Our Wisconsin Legislative Agenda

Ratified by GROWW Member Assembly, February 28th 2026

Summary

This agenda is meant to focus our organizing onto a clear set of demands that can become the basis for a new Wisconsin.

In GROWW, we envision communities where everyone can lead their best life: where every person has a safe home, a meal on the table, and work that sustains them; where every voice counts — not just on election day, but in school boards, city halls, county boards, and the state capitol; where every child grows, learns, and plays in supportive, safe spaces; where healthy land and clean water nourish the food we grow; where small businesses and family farms thrive; and where no one is left to struggle alone in the face of illness, addiction, or hardship.

We believe this vision is possible — but only if we build power together to challenge corporate greed and political corruption, and create a democracy that truly serves all of us.

This process began at GROWW Fest on September 28, 2025 and continued for months in a member survey, in 1-1 meetings, team meetings, and base meetings.  Delegates used defined meeting rules grounded in parliamentary procedure to adopt policies, propose amendments, and ratify our agenda into a powerful set of focused demands, not a laundry list of hopes and dreams. 

Our GROWW Legislative Agenda 2026-2028

 

Fair Maps. 

Ensure Wisconsin voters’ access to fair state legislative and congressional districts that reflect our communities by enacting the Fair Maps Coalition’s plan to create an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) that draws maps using clear anti-gerrymandering standards, public hearings, and transparency requirements.

BadgerCare Public Option & Coverage Expansion.

Pass the BadgerCare Public Option bill to let individuals regardless of income and businesses with 50 employees or fewer buy into BadgerCare, while also expanding eligibility so more low-income households can qualify. 

Fully Fund Public Schools. 

Increase statewide school funding by shifting Wisconsin toward a revenue model funded by the state’s highest earners and corporations. This reform would reduce reliance on local referenda and property tax hikes, stabilize school funding, increase special education reimbursement, strengthen equalization aid, and provide meaningful property tax relief to households across the state.

Pass the Data Center Accountability Act. 

Wisconsin should not allow massive data centers to move in and strain our water and power systems before communities have clear protections and accountability. We will pass the Data Center Accountability Act (SB 729/AB 722) to require data centers to use renewable energy, protect workers, promote transparency, and protect communities. 

Regulate Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

  • Enact a “Right to Know” for Verified CAFO Spills. Pass the Water Pollution Notification Act (AB 635 / SB 628) and require the DNR to notify neighboring households and local health officials whenever the DNR verifies a manure spill or pