Vacancies in Appointive State Offices Bill Vetoed
Summary
Wisconsin Assembly Bill 248, which proposed creating Wisconsin Statute 17.03(10m) to establish procedures for filling vacancies in appointive state offices, was vetoed by Governor Tony Evers on April 3, 2026. The bill passed the Assembly on February 19, 2025, and the Senate on March 17, 2026, both on near party-line votes. Multiple substitute amendments were offered in both chambers before the final version was vetoed.
What changed
Wisconsin Assembly Bill 248 proposed to amend state law by adding section 17.03(10m) to the Wisconsin statutes, establishing procedures for filling vacancies in appointive state offices. The bill cleared the Assembly on February 19, 2026 (with Assembly Substitute Amendment 4 adopted), and the Senate on March 17, 2026, by votes of 17-16 and 17-16 respectively. Governor Tony Evers vetoed the bill on April 3, 2026, preventing the proposed statutory change from taking effect.
State agencies and appointing authorities are not required to take any action as a result of this veto. The bill's failure to become law means existing statutory provisions governing vacancies in appointive offices remain unchanged. State personnel offices should continue following current vacancy-filling procedures under Wisconsin law.
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Wisconsin / AB248 Vetoed AB248 Assembly Bill Vetoed 2026-04-03
Vacancies in appointive state offices.
An Act to create 17.03 (10m) of the statutes; Relating to: vacancies in appointive state offices.
Bill Details
State Wisconsin
Session 2025-2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/re...
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Sponsors
Scott Allen (Rep - R) Dave Maxey (Rep - R) Elijah Behnke (Rep - R) Lindee Brill (Rep - R) Robert Brooks (Rep - R) Joy Goeben (Rep - R) Chanz Green (Rep - R) Rick Gundrum (Rep - R) Dan Knodl (Rep - R) Rob Kreibich (Rep - R) David Murphy (Rep - R) Jerry O'Connor (Rep - R) William Penterman (Rep - R) Jim Piwowarczyk (Rep - R) David Steffen (Rep - R) Chuck Wichgers (Rep - R) Julian Bradley (Sen - R) Romaine Quinn (Sen - R) Rachael Cabral-Guevara (Sen - R) Dan Feyen (Sen - R) Howard Marklein (Sen - R) Steve Nass (Sen - R)
Action History
2026-04-03 A Report vetoed by the Governor on 4-3-2026 2026-04-02 A Presented to the Governor on 4-2-2026 2026-03-24 A Report correctly enrolled on 3-24-2026 2026-03-18 A Received from Senate concurred in 2026-03-17 S Ordered immediately messaged 2026-03-17 S Read a third time and concurred in, Ayes 17, Noes 16 2026-03-17 S Rules suspended to give bill its third reading 2026-03-17 S Ordered to a third reading 2026-03-17 S Decision of the Chair stands as the judgment of the Senate, Ayes 18, Noes 15 2026-03-17 S Point of order that Senate Substitute Amendment 1 was not germane well taken 2026-03-17 S Read a second time 2026-03-17 S Senate Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Senators Larson, Carpenter, Dassler-Alfheim, Drake, Habush Sinykin, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Keyeski, Ratcliff, Roys, Smith, Spreitzer and Wirch 2026-03-16 S Placed on calendar 3-17-2026 pursuant to Senate Rule 18(1) 2026-03-12 S Available for scheduling 2026-03-12 S Report concurrence by Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs, Ayes 2, Noes 3 2026-03-12 S Executive action taken 2026-03-11 S Public hearing held 2026-02-25 S Read first time and referred to committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs 2026-02-23 S Received from Assembly 2026-02-19 A Ordered immediately messaged 2026-02-19 A Read a third time and passed 2026-02-19 A Rules suspended 2026-02-19 A Ordered to a third reading 2026-02-19 A Assembly Substitute Amendment 4 adopted 2026-02-19 A Assembly Substitute Amendment 4 offered by Representative Allen 2026-02-19 A Read a second time 2026-02-18 A Made a special order of business at 11:12 AM on 2-19-2026 pursuant to Assembly Resolution 14 2026-01-15 A Assembly Substitute Amendment 3 offered by Representative Snodgrass 2026-01-15 A Assembly Substitute Amendment 2 offered by Representative Neubauer 2026-01-15 A Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 offered by Representative Bare 2026-01-13 A Placed on calendar 1-15-2026 by Committee on Rules 2025-11-20 A Referred to committee on Rules 2025-11-20 A Report passage recommended by Committee on State Affairs, Ayes 7, Noes 3 2025-11-20 A Executive action taken 2025-11-12 A Public hearing held 2025-05-08 A Read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs 2025-05-08 A Introduced
Votes
2026-03-17 Senate: Decision of the Chair stands as the judgment of the Senate Yea: 18 Nay: 15 2026-03-17 Senate: Read a third time and concurred in Yea: 17 Nay: 16
Committee Referrals
2025-05-08 A State Affairs 2025-11-20 A Rules 2026-02-25 S Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs
Amendments
2026-01-15 Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 2026-01-15 Assembly Substitute Amendment 2 2026-01-15 Assembly Substitute Amendment 3 2026-02-19 Assembly Substitute Amendment 4 2026-03-17 Senate Substitute Amendment 1
Bill Text Versions
2025-05-08 Introduced 2026-03-24 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
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