gender identifiers on official governmental documents, and “gender expression” as an individual’s gender-related appearance or behavior, or the perception of that appearance or behavior, regardless of whether it is stereotypically associated with the individual’s sex assigned at birth. The bill also make changes to various discrimination laws, including all of the following:
1. Current law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and the equal enjoyment of a public place of accommodation or amusement on the basis of a person’s sex or sexual orientation. Current law also requires certain state agencies, authorities, and corporations to include provisions in contracts they execute obliging the contractor to similarly not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment. The bill adds gender identity and gender expression as prohibited bases for discrimination in these areas.
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2. Current law prohibits the University of Wisconsin System, the Technical College System, public elementary and secondary schools, and charter schools from discriminating against a student on the basis of the student’s sex or sexual orientation. The bill prohibits the same educational institutions from discriminating against a student on the basis of the student’s gender identity or gender expression and from discriminating against a student based on the protected status of the student’s parent. The bill also prohibits the UW System Board of Regents from investing gifts, grants, and bequests in companies that practice discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
3. Current law prohibits the exclusion of an individual from jury duty on the basis of the individual’s sex or sexual orientation. The bill adds gender identity and gender expression as a prohibited bases for exclusion of an individual from jury duty.
4. Current law allows only either a single adult or a husband and wife jointly to adopt a child. The bill allows only either a single individual or two individuals married to each other jointly to adopt a child and also provides that no otherwise qualified person may be denied the benefits of the adoption and guardianship statute subchapter because of the person’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
5. Current law requires heads of executive departments and agencies to determine whether there is arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation and to take remedial action if such discrimination is found. The bill requires these heads to also determine if there is discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression and to take remedial action regarding such discrimination.
6. Current law prohibits discriminating against an employee, prospective employee, patient, or resident of an approved treatment facility providing treatment of alcoholic, drug dependent, mentally ill, or developmentally disabled persons on the basis of sex. The bill adds sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as prohibited bases of discrimination.
7. Current law prohibits agency rules from discriminating against a person by reason of sex or sexual orientation. The bill adds gender identity and gender expression as prohibited bases of discrimination.
8. Current law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the provision of vocational rehabilitation or mental health services. The bill adds sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as prohibited bases of discrimination.
9. Current law prohibits the national guard or state defense force from denying membership based on sex or sexual orientation. The bill adds gender identity and gender expression as prohibited bases of discrimination. The bill also provides that no member of the national guard or state defense force may be denied equal access to facilities most consistent with the person’s gender identity.
10. Current law provides that sex is a bona fide occupational qualification if all of the members of one sex are physically incapable of performing the essential duties required by a job or if the essence of the employer’s business operation would be undermined if employees were not hired exclusively from one sex. The bill adds to the sex as a bona fide occupational qualification law that an individual may not be treated or regarded inconsistent with the individual’s gender identity or discriminated against based on the individual’s gender identity or gender expression.
11. Current law allows public places of accommodation or amusement to provide separate facilities to persons of different sexes. The bill provides that public places of accommodation or amusement may provide separate facilities to persons of different sexes but prohibits those places from denying individuals equal access to the facilities most consistent with the individual’s gender identity.
12. The bill prohibits an insurer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of age, residence, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, occupation, gender identity, gender expression, sex, or sexual orientation, and also prohibits motor carriers, automobile insurers, transportation network companies, and real estate brokers and salespersons from discriminating against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
13. The bill expressly prohibits a school board from discriminating against a student-led organization because the organization’s mission is related to sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Who's behind it
10 senators are its . All 10 are Democrats.
30 more lawmakers .
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Authors (10)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- Kristin Dassler-Alfheim · Democrat, Senate
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- Sarah Keyeski · Democrat, Senate
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Melissa Ratcliff · Democrat, Senate
- Kelda Roys · Democrat, Senate
- Jeff Smith · Democrat, Senate
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (30)
- Clint Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Mike Bare · Democrat, Assembly
- Jill Billings · Democrat, Assembly
- Brienne Brown · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Clancy · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelina Cruz · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Jodi Emerson · Democrat, Assembly
- Joan Fitzgerald · Democrat, Assembly
- Kalan Haywood · Democrat, Assembly
- Francesca Hong · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Tara Johnson · Democrat, Assembly
- Karen Kirsch · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Renuka Mayadev · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Sylvia Ortiz-Velez · Democrat, Assembly
- Lori Palmeri · Democrat, Assembly
- Christian Phelps · Democrat, Assembly
- Amaad Rivera-Wagner · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Lee Snodgrass · Democrat, Assembly
- Angela Stroud · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelito Tenorio · Democrat, Assembly
- Randy Udell · Democrat, Assembly
What happened
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Mar 23, 2026
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Apr 25, 2025
Sent to the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.
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Apr 25, 2025
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Apr 25, 2025 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Spreitzer, Ratcliff, Carpenter, Dassler-Alfheim, Roys, Drake, Hesselbein, Keyeski, Larson and Smith; cosponsored by Representatives Phelps, Neubauer, Arney, Clancy, Cruz, Rivera-Wagner, Snodgrass, Stroud, Udell, Anderson, Bare, Billings, Brown, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Hong, Joers, Johnson, Kirsch, Madison, Mayadev, Miresse, Moore Omokunde, Ortiz-Velez, Palmeri, Sinicki, Subeck, Tenorio and Haywood
- Apr 25, 2025 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development
- 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.
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
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