1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,740
The Wisconsin Senate wraps up its regular business for 2026.

2
00:00:23,740 --> 00:00:24,740
What passed?

3
00:00:24,740 --> 00:00:25,740
What didn't?

4
00:00:25,740 --> 00:00:29,040
And what can we learn from the way this Senate voted?

5
00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,120
This is Inside Wisconsin Politics.

6
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,920
I'm WPR Capital Bureau Chief Sean Johnson, here with WPR Capital Reporter Anya Van

7
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:42,120
Wacktendank, WPR Political Reporter Rich Kramer, and PBS Wisconsin Senior Political Reporter

8
00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:43,040
Zach Schultz.

9
00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:29,000
The Wisconsin Senate Wraps Up.

10
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:43,160
I'm WPR Capital Bureau Chief Sean Johnson, here with WPR Capital Reporter Anya Van

11
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:49,720
Wacktendank, WPR Political Reporter Rich Kramer, and PBS Wisconsin Senior Political Reporter

12
00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,160
Zach Schultz.

13
00:01:52,160 --> 00:02:15,600
Okay.

14
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,600
Can you make sure to give us a cue that Mike's are closed at the end so we can resume our

15
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,720
chit chat at the table and that looks super awkward in the close.

16
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:25,920
Thank you.

17
00:02:50,600 --> 00:03:01,480
The Wisconsin Senate wraps up its regular business for 2026.

18
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:02,480
What passed?

19
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:03,480
What didn't?

20
00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,280
And what can we learn from the way this Senate voted?

21
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,080
This is Inside Wisconsin Politics.

22
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,200
I'm WPR Capital Bureau Chief Sean Johnson, here with WPR Capital Reporter Anya Van

23
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,440
Wacktendank, WPR Political Reporter Rich Kramer, and PBS Wisconsin Senior Political

24
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,320
Reporter Zach Schultz.

25
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:27,920
Hey, everyone, thanks for joining us.

26
00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:34,000
So we were all set to talk about how this session of the Wisconsin Senate was different

27
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,280
than previous sessions, and the Senate gave us lots to talk about, including, as we're

28
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,960
getting ready to record, news that the Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahue is not going

29
00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,760
to seek reelection, which in the world of the state capital, as you all know, that is

30
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:49,480
a pretty big deal.

31
00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,400
Zach, what can we take from that given the way that the Senate has been acting this week?

32
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,840
And how big a deal is it in the Capitol?

33
00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,360
It certainly felt like a week of voting where people weren't worried about the next election

34
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,240
or the next term.

35
00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,960
There were questions of whether that signal Lemahue knew that his majority position was

36
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,520
in stake as Republicans are worried about having the Dems flip the Senate.

37
00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,640
But I think the bigger picture to look here is we're going to have a new Majority Leader

38
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,480
in the Senate, a new Speaker in the Assembly, and a new Governor.

39
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:22,760
And the last time that happened was 2011 with Scott Walker and the Fitzs is running the

40
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:23,760
show.

41
00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:24,760
Big changes that time.

42
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,800
We might see big changes next session too.

43
00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,680
A wave election, and there's people, of course, every election that is nationalized right

44
00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,800
now, and there have already been people talking about whether this would be a nationalized

45
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:41,200
Democratic election, Anya, you know, you know, that Capitol building and you know how much

46
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,960
sway leaders carry.

47
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,720
How big of a deal is it to you that Devin Lemahue, the leader that you've covered in

48
00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:49,880
that Senate since you've been here, is stepping down?

49
00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:50,880
Yeah.

50
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,400
I mean, Zach said the session, the voting session only a few days ago was that two days

51
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,960
ago I've lost track of time this week.

52
00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,640
There were a few bills that came forward where there was a real question of whether Devin

53
00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,800
would let them get to the floor because he did not have Republican votes.

54
00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,080
And so there were kind of threats being floated about what that would mean for his leadership

55
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:13,480
position and those bills passed with necessary Democratic votes in order to pass.

56
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,520
And so then him stepping down, it really is this kind of signal that he, whatever kind

57
00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,080
of consequences might have come in the caucus, he doesn't have to worry about them anymore.

58
00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:25,040
And Rich, you were covering the session this week and that question of whether or not

59
00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:29,080
to get Democratic votes is something that everyone was talking about.

60
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,960
And, you know, the Senate, Senator Lemahue even had some kind of not so veiled threats

61
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,920
thrown out from a member of his own caucus.

62
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,560
Don't do that, basically.

63
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,480
How unusual was this session week in terms of bipartisanship, frankly?

64
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,280
It was pretty unusual.

65
00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:52,280
I mean, to me, someone who's pretty new at covering state politics, it feels a little

66
00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:58,520
strange when getting Democratic votes on a Republican bill or Republican votes on a Democratic

67
00:05:58,520 --> 00:05:59,880
bill is a big deal.

68
00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:05,360
It seems like that would be normal, but that's not the case.

69
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:10,680
And that was more of a sign of what you all have been talking about that things are

70
00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:11,920
changing there.

71
00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,440
It feels like things are changing in the Senate.

72
00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,920
They used to have a supermajority not that long ago.

73
00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,480
Then we got new maps after the Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority struck down ones

74
00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,880
that were drawn by Republicans back in 2011.

75
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:27,600
And then we had an election under those maps.

76
00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,960
So that supermajority went down to 18 Republican senators.

77
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,880
That threat goes to this thing called the rule of 17.

78
00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,480
It's an informal rule.

79
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:46,480
But the idea is that if you're in the majority, you pass bills with majority support.

80
00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,600
You don't even really consider them if you don't have those 17 votes.

81
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,760
But we saw examples where Devin Lemahue went ahead and passed them anyway with Democratic

82
00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:56,760
support.

83
00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,760
And that's a very informal rule as far as the workings of the Capitol go.

84
00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:02,280
I mean, it's not in the Senate rules.

85
00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,040
It's certainly not in law.

86
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,120
But it is an internal Republican caucus thing.

87
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,600
Sean, bring us back to Fitz when Fitzgerald ran the Senate.

88
00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,280
His philosophy, I'm sure you recall, was you don't go to the floor unless you have the

89
00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:16,280
votes.

90
00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:18,560
So clearly, Lemahue, following that pattern, knew what he was doing when he came to the

91
00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:19,560
floor with those bills.

92
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,680
He sounded a few times too, Senator Lemahue has.

93
00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,520
I mean, they did it with the big local government funding bill a couple of years ago.

94
00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,600
They needed Democrat support to get that through.

95
00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:35,640
There was the budget this last time, this very bipartisan deal between Speaker Voss

96
00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:40,240
and Governor Evers, and that needed Democratic votes.

97
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:46,720
So I haven't seen Devin Lemahue adhere to that rule that in the way that Scott Fitzgerald

98
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,720
did, when Scott Fitzgerald was leader for a long time, he was more like, Scott Fitzgerald

99
00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,440
was more of like a Robin Voss kind of leader, been there forever, kind of ruled with an

100
00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,680
iron fist in the Senate, didn't get pushed around on too much.

101
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,480
When he did go to Democrats for votes, it was sparingly.

102
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,080
Well, and that rule is a lot easier to maintain if you have a lot of wiggle room.

103
00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:11,360
So if you have a super majority, as Rich mentioned, you can lose some of your members, and it's

104
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:12,360
not a big deal.

105
00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,520
But as the margins have gotten smaller and smaller, and now Democrats are talking about

106
00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,240
trying to flip the Senate, and I think they stand a pretty good chance of doing so, maybe

107
00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,080
they're also kind of seeing the writing on the wall, that being leader would be a whole

108
00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,920
lot harder if you have just a very slim majority or no majority of all at all.

109
00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:31,240
So let's unpack a couple of the bills where this did end up being a factor this week.

110
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,640
You had this online sports betting bill.

111
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:40,760
It would legalize online sports betting in Wisconsin, if the servers for that betting

112
00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:46,760
are located on tribal lands, Rich, what were the arguments on that one in the Senate this

113
00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:47,760
week?

114
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:56,920
Well, so generally the Republican opposition argument was that we shouldn't be expanding

115
00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:02,920
legalized gambling in Wisconsin, it causes addiction, it hurts people, et cetera.

116
00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,600
That was the bulk of the GOP argument.

117
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:11,160
Democrats were saying, well, it's already here, you know, sports betting online is happening

118
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:16,960
on the margins, on the outside, on the edges, and this way the state can have some regulations

119
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:23,240
in place, and Democrats like that the tribes get to play a role in this and that the money

120
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:30,000
is going to tribes and also the state, rather than major companies like DraftKings or FanDuel

121
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,720
that are out of state.

122
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,480
And the details on this one are pretty significant, I think.

123
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:43,200
I mean, if you've watched sporting events, you see ads for FanDuel or DraftKings just

124
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:48,440
everywhere now, which you did not used to see in the very recent past, those companies

125
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,720
don't like this bill, though, because it would, an in this group said that they would have

126
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:58,160
to share 60% of their revenue with the tribes.

127
00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,400
And there, you know, these companies are saying, we just won't do business here in Wisconsin

128
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,800
if you do it that way.

129
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,920
That is not an argument that I heard opponents making against this, though.

130
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,920
We heard very strong arguments against Anya from social conservatives when it comes to

131
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:13,920
gambling.

132
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,120
Yeah, so there's the argument that, again, there's kind of a social problem with gambling,

133
00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:23,480
but then also there's a real kind of messy legal situation here where it's a mix of state,

134
00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:28,440
federal, and tribal law, all of which is at play, and then some of which has not been

135
00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:29,440
tested.

136
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,080
And so one of the pushbacks from, for example, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty,

137
00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,920
the conservative law firm, is that this creates an unconstitutional kind of ethnic

138
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:42,320
monopoly, right, giving the tribes the monopoly, even though the compacts of the tribe says

139
00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,480
that they are in charge of gambling in the state.

140
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,240
And so those arguments are kind of at play, and so I think we're going to see quite a

141
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,640
bit of legal push pull over how to implement this.

142
00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,440
Well, it's still not even clear if Governor Evers is going to sign this bill.

143
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:55,440
That's right.

144
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,200
His statements just yesterday said he wants all the tribes on board, and that so far,

145
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:00,200
that is not the case.

146
00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,680
There are some tribes that are out ahead of the rest of them when it comes to casino

147
00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:08,080
profits and revenues, and there are some, some of the ones in northern Wisconsin where

148
00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,520
they have casinos, but they're not that profitable and not nearly to the scale that

149
00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:12,520
the rest of them are.

150
00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,200
So it may take the tribes working together to actually get Governor Evers to sign off

151
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:17,200
on this.

152
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,460
So all of this may go for a bill that gets vetoed saying we need to work on it for next

153
00:11:21,460 --> 00:11:22,460
year.

154
00:11:22,460 --> 00:11:25,560
And you know, we're focused on the Senate here and how they were acting different with

155
00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:31,320
this, you know, 2026 election on the rise, and Tony Evers is absolutely acting different

156
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,440
now because he knows he's not going to run again.

157
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,000
So he can basically look at every bill and say, is this really what I want?

158
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:43,360
If not, let it go, veto, move on, you know, keep it on that sports theme.

159
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:49,400
We had another big bill this week with name, image, and likeness or NIL.

160
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:50,400
Tell us about that.

161
00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:51,400
You're a huge sports fan.

162
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:52,400
I know.

163
00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,880
I just I care so deeply about college sports.

164
00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:59,400
I care deeply about political policy as it affects college sports.

165
00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,040
And so I got to learn all about this.

166
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:07,080
So NIL deals, this comes out of a 2021 sort of change in how college athletes are treated.

167
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:08,080
They're no longer amateurs.

