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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Senate Bill 544

The cigarette excise tax and cigarettes that involve heating tobacco without combustion. (FE)

Topics: Cigarette: Taxation, Excise tax

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

    Oct 17, 2025

  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 Agriculture and Revenue. The committee's chair at the time was Patrick Testin. 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 511. 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 imposes an excise tax on the sale of cigarettes in this state. The tax rate varies depending on the weight and length of the cigarettes. Current law defines a “cigarette” as any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or any substance other than tobacco.

Under current law, the tax rate on cigarettes weighing not more than 3 pounds per thousand, is 126 mills, plus 8 mills, on each cigarette. For cigarettes weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand, the rate is 252 mills on each cigarette, plus 16.8 mills on each such cigarette that is not more than 6.75 inches in length. For cigarettes weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand that are more than 6.75 inches in length, current law imposes an additional tax at the rate of 8 mills on each such cigarette, counting each 2.75 inches of length as one cigarette.

Read the full summary

This bill modifies the excise tax on the sale of cigarettes so that current law applies to a cigarette that the bill defines as a roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or any substance other than tobacco that is intended for smoking by burning the tobacco. In addition, the bill imposes a separate excise tax on the sale of a cigarette that the bill defines as a roll of tobacco wrapped or contained within any substance other than tobacco that involves heating the tobacco without the combustion of the tobacco or other flammable material, not including a vapor product.

Under the bill, the rate of the excise tax on a cigarettes that involve heating without combustion weighing not more than 3 pounds per thousand, is 63 mills, plus 4 mills, on each cigarette. For cigarettes that involve heating without combustion weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand, the rate is 126 mills on each cigarette, plus 8.4 mills on each such cigarette that is not more than 6.75 inches in length. For cigarettes that involve heating without combustion weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand that are more than 6.75 inches in length, the bill imposes an additional tax at the rate of 4 mills on each such cigarette, counting each 2.75 inches of length as one cigarette.

Who's behind it

4 senators are its ⁠. 3 are Republicans and 1 is a Democrat.

5 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 9 names

Authors (4)

Signed on in support (5)

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. Nov 12, 2025

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Oct 17, 2025

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue.

  4. Oct 17, 2025

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Oct 17, 2025 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Testin, Feyen, Pfaff and Tomczyk; cosponsored by Representatives Green, Gustafson, Knodl, Novak and Wittke

  2. Oct 17, 2025 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture and Revenue

  3. Nov 12, 2025 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. 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

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