An Act to create 15.197 (20), 20.435 (1) (cd) and 255.45 of the statutes; Relating to: spinal cord injury research grants and symposia and making an appropriation. (FE)
AB92 would create a new state program within the Department of Health Services to fund spinal cord injury research in Wisconsin. The bill directs DHS to award competitive grants to in-state recipients for research aimed at improving function and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injuries, including work on pharmaceuticals, medical devices, brain stimulation, and other treatment approaches. Grant recipients would be required to present their findings at department-sponsored symposia, which could be held no more than once every two years.
The bill also establishes a Spinal Cord Injury Council to advise DHS on the grant program. The council would include representatives from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Marquette University, the Medical College of Wisconsin, a person with a spinal cord injury, a family member, a veteran with a spinal cord injury, a physician, a neurosurgery researcher, and a Veterans Health Administration researcher, with general-public substitutes allowed if needed. The council would develop grant criteria, review applications, and make recommendations, and members would have to disclose financial interests in organizations they recommend for funding. The bill caps administrative or indirect costs at 8 percent of grant awards and requires DHS to submit annual reports to the legislature.
AB92 appropriates $2.5 million in each year of the 2025-27 biennium from general-purpose revenue for the grant and symposium program. It would add a new statutory appropriation and a new section of law governing spinal cord injury research grants, while also creating the advisory council in statute. The act would take effect after publication, or after the 2025 biennial budget act is published, whichever is later.
The available context shows no recorded committee testimony or vote breakdown, but the bill was introduced with bipartisan and cross-chamber cosponsorship and was framed as a research and public-health initiative. Overall, the bill appears to have been aimed at supporting medical innovation and rehabilitation for a serious disability population, with the main policy emphasis on targeted research funding, oversight, and transparency rather than controversy over eligibility or program design. The bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
AB92 would create new statutory authority for DHS to administer spinal cord injury research grants and convene an advisory council, while also establishing a biennial $5 million general-purpose revenue appropriation over the 2025-27 budget period. It would affect state law by adding a new council statute, a new program statute, and a dedicated appropriation line, and it would impose reporting, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and administrative-cost limits on grant recipients and council members.
There is no committee transcript or vote record in the provided materials, so no direct floor or committee sentiment can be measured. Based on the bill text and broad bipartisan/cross-party cosponsorship, the measure appears to have been generally favorable and nonpartisan in tone, with support centered on medical research, rehabilitation, and assistance for people living with spinal cord injuries.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided context. Potential areas of debate, based on the bill itself, would likely include the size and source of the appropriation, the use of state funds for research grants, the composition and influence of the advisory council, and the 8 percent cap on administrative costs. However, the record provided does not identify any particular opponent or disputed provision.