We all know the headline getters, but there is plenty of legislation that never sees the light of day.
These low-profile measures from the 2025-2026 session probably failed to gather many headlines. I won’t speculate why these bills failed to progress, but each represents a unique bill that was drowned out by the bigger priorities. Here’s why they deserved to become law and why lawmakers should revisit them.
Assembly Bill 10: Creates a sales and use tax exemption for the sale of gun safes. Need I say more? Who wouldn’t love to not pay the extra $50 bucks on your $1,000 safe? Instead of heavy-handed mandates, it offers a simple incentive that encourages responsibility while respecting gun owners’ rights. It is a classic “carrot” approach that keeps the government out of the 2A issue and promotes safety at the same time. This bill even managed to be bipartisan.
Assembly Bill 16: Repeals a Department of Natural Resources administrative rule related to the possession of firearms. This bill simply rolls back an unnecessary DNR rule burdening hunters and gun owners on waterways. Somehow the DNR thought they had the ability to bar gun owners from having firearms on or near waterways. Why did the DNR think they could do this anyway?
Assembly Bill 58: Requires display of flags at state and local government buildings. No flags on the top of government buildings that are not the American or state flag; no more pride flags. There are a few other common sense exceptions, but the politically divisive ones are gone. Remember my piece about physical culture and “planting the flag?” That seems extremely pertinent here. At the very least, preventing them from literally planting their own.
Assembly Bill 56: Requires display of the national motto (“In God We Trust”) in public schools and government buildings. Our national motto belongs in the places where we teach the next generation and conduct the people’s business. This is a return to longstanding tradition of American civic identity. It’s about reminding everyone of the foundational principles that built this country. Maybe not as practical for a swing state like Wisconsin, but a man can dream.
Assembly Bill 614: Enhances a teacher’s authority to manage the classroom, requires parental notification of disruptive/violent behavior, and updates school codes of conduct. This one I wish wasn’t necessary. Teachers need real tools to maintain order, and parents deserve to know when a child is involved in serious disruptions or violence. This bill does the work that some school districts fail to do.
Assembly Bill 308: Prohibits funding for health services for unlawfully present individuals. Taxpayer dollars should serve Wisconsin citizens first. This bill ensures limited public resources go toward legal residents rather than being diverted elsewhere. It’s basic fiscal responsibility and rule-of-law policy that prioritizes those who follow the system.
Assembly Bill 556: Requires zero-based biennial budget requests by executive branch agencies. Classic fiscal hawk policy. Executive branches usually use previous budgets and start their work there. We have to rework how we think budgeting in the state to downsize some bloat and executive agencies are no different.
Assembly Bill 1039: Penalty for the terrorist crimes against the occupants of a church and providing a penalty. Mandatory minimums? Sign me up. Punishing people for terrorizing church-goers? Much needed when we see how radicals react to parishioners in Minnesota.