168
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,440
They can get paid for their work and they can kind of wrangle these deals according

169
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,680
to how popular their sport is and how good they are at their sports.

170
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,920
And so what that has led to is athletes being able to transfer schools in search of more

171
00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,480
lucrative deals in a way that as I understand it, as someone who does not follow the Badgers,

172
00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,720
terribly closely, has not been great for Badgers football in particular.

173
00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:33,280
And I might be getting some knowing glances from the actual football fans among us.

174
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:39,480
But so what this bill would do is put $14.5 million towards UW Madison for athletic facilities

175
00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:44,040
fees in order for the school to have a pot of money to make these deals with players.

176
00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:50,160
So the idea is that they'd be able to bring in top football and basketball talent in particular.

177
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,060
This passed out of the assembly almost unanimously.

178
00:12:53,060 --> 00:12:56,860
And then it became this big, open question at the Senate because it was a lemon hue bill.

179
00:12:56,860 --> 00:12:59,340
But then he was losing a ton of support within his caucus.

180
00:12:59,340 --> 00:13:03,860
And so the question up until basically the day of the floor vote was will he spike his

181
00:13:03,860 --> 00:13:09,100
own bill in order to maintain the rule of 17 or will he go to Democrats for support?

182
00:13:09,100 --> 00:13:12,700
And there was some pretty dramatic stuff on the floor that happened.

183
00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:15,540
It passed very narrowly, but it passed because of Democrats.

184
00:13:17,380 --> 00:13:22,540
Rich, that was a very close one on the Senate, as I recall, just a one-mo of margins.

185
00:13:23,020 --> 00:13:26,780
You talk about needing Democratic votes in every sense of the world.

186
00:13:26,780 --> 00:13:28,620
Devin Lemmieu needed that.

187
00:13:28,620 --> 00:13:29,620
What was that one like?

188
00:13:31,860 --> 00:13:34,300
It was a voice vote, essentially.

189
00:13:34,300 --> 00:13:36,260
I should say it wasn't a voice vote.

190
00:13:36,260 --> 00:13:41,460
It was a roll call vote, but there wasn't a lot of debate or any that I remember in the Senate.

191
00:13:41,460 --> 00:13:46,900
But just kind of looking, pulling back a little bit, I wanted to say that it's interesting to see

192
00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:51,940
Republicans, any Republicans send more money to UW Madison.

193
00:13:51,940 --> 00:14:00,500
Just basically, overall, they have been pretty distrustful of the university on all kinds of fronts.

194
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:07,580
So to see as many, you know, send them more money as there were was something.

195
00:14:07,580 --> 00:14:12,940
What's interesting about this bill and the way that it works is that it allows for that money

196
00:14:12,940 --> 00:14:17,220
to be transferred and the university sold it as we are already getting money for basketball

197
00:14:17,220 --> 00:14:18,060
and football players.

198
00:14:18,060 --> 00:14:21,820
But freeing up this money allows us to share it with our Olympian sports.

199
00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:25,900
So the swimmers, the rowers, volleyball, very successful women's hockey program,

200
00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:30,700
saying we may have to shutter some of those if we don't have this flexibility for a little more money.

201
00:14:30,700 --> 00:14:36,100
But what it does is it solidifies the lack of transparency for all of these contracts.

202
00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:40,580
I interviewed UW Athletic Director Chris McIntosh a couple months ago and asked him about,

203
00:14:40,580 --> 00:14:43,900
you know, why don't we see more of what these people are getting paid?

204
00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:45,460
Because they are now professionals.

205
00:14:45,460 --> 00:14:49,940
They are contracts that are signed between the university and their agents.

206
00:14:49,980 --> 00:14:53,980
And he said, well, we can't because if our competitors know we're paying our potential

207
00:14:53,980 --> 00:14:58,580
quarter back or our point guard, then they can come in and offer a more and steal away from us.

