Wisconsin Legislature to end session with vote on transgender athlete ban, no action on elections

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature is poised to finish its two-year session Tuesday by passing a ban on high school transgender athletes competing on girls teams, but a bipartisan effort to allow for early processing of absentee ballots appears to be dead.

The Senate’s final day comes after the Assembly wrapped up its two-year session last month. Any bills that don’t pass both chambers this year are dead and would have to be reintroduced once the new Legislature elected in November takes office in January.

Democrats called on Republicans to vote on bills with bipartisan support and continue working into April if necessary.

The bill requiring that high school athletes play on teams that match the gender they were assigned at birth almost certainly won’t become law. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has already promised to veto it.

At least 20 states have approved a version of a blanket ban on transgender athletes playing on K-12 and collegiate sports teams statewide, but a Biden administration proposal to forbid such outright bans is set to be finalized this year after multiple delays and much pushback. As proposed, the rule would establish that blanket bans would violate Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.

A measure backed by elections officials and both Republicans and Democrats alike that would have allowed for early processing of absentee ballots is not up for a vote.

Supporters said the measure would have sped up the counting of ballots on Election Day by easing the workload of election officials, particularly in Milwaukee, where the counting of ballots at a central location can go deep into the night. Former President Donald Trump and election skeptics have falsely claimed those so-called ballot dumps are the result of election fraud.

Republican Sen. Dan Knodl, chair of the Senate committee on elections, said he opposed the bill because he did not think a new process should be added in a presidential election year.

Democratic Sen. Mark Spreitzer said the change would “put to rest complaints from conspiracy theorists,” but Republicans don’t want to do it so Trump can spread lies and complain when he loses.

The Senate was also expected to fire two of Evers’ appointees to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents in a dispute over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Some bipartisan deals were expected to win final approval Tuesday, including a measure that will ensure full staffing of an office that assists schools with addressing school safety concerns. The bill would use state money to replace federal pandemic relief funds to fund positions in the state Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety for nine months. The current funding is slated to run out at the end of the year.

Another bipartisan bill that requires the teaching of Asian American and Hmong American history lessons in school was slated for final approval.

Several high profile proposals that had bipartisan support were missing from the Senate’s agenda on its final meeting day.

That includes the bill to legalize medical marijuana that also never got a vote in the Assembly. Republican senators objected to the state running dispensaries. Democrats who want full legalization also had concerns about how restrictive the proposed program would have been.

Also not scheduled for a vote was a bipartisan measure that would limit competition among companies constructing power lines.

The bill, one of the most heavily lobbied this session, would give utilities already doing business in Wisconsin the first refusal on new power line projects. That would mean the state’s three existing owners of transmission lines would not have to compete with out-of-state companies when building onto their existing lines.

Opponents fear adopting the law will lead to higher rates, while supporters say it would keep rates low and bolster the state’s electric grid. The Assembly passed it, but it must also clear the Senate before it would go to Evers.

The Senate was slated to give final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature final say over how the governor spends federal money that is allocated to the state. Republicans brought forward the measure after Evers had full control over the distribution of billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief money.

The Legislature also passed it last year, meaning once it is approved Tuesday it will go before voters on the Aug. 13 primary. Governors can’t veto constitutional amendments.