Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB1198

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/19/26
• Refer: 3/19/26
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to amend 119.04 (1); to create 20.255 (2) (dx) and 115.369 of the statutes; Relating to: grants to school districts for safe transportation for school-sponsored events and making an appropriation. (FE)

Summary

AB1198 creates a new state grant program within the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to help school districts provide a safe method of transportation for high school students attending school-sponsored events. The bill appropriates $500,000 in each of fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 for these grants, and it directs DPI to administer the program under a newly created statute, s. 115.369. The grant authority is temporary. DPI may award grants only through June 30, 2027, after which the program sunsets. The bill also amends an existing cross-reference in s. 119.04(1) to include the new transportation grant statute among the provisions applicable to first-class city school districts and boards, which helps integrate the new program into the existing school-law framework.

Impact

AB1198 would add a new, limited-duration state aid program for school transportation related to extracurricular or school-sponsored events, funded through the general purpose revenue appropriation to DPI. It would create s. 115.369 and add a corresponding appropriation line in s. 20.255(2)(dx), while also updating s. 119.04(1) to reference the new statute in the list of laws applicable to first-class city school districts. The practical effect is to give districts a new funding source for safer transportation options for high school pupils, but only for two fiscal years and only until the end of the 2026-27 school year.

Sentiment

The available record suggests generally positive or supportive intent, with the bill framed as a student safety measure rather than a controversial policy change. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided materials, and the bill had only reached the fiscal estimate stage as of the last action. The absence of recorded opposition or amendments in the supplied context indicates that the proposal was still early in the process and had not yet generated a documented public debate.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential issues that could arise from the bill’s design include whether $500,000 per year is sufficient, how DPI would define and prioritize eligible transportation needs, and whether the temporary sunset is too short to evaluate effectiveness. Any disagreement would likely center on funding levels, administrative discretion, and whether the state should subsidize transportation for school-sponsored events at all, but none of those concerns are explicitly recorded here.