208
00:14:58,580 --> 00:15:02,940
The question becomes, as there were some Dems who raised this during the debate is,

209
00:15:02,940 --> 00:15:08,060
what happens if this lack of transparency for the open records gets applied to coaches contracts?

210
00:15:08,060 --> 00:15:12,180
What happens if there's other deals for outside support that all of a sudden get hidden

211
00:15:12,180 --> 00:15:17,820
under this idea of, well, we, anti-competitive, we can't let anyone know how much we're paying anyone.

212
00:15:17,820 --> 00:15:22,180
And there's a lot of concerns out there and we saw, I think, Senator Hesselbein, the

213
00:15:22,180 --> 00:15:25,820
minority leader of the Dems, say, if the Dems have power next year, they would definitely

214
00:15:25,820 --> 00:15:28,140
come back and revisit that particular angle.

215
00:15:28,140 --> 00:15:31,340
So it's definitely something to watch for of how it's applied.

216
00:15:31,340 --> 00:15:35,220
I think most people are supportive of athletes getting paid for the work that they're doing.

217
00:15:35,220 --> 00:15:38,140
But there's a question of where's this money coming from and what does the public know

218
00:15:38,140 --> 00:15:41,300
about this since it is public support and full disclosure?

219
00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:42,940
We're also UW employees.

220
00:15:42,940 --> 00:15:43,940
Right.

221
00:15:44,940 --> 00:15:47,940
And our salaries are public and that is an open record.

222
00:15:47,940 --> 00:15:48,940
Are we getting a mail?

223
00:15:48,940 --> 00:15:49,940
That's one of the mail.

224
00:15:49,940 --> 00:15:50,940
I'm waiting for mine.

225
00:15:50,940 --> 00:15:52,540
Yeah, me too.

226
00:15:52,540 --> 00:15:56,060
So the Senate adjourned this week.

227
00:15:56,060 --> 00:16:01,140
This assembly has been done like forever now, a month ago, which feels a long time in legislative

228
00:16:01,140 --> 00:16:02,140
politics.

229
00:16:02,140 --> 00:16:06,180
They like to do this under Speaker Voss or Speaker Voss likes to do this.

230
00:16:06,180 --> 00:16:11,500
Get done first, set the agenda, you know, make everybody kind of go on your timeline.

231
00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:15,340
And so then everything that they pass is either going to get passed in the Senate in

232
00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:17,780
that form or it's dead.

233
00:16:17,780 --> 00:16:22,380
And one of the bills that did die was this Republican data center bill would regulate

234
00:16:22,380 --> 00:16:24,180
data centers.

235
00:16:24,180 --> 00:16:29,460
Speaker Voss very hopefully had a forum on the last day of Senate session where he had

236
00:16:29,460 --> 00:16:34,180
some opinions about the Senate not taking up his data center bill on you.

237
00:16:34,180 --> 00:16:35,180
What did he have to say?

238
00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:38,940
Yeah, I mean, this was basically the closest that the legislature came to having any type

239
00:16:38,940 --> 00:16:43,060
of regulatory bill for data centers, which of course are kind of exploding across the

240
00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:44,060
state.

241
00:16:44,060 --> 00:16:48,220
And the fact that it did not reach the floor of the Senate means that this session has

242
00:16:48,220 --> 00:16:51,660
passed without basically any guardrails, any new guardrails coming on.

243
00:16:51,660 --> 00:16:56,540
But this was a Republican bill, Voss championed it, and it essentially put certain guardrails,

244
00:16:56,540 --> 00:16:58,740
especially around energy use of data centers.

245
00:16:58,740 --> 00:17:01,780
So for example, they would have to recycle the water that they use.

246
00:17:01,780 --> 00:17:06,620
If they wanted to use renewable energy sources, they would have to cite those on the properties

247
00:17:06,620 --> 00:17:11,300
of the data centers so you couldn't rely on community solar panels or whatever.

248
00:17:11,300 --> 00:17:16,100
And the data centers would have to be responsible for any upgrades to the energy grid.

249
00:17:16,100 --> 00:17:21,020
So it was just this kind of intro attempt at regulating this.

