Senate Bill 840
The agricultural conservation easement purchase program and making an appropriation. (FE)
Topics: Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Department of, Easement, Land use planning and control, Natural resource
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
Jan 15, 2026
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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 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 851. 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.
In the 2009-11 biennial budget act, the agricultural conservation easement purchase program was created for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, from willing landowners, by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in conjunction with political subdivisions and nonprofit conservation organizations. An agricultural conservation easement (easement) is an interest in land that preserves the land for agricultural use while the ownership of the land itself remains with the landowner. Under the program as it was created in the act, DATCP was required to solicit applications to the program at least once annually and was provided $12,000,000 in general fund supported borrowing for the purchase of the easements. Since the program was first created, the requirement that DATCP solicit applications to the program at least once annually was repealed, DATCP’s authority for $12,000,000 in general fund supported borrowing for the purchase of the easements was repealed, and a new provision required the Department of Natural Resources to provide to DATCP funds from the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson stewardship program for the purchase of the easements. This bill undoes those changes, reinstating DATCP’s requirement to solicit applications to the program at least once annually, providing DATCP authority for $25,000,000 in general fund supported borrowing for the purchase of easements, and removing the requirement that DNR provide DATCP funds from the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson stewardship program for the purchase of the easements.
Who's behind it
12 senators are its . All 12 are Democrats.
29 more lawmakers .
See all 41 names Hide the names
Authors (12)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- Kristin Dassler-Alfheim · Democrat, Senate
- Dora Drake · Democrat, Senate
- Jodi Habush Sinykin · Democrat, Senate
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- Sarah Keyeski · Democrat, Senate
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Brad Pfaff · Democrat, Senate
- Melissa Ratcliff · Democrat, Senate
- Kelda Roys · Democrat, Senate
- Jeff Smith · Democrat, Senate
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (29)
- Clint Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- Margaret Arney · Democrat, Assembly
- Mike Bare · Democrat, Assembly
- Jill Billings · Democrat, Assembly
- Brienne Brown · Democrat, Assembly
- Ryan Clancy · Democrat, Assembly
- Karen DeSanto · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Jodi Emerson · Democrat, Assembly
- Joan Fitzgerald · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Francesca Hong · Democrat, Assembly
- Andrew Hysell · Democrat, Assembly
- Jenna Jacobson · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Tara Johnson · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Maureen McCarville · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Lori Palmeri · Democrat, Assembly
- Christian Phelps · Democrat, Assembly
- Ann Roe · Democrat, Assembly
- Joe Sheehan · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Shelia Stubbs · Democrat, Assembly
- Lisa Subeck · 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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Feb 4, 2026
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Jan 20, 2026
1 more representative signed on in support.
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Jan 15, 2026
Sent to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue.
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Jan 15, 2026
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Jan 15, 2026 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Spreitzer, Smith, Carpenter, Dassler-Alfheim, Drake, Habush Sinykin, Hesselbein, Keyeski, Larson, Pfaff, Ratcliff and Roys; cosponsored by Representatives Brown, Anderson, Arney, Bare, Billings, Clancy, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Hong, Hysell, J. Jacobson, Joers, Johnson, Madison, McCarville, Miresse, Neubauer, Phelps, Roe, Sheehan, Sinicki, Stubbs, Subeck, Tenorio and Udell
- Jan 15, 2026 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture and Revenue
- Jan 20, 2026 · Senate
Representative Palmeri added as a cosponsor
- Feb 4, 2026 · Senate
Fiscal estimate received
- 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