Senate Bill 491
General equalization aids, supplemental hold harmless aid, the per pupil adjustment for school district revenue limits, and making an appropriation. (FE)
Topics: Public Instruction, Department of, School: Finance, School: State aid
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
Oct 2, 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 Education. The committee's chair at the time was John Jagler. 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 495. 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 generally limits the total amount of revenue per pupil that a school district may receive from general school aids and property taxes in a school year to the amount of revenue allowed per pupil in the previous school year plus a per pupil adjustment, if any, as provided by law. Current law, which was upheld in LeMieux v. Evers , 2025 WI 12, provides an annual $325 per pupil adjustment until 2425. Under this bill, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the per pupil adjustment is the per pupil increase for the previous school year as adjusted for any increase in the consumer price index.
The bill also increases the amount of funding distributed to school districts as state aid through the equalization formula by $493,800,000 in the 2025-26 school year and by $699,900,000 in the 2026-27 school year. Under current law, a school district is guaranteed an amount of general equalization aid equal to at least 85 percent of the amount it received in the previous school year.
Read the full summary Show less
The bill also provides an additional $31 million for additional aid to ensure that each school district receives total state aid in the 2025-26 school year in an amount that is no less than what it received in the 2024-25 school year. Specifically, under the bill, if the estimated total amount of state aid for a school district in the 2024-25 school year, as calculated on October 15, 2024, is greater than the estimated total amount of state aid for a school district in the 2025-26 school year, as calculated on October 15, 2025, the Department of Public Instruction must pay the school district additional state aid in an amount necessary to ensure the school district receives an amount of total state aid in the 2025-26 school year that is equal to the amount calculated on October 15, 2024. The additional aid is considered state aid for purposes of school district revenue limits.
Who's behind it
12 senators are its . All 12 are Democrats.
39 more lawmakers .
See all 51 names Hide the names
Authors (12)
- Kristin Dassler-Alfheim · Democrat, Senate
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- Jodi Habush Sinykin · Democrat, Senate
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- Sarah Keyeski · Democrat, Senate
- LaTonya Johnson · Democrat, Senate
- Brad Pfaff · Democrat, Senate
- Melissa Ratcliff · Democrat, Senate
- Kelda Roys · Democrat, Senate
- Jeff Smith · Democrat, Senate
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
- Jamie Wall · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (39)
- Clint Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- Deb Andraca · Democrat, Assembly
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Mike Bare · Democrat, Assembly
- Jill Billings · Democrat, Assembly
- Brienne Brown · Democrat, Assembly
- Karen DeSanto · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Steve Doyle · Democrat, Assembly
- Jodi Emerson · Democrat, Assembly
- Joan Fitzgerald · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Kalan Haywood · Democrat, Assembly
- Andrew Hysell · Democrat, Assembly
- Jenna Jacobson · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Tara Johnson · Democrat, Assembly
- Karen Kirsch · Democrat, Assembly
- Renuka Mayadev · Democrat, Assembly
- Maureen McCarville · Democrat, Assembly
- Tip McGuire · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Sylvia Ortiz-Velez · Democrat, Assembly
- Lori Palmeri · Democrat, Assembly
- Priscilla Prado · Democrat, Assembly
- Amaad Rivera-Wagner · Democrat, Assembly
- Ann Roe · Democrat, Assembly
- Joe Sheehan · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Lee Snodgrass · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Spaude · Democrat, Assembly
- Angela Stroud · Democrat, Assembly
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Sequanna Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Angelito Tenorio · Democrat, Assembly
- Randy Udell · Democrat, Assembly
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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Mar 19, 2026
1 more representative signed on in support.
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Oct 27, 2025
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Oct 2, 2025
Sent to the Senate Committee on Education.
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Oct 2, 2025
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Oct 2, 2025 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Roys, Dassler-Alfheim, Drake, Habush Sinykin, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Keyeski, Pfaff, Ratcliff, Smith, Spreitzer and Wall; cosponsored by Representatives Fitzgerald, Taylor, Anderson, Andraca, Arney, Bare, Billings, Brown, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Doyle, Emerson, Goodwin, Haywood, Hysell, Joers, Johnson, Kirsch, Mayadev, McCarville, McGuire, Miresse, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Palmeri, Prado, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sheehan, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spaude, Stroud, Stubbs, Subeck, Tenorio, Udell and Ortiz-Velez
- Oct 2, 2025 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Education
- Oct 27, 2025 · Senate
Fiscal estimate received
- Mar 19, 2026 · Senate
Representative J. Jacobson added as a cosponsor
- 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
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