250
00:17:21,020 --> 00:17:22,740
It was primarily Republican bill.

251
00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:26,700
It had a few Democratic votes in the assembly, but most Democrats said this is rushed.

252
00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:30,660
We need to be sort of more thoughtful about how we are regulating data centers.

253
00:17:30,660 --> 00:17:32,900
And then the Senate didn't even bring it to the floor.

254
00:17:32,940 --> 00:17:38,700
But Voss talked about that really being, as he thought, an issue for Senate Republicans,

255
00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:43,500
that if they don't kind of lead on this issue, that it might cost them votes in November.

256
00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:49,220
Yeah, it's rare to hear a speaker come out against a majority leader from his own party

257
00:17:49,220 --> 00:17:53,820
the week that he's still in session with that kind of criticism.

258
00:17:53,820 --> 00:17:58,500
I think sort of the secret was sort of out on Tuesday.

259
00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:02,860
I mean, we didn't know, no, that Devin Lemieux was not going to seek re-election,

260
00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:04,340
but there was talk about it.

261
00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:06,020
There was speculation about it.

262
00:18:06,020 --> 00:18:10,260
People are looking at the Senate math and they're thinking about it.

263
00:18:10,260 --> 00:18:14,260
Well, it changes a lot when no one has to worry about re-election next year.

264
00:18:14,260 --> 00:18:15,820
I think that's what he's speaking to.

265
00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:20,180
You can all speak in ways that we have not heard or we have not heard them speak publicly.

266
00:18:20,180 --> 00:18:22,860
We've heard them off the record or heard from their staffers.

267
00:18:22,860 --> 00:18:27,700
But I think this bill in particular still has the next election cycle written all over it.

268
00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:32,020
As Voss pointed out, because it's a major issue in the gubernatorial campaign.

269
00:18:32,020 --> 00:18:35,420
There are different Democrats running for governor that have talked about freezes and

270
00:18:35,420 --> 00:18:38,460
the PSC and rate commissions and how data centers work.

271
00:18:38,460 --> 00:18:41,900
I asked all the candidates about this when I interviewed them all in December.

272
00:18:41,900 --> 00:18:45,700
And there were a lot of like dainty footsteps about how to approach this because they knew

273
00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:49,940
it was a hot button issue, but they were still trying to figure out how far could they go?

274
00:18:49,940 --> 00:18:51,860
Where would the public be ahead of them?

275
00:18:51,860 --> 00:18:56,180
And they're still figuring this out because right now it doesn't fall on a clear Republican

276
00:18:56,180 --> 00:18:59,620
Democratic divide, which is why I think the Senate didn't really know what to do with

277
00:18:59,620 --> 00:19:00,620
it.

278
00:19:00,620 --> 00:19:02,940
I think if Lemon you had a strong point of view, he would have brought up the floor and let

279
00:19:02,940 --> 00:19:05,820
Democrats help pass it if he thought that was the way to go.

280
00:19:05,820 --> 00:19:08,100
But there's not a clear advantage at this time.

281
00:19:08,100 --> 00:19:11,500
And Tom Tiffany as governor is clearly campaigning on this issue as well.

282
00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,700
So this is definitely one for the fall.

283
00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:14,700
Rich?

284
00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:18,060
Yeah, I just wanted to follow up on what Zach said.

285
00:19:18,060 --> 00:19:22,500
The recent market university polling shows, of course, people are very opposed to data

286
00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:23,500
centers.

287
00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:28,380
But even pollster Charles Franklin said it doesn't appear that the political parties

288
00:19:28,380 --> 00:19:30,660
have picked their lane on it, really.

289
00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:33,540
So it's kind of up in the air.

290
00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:36,900
Okay, so this was the last regular session day.

291
00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:39,300
They adjourned pursuant to SGR one.

292
00:19:39,300 --> 00:19:41,060
That's how you know it's real.

293
00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:44,420
But they could in theory come back on a couple topics.

