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Yes.
Nine out of 446 bills with a Democrat as the first author got a hearing in the Wisconsin Legislature in the 2025-26 session.
The nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau provided statistics that confirmed most of the numbers in a social media post about the fate of bills introduced by Democrats, who are in the minority.
Nine Democratic-led bills got a public hearing, one of the first steps to becoming law. Those included enhancing perimenopause and menopause education, grants for AEDs in child care centers and free state park access for veterans and Gold Star families.
The LRB confirmed that no bills with a Democrat as the first author became law. That doesn’t take into account three laws where the Assembly or Senate version of the text passed, but a Democrat led the companion bill in the other chamber, such as a bipartisan law that expanded the missing child alerts system.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau Email Sept. 2, 2026
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Republicans control the Wisconsin statehouse. By how many seats?
- Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 437
- Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 356
- Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 718
- Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 466
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Bipartisan Wisconsin law expands to improve state's missing child alerts system
Did fewer than 10 Democrat-authored bills get a hearing in the 2025-26 legislative session? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
