MADISON – From considering whether state employees should be required to return to work in-person, to determining which flags should be allowed to fly over government buildings, the state Assembly passed a variety of bills in its first floor session since early July.
Lawmakers also debated whether cigar bars should be allowed to open in the state, and voted on a resolution to honor Hispanic Heritage Month.
Here are some of the bills the Assembly took up in its Sept. 11 session.
‘Return to work’ for state employees
Lawmakers have voted along party lines to require state employees to return to the office at least four days a week.
Democrats pushed back on the bill, and said issues like child care are making it harder for workers to return to the office, while Republicans said there is no way to ensure that work is being done and that state data is not being protected when employees work in locations other than an office.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, authored the bill and said employees would be required to be in the office 80% of the time, to allow for flexibility. She said Gov. Tony Evers has failed to require a return to work, and because of that is leaving the state open to unknown risks or inefficiency.
“What began as an emergency response has become a permanent work etitlement,” she said in a speech on the floor of the Assembly. “It’s time for state employees to return to the office and do the work that Wisconsin’s hardworking taxpayers expect.”
Democrats attempted to amend the bill, but were voted down.
More: Wisconsin’s version of DOGE, dubbed GOAT, takes on telework, sets stage for talks on DEI
When the bill was introduced earlier this year, a spokesperson for Evers said a return to work plan like this would be difficult to implement, because so much space in state buildings has been consolidated and other buildings have been sold or are for sale.
Last year, an analysis released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found most state agencies and University of Wisconsin institutions allowed employees to work from home up to five days a week, and one-third or less of workstations in state offices were being used during auditors’ visits.
Republicans have questioned the productivity of employees while working from home, as well as online security measures if employees are working from a coffee shop or other public space while handling sensitive information.
The bill is the only so far to stem from the Assembly’s Government Oversight Accountability and Transparency, or GOAT, committee. The committee was modeled after the Elon Musk-created DOGE, created to root out government inefficiencies. An hours-long hearing on telework was held in March, with Republicans questioning state employees and leadership over work-from-home habits.
Banning ‘deepfakes’ that depict nudity or sexually explicit content
Lawmakers voted unanimously to approve a bill that would bar the distribution of sexually explicit “deepfakes” without the consent of the person being depicted. Having already passed the Senate, the bill, which seeks to strengthen privacy protections as artificial intelligence becomes more advanced and accessible, awaits the governor’s signature.
According to bill author Rep. Brent Jacobson, R-Mosinee, 32 other states have similar laws on the books.
Studies conducted by cybersecurity companies Deeptrace and Sensity AI have found that more than 90% of deepfakes found online are nonconsensual pornography, the majority of which targets women.
Under current law in Wisconsin, it is a felony to capture or distribute nude images of a person without their consent. The bill would make it a felony to publish or distribute a synthetic intimate representation (also known as a deepfake) of a person “with intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate that person.” Violators of the law would face up to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Limiting which flags can fly over government buildings
On a party-line vote, lawmakers approved legislation that would bar government buildings from flying any flags —with some exceptions — other than the state flag, the U.S. flag or a state agency’s flag.
It comes after Evers in 2019 ordered the LGBTQ+ pride flag to fly over the East Wing of the state Capitol during the month of June — the first time the rainbow flag flew above the building in its history. Evers has continued to raise the flag each year since, moving to the “Progress” pride flag in 2022.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, prefaced the day’s votes by noting it was a “somber day” as lawmakers recognized the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie KIrk, but chided Republicans for voting on the flag bill, acccusing them of “prioritizing culture wars.”
The author of the bill, Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, argued it’s one designed to eliminate “government-sponsored division” and could prevent future political violence by limiting which flags can be on display.
He hypothesized that if the Capitol hosted flags representing LGBTQ+ Pride, the “Make America Great Again” movement, Black Lives Matter, pro-life and pro-choice causes, “in the end, anyone driving around this building’s going to be upset. Why would we do that?”
Recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month
Weeks after a dispute among lawmakers over how to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month in Wisconsin spilled into public view, a bipartisan resolution passed unanimously, with several lawmakers speaking in its favor.
Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, introduced a resolution with bipartisan support recognizing Sept. 15-Oct. 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month, noting that Hispanic and Latino residents make up about 8% of Wisconsin’s population, are active in the state’s labor force and are revitalizing both small towns and urban neighborhoods throughout the state.
“Hispanic and Latino Wisconsinites share the same core values cherished all across our state: faith, family, hard work and service to community and country,” Ortiz-Velez said. “Let us always remember that we are bound together.”
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura. Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hispanic heritage to ‘deepfakes’: 4 bills the Assembly passed