Senate Bill 958
Creating the water fund for our future, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)
Topics: Legislature: Committees, Natural disaster, Public health, Trust fund, Water supply
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
Feb 6, 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 Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs. The committee's chair at the time was André Jacque. 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 790. 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.
This bill creates a new nonlapsible trust fund, designated as the water fund for our future, to consist of a onetime transfer of $250,000,000 from the general fund. Under the bill, the Joint Committee on Finance may at any time transfer any amount of the unencumbered balance from the fund to the budget stabilization fund, if the budget stabilization fund has been fully expended.
The bill also creates the Joint Committee for the Oversight of the Water Fund for Our Future, composed of three majority party and two minority party senators and three majority party and two minority party representatives to the assembly, appointed as are the members of standing committees in their respective houses; the secretary of health services or his or her designee; and the secretary of natural resources or his or her designee. Under the bill, the committee receives applications for making expenditures from the fund and makes recommendations to JCF regarding use of the fund.
Read the full summary Show less
Under the bill, the committee may also recommend to JCF an amount to transfer to a rapid response account created within the water fund for our future, which may be used by the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health Services to respond to natural disasters and public health emergencies. Funds from the rapid response account may be used for the costs of remediation and to notify, relocate, and assist individuals affected by the natural disaster or public health emergency.
The bill also allows DNR and the Department of Justice to seek reimbursement from responsible parties for funds expended from the water fund for our future.
In addition, the bill allows any agency to submit a request to JCF for supplemental funds from the water fund for our future. JCF may approve the request after considering any recommendation from the Joint Committee for the Oversight of the Water Fund for Our Future. Under the bill, if a member of JCF objects to a request for supplemental funds, the name of each objecting member, as well as the reason for each objection, must be recorded and made publicly available.
Who's behind it
14 senators are its . All 14 are Democrats.
40 more lawmakers .
See all 54 names Hide the names
Authors (14)
- 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
- LaTonya Johnson · 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
- Bob Wirch · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (40)
- Clint Anderson · Democrat, Assembly
- Deb Andraca · 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
- Karen DeSanto · Democrat, Assembly
- Ben DeSmidt · Democrat, Assembly
- Jodi Emerson · Democrat, Assembly
- Joan Fitzgerald · Democrat, Assembly
- Russell Goodwin · Democrat, Assembly
- Kalan Haywood · Democrat, Assembly
- Francesca Hong · Democrat, Assembly
- Andrew Hysell · Democrat, Assembly
- Alex Joers · Democrat, Assembly
- Tara Johnson · Democrat, Assembly
- Karen Kirsch · Democrat, Assembly
- Darrin Madison · Democrat, Assembly
- Renuka Mayadev · Democrat, Assembly
- Maureen McCarville · Democrat, Assembly
- Vinnie Miresse · Democrat, Assembly
- Supreme Moore Omokunde · Democrat, Assembly
- Greta Neubauer · Democrat, Assembly
- Lori Palmeri · Democrat, Assembly
- Christian Phelps · 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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Feb 24, 2026
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Feb 6, 2026
Sent to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs.
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Feb 6, 2026
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Feb 6, 2026 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Spreitzer, Habush Sinykin, Smith, Carpenter, Drake, Dassler-Alfheim, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Keyeski, Larson, Pfaff, Ratcliff, Roys and Wirch; cosponsored by Representatives Billings, Palmeri, Miresse, Andraca, Anderson, Arney, Bare, Brown, Clancy, Cruz, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Haywood, Hong, Hysell, Joers, Johnson, Kirsch, Madison, Mayadev, McCarville, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Phelps, Prado, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sheehan, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spaude, Stroud, Stubbs, Subeck, Taylor, Tenorio and Udell
- Feb 6, 2026 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs
- Feb 24, 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