Why would a legislator sign on to support a bill after it was signed into law or debate was over? Crass politics, that’s why.
We all knew that kid in school. Nowhere to be found during the entire group project, no research, no drafts, no late nights, but front and center on presentation day with a big smile and their name on the cover page. Meet Rep. Jenna Jacobson, who has apparently decided that same strategy works just as well in the Wisconsin Legislature.
After the Assembly wrapped up its session in March, Rep. Jacobson quietly added her name as a co-author to a remarkable stack of bills. Not one or two bills; we’re talking dozens of bills to pad her election resume. Bills she had nothing to do with. Bills that had already been debated, amended, and voted on without her. Bills that, in many cases, promptly died when the gavel came down. But her name is on them now, and with November on the horizon, that’s apparently what matters to her, not actually fighting on behalf of her constituents. It’s a calculated deception, and she’s counting on voters not noticing the fine print.
Let’s look at the variety pack she grabbed off the shelf on her way out the door. Readers can see the records themselves at the links at the end of this article, but here are some that we expect to see used by Representative Jacobson as talking points this fall.
Let’s start with AB 294. A bill introduced by republicans that revised the membership categories for the Board of Nursing but maintained the total number of members. Introduced in May of 2025 and supported by various nursing groups in Wisconsin, including the Wisconsin Nurses Association. It had bi-partisan support and passed the legislature in October and signed into law by the Governor in December. A month later, Jacobson adds her name as a Co-sponsor.
Jacobson even went so far as to sign on to support a bill AFTER the bill had already been signed into law.
And that’s not the only time she added her name to a bill well after the debate was done:
- AB 346, relating to fleet registration of vehicles, was signed into law in December, and Rep. Jacobson added her name to it in January.
- AB 424, requirements for renting mobile homes, was signed into law in December, and Rep. Jacobson added her name to it in January.
- AB 598, rules for admitting patients to healthcare facilities, was signed into law on March 20th, the same day Rep. Jacobson added her name to the bill.
- AB 759, occupational credentials for DACA recipients, passed both houses by March 17th, and Rep. Jacobson added her name on March 20th.
- AB 913, dealing with income for National Guard members, passed both houses by March 17, and Rep. Jacobson added her name on March 20th.
These were not controversial bills, and most passed with bipartisan support, begging the question: why did Rep. Jacobson wait so long to engage in the legislative process?
Then there’s AB 775 and AB 921, capping costs on insulin and Epi-Pens. These bills were introduced in December and January, but Representative Jacobson only signed on in March, after the Assembly adjourned for the year. We can certainly expect to see Representative Jacobson talk about “making prescriptions more affordable” between now and November, but her constituents deserve to know that she once again showed up late on this issue, and did nothing to move the policy forward.
Take AB 974 to fund the public affairs network that streams state legislative hearings and floors sessions: introduced in January, passed the Assembly in February, cosponsored by Jacobson in March.
Or how about AB 749, a bipartisan bill requiring instruction on blood and organ donations for high school students. Rep. Jacobson didn’t put her name on the bill until nearly two months after it passed the State Assembly.
In each instance, Rep. Jacobson showed up afterward, like someone sliding into the graduation photo who didn’t even attend the school.
This is not legislating. This is politics at its worst. And it is, more precisely, an attempt to deceive the very constituents she asked to trust her.
Rep. Jacobson will now head back to her constituents waving a list of dozens of bills she supposedly championed, covering everything from energy policy to veterans’ benefits to school funding to prescription drug costs. What she won’t tell voters is that she signed onto most of them after the session ended, when there was no floor vote to cast, no constituent to answer to, and no political risk whatsoever. Calling that a legislative record isn’t a stretch. It’s a lie.
For constituents of Representative Jacobson, the question becomes if she couldn’t be bothered to sign on to simple resolutions honoring those who have died in a timely manner, what can her constituents trust her to do for them?
