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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Senate Bill 555

Zero-based biennial budget requests by executive branch agencies. (FE)

Topics: Administration, Department of: Budget and fiscal issues, Budget bills and process, 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.

  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 Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs. The committee's chair at the time was Chris Kapenga. 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 556. 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 provides that the Department of Administration, beginning with the 2027−29 fiscal biennium, must require 20 percent of executive branch agencies to submit their biennial budget requests prepared using the principles of zero−based budgeting for each of their activities, units, and programs. In each subsequent fiscal biennium, DOA must require a different 20 percent of executive branch agencies to submit their budget requests prepared using zero−based budgeting principles, with each agency required to do so at least once during any five consecutive fiscal biennia. The bill defines “zero−based budgeting” as the compilation of an agency’s budget in which each component is justified on the basis of cost, need, and relation to the statutory responsibilities of the agency.

The bill also requires that agency budget base reports, which all agencies must submit each fiscal biennium under current law, identify the intended goal of each appropriation and analyze whether each appropriation completely succeeded in meeting its intended goal and, if not, an explanation as to why not. The bill also requires that DOA post the reports on its website.

Who's behind it

7 senators are its ⁠. All 7 are Republicans.

15 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 22 names

Authors (7)

Signed on in support (15)

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 26, 2026

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Nov 3, 2025

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Oct 28, 2025

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  5. Oct 17, 2025

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs.

  6. Oct 17, 2025

    Introduced in the Senate.

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

    Introduced by Senators Kapenga, Hutton, Bradley, Jacque, Nass, Tomczyk and Quinn; cosponsored by Representatives Brill, Nedweski, Knodl, Allen, Armstrong, Behnke, Brooks, Dittrich, Goeben, Green, Kreibich, Melotik, Murphy, O'Connor and Wichgers

  2. Oct 17, 2025 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs

  3. Oct 28, 2025 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Oct 28, 2025 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  5. Nov 3, 2025 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  6. Jan 26, 2026 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  7. 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