294
00:19:44,420 --> 00:19:48,540
They're still talking about a property tax and education special session.

295
00:19:48,540 --> 00:19:52,300
Talk about a gerrymandering session real quick.

296
00:19:52,300 --> 00:19:55,020
Are these things going to happen, Zach, you go first.

297
00:19:55,020 --> 00:19:58,820
The only reason there's still a prayer that any of this could happen is because everyone's

298
00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:02,340
leaving and it's legacy time for all three of those people.

299
00:20:02,340 --> 00:20:03,340
Rich?

300
00:20:03,340 --> 00:20:05,340
Ditto.

301
00:20:05,340 --> 00:20:06,340
Predict the future for us.

302
00:20:06,340 --> 00:20:07,340
What are you?

303
00:20:07,340 --> 00:20:08,340
Okay.

304
00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:09,340
Anya, how about you?

305
00:20:09,340 --> 00:20:11,820
Well, there will be a special session on gerrymandering no matter what.

306
00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:15,740
The question is just whether will they gavel in and gavel out in a few seconds or will

307
00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:17,940
they actually take up some kind of a bill?

308
00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:18,940
Okay.

309
00:20:18,940 --> 00:20:21,820
I'm going to say definitely gavel in gavel out on gerrymandering.

310
00:20:21,820 --> 00:20:24,300
That's my firm take on that one.

311
00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:26,300
We can replay this later.

312
00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:27,300
Absolutely.

313
00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:33,860
I think that I think it's an unusual enough, a bipartisan enough session on the other stuff

314
00:20:33,860 --> 00:20:40,100
with property taxes and education funding that they may have real incentives to reach

315
00:20:40,100 --> 00:20:44,180
a deal and not have to be talking to voters about why didn't you address these issues.

316
00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:47,900
So maybe that's enough to get them all there.

317
00:20:47,900 --> 00:20:53,540
Thanks all for joining us on this, our first episode of Inside Wisconsin Politics.

318
00:20:53,540 --> 00:21:00,140
Be sure to follow us on pbswisconsin.org, wpr.org, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

319
00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:34,980
We can do a couple of ticks of hay.

320
00:24:34,980 --> 00:24:36,980
Hey, sure.

321
00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:40,700
Yeah, you got it.

322
00:24:40,700 --> 00:24:42,180
Oh, shit.

323
00:24:42,180 --> 00:24:45,100
For the, for the table.

324
00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:46,100
You see this?

325
00:24:46,100 --> 00:24:47,100
Oh, yeah.

326
00:24:48,100 --> 00:24:50,100
That's right.

327
00:24:50,100 --> 00:24:51,100
Oh, shit.

328
00:24:51,100 --> 00:24:54,620
Don't you mean oh, shoot?

329
00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:55,620
No.

330
00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:56,620
No.

331
00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:57,620
No.

332
00:24:57,620 --> 00:24:58,140
No.

333
00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:19,100
No.

334
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:20,100
No.

335
00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:21,100
No.

336
00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:22,100
No.

337
00:25:22,100 --> 00:25:23,100
No.

338
00:25:23,100 --> 00:25:24,100
No.

339
00:25:24,100 --> 00:25:25,100
No.

340
00:25:25,100 --> 00:25:26,100
No.

341
00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:27,100
No.

342
00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:28,100
No.

343
00:25:28,100 --> 00:25:29,100
No.

344
00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:30,100
No.

345
00:25:30,100 --> 00:25:31,100
No.

346
00:25:31,100 --> 00:25:32,100
No.

347
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:33,100
No.

348
00:25:33,100 --> 00:25:34,100
No.

349
00:25:34,100 --> 00:25:35,100
No.

350
00:25:35,100 --> 00:25:36,100
No.

351
00:25:36,100 --> 00:25:37,100
No.

352
00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:38,100
No.

353
00:25:38,100 --> 00:25:39,100
No.

354
00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:40,100
No.

355
00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:41,100
No.

356
00:25:41,100 --> 00:25:42,100
No.

