The Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance met on May 8, 2025, to begin to rework Gov. Evers’ (D) proposed budget recommendations. The committee essentially scrapped Gov. Evers’ budget recommendations and is beginning to build a budget off the base year. Stripped on a party-line from the budget and removed from further consideration were Gov. Evers’ proposals for:
- Creation of new employee rights relating to work schedules and, if violated, creation of a new civil cause of action. Compensatory damages, attorney fees, and, in certain circumstances, liquidated damages may be awarded.
- Creation of a new civil cause of action allowing a person to bring an action alleging that an employer has violated employment discrimination, unfair honesty testing, or unfair genetic testing laws (currently, a person may file a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development). Back pay, attorney fees, and compensatory & punitive damages could be awarded.
- Creation of new avenues for civil suits against employers alleging gender identity & expression discrimination.
- Creation of a new civil cause of action allowing any person to bring an action against a broadband service provider alleging the provider has denied access to broadband service to any group of potential residential customers because of the race or income of the residents in the area in which the group resides. Costs and attorney fees could be awarded. The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection could also enforce this provision.
- Restoration of the ability of private parties to bring a qui tam action against a person for making a false claim with the state, such as Medicaid. The private party bringing the claim on behalf of the state could be awarded up to 30 percent of the amount recovered, along with attorney fees. The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council successfully worked in the 2015 legislative session to remove a similar provision under prior law. (Currently, the Department of Justice may bring an action against a person for making a false Medicaid claim.)
The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council met with key legislators to ensure that these provisions, which would harm Wisconsin’s business community and worsen the state’s civil litigation climate, would be removed from the budget, set aside, and not considered further.