357
00:25:42,100 --> 00:25:43,100
No.

358
00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:44,100
No.

359
00:25:44,100 --> 00:25:45,100
No.

360
00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:46,100
No.

361
00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:47,100
No.

362
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:48,100
No.

363
00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:49,100
No.

364
00:25:49,100 --> 00:25:50,100
No.

365
00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:51,100
No.

366
00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:52,100
No.

367
00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:53,100
No.

368
00:25:53,100 --> 00:25:54,100
No.

369
00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:55,100
No.

370
00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:56,100
No.

371
00:25:56,100 --> 00:25:57,100
No.

372
00:25:57,100 --> 00:25:58,100
No.

373
00:25:58,100 --> 00:25:59,100
No.

374
00:25:59,100 --> 00:26:00,100
No.

375
00:26:00,100 --> 00:26:01,100
No.

376
00:26:01,100 --> 00:26:02,100
No.

377
00:26:02,100 --> 00:26:03,100
No.

378
00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:04,100
No.

379
00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:05,100
No.

380
00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:06,100
No.

381
00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:07,100
No.

382
00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:08,100
No.

383
00:26:08,100 --> 00:26:09,100
No.

384
00:26:10,100 --> 00:26:11,100
No.

385
00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:13,100
No.

386
00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:14,100
No.

387
00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:15,100
No.

388
00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:16,100
No.

389
00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:17,100
No.

390
00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:18,100
No.

391
00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:19,100
No.

392
00:26:19,100 --> 00:26:20,100
No.

393
00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:21,100
No.

394
00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:24,100
The Wisconsin Senate wraps up its regular business for 2026.

395
00:26:24,100 --> 00:26:25,100
What passed?

396
00:26:25,100 --> 00:26:26,100
What didn't?

397
00:26:26,100 --> 00:26:28,260
what can we learn from the way this Senate voted?

398
00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:30,100
This is inside Wisconsin politics.

399
00:26:30,100 --> 00:26:31,100
I'm W.P.R.

400
00:26:31,100 --> 00:26:33,100
capital bureau chief, Sean Johnson.

401
00:26:33,100 --> 00:26:36,100
Here with NPR capital reporter Aneven Way rottendank,

402
00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:37,100
W.P.R.

403
00:26:37,100 --> 00:26:40,100
Wisconsin's senior political reporter Zach Schultz.

404
00:26:40,100 --> 00:26:40,940
Hey everyone.

405
00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:33,020
The Wisconsin Senate wraps up its regular business for 2026.

406
00:27:33,020 --> 00:27:34,020
What passed?

407
00:27:34,020 --> 00:27:35,020
What didn't?

408
00:27:35,020 --> 00:27:38,100
And what can we learn from the way this Senate voted?

409
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:39,940
This is Inside Wisconsin Politics.

410
00:27:39,940 --> 00:27:42,860
I'm WPR Capital Bureau Chief Sean Johnson.

411
00:27:42,860 --> 00:27:49,020
Here with WPR Capital reporter Anya Van Wagtendank, WPR political reporter Rich Kramer, and PBS

412
00:27:49,020 --> 00:27:52,020
Wisconsin senior political reporter Zach Schultz.

413
00:27:52,020 --> 00:27:53,020
Hey everyone.

414
00:27:53,020 --> 00:27:54,020
Hey Sean.

415
00:27:54,020 --> 00:27:55,020
Hey.

416
00:27:55,020 --> 00:27:57,020
So how about Devin Lemihue?

417
00:27:57,020 --> 00:27:58,020
That man.

418
00:27:58,020 --> 00:28:00,020
I think he retired.

419
00:28:00,020 --> 00:28:03,020
Oh man.

420
00:28:03,020 --> 00:28:06,020
So soggy looking.

421
00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:11,020
We're still rolling.

422
00:28:11,020 --> 00:28:17,020
With or without goatee, sorry about it.

423
00:28:17,020 --> 00:28:19,020
Glad the maps in focus even if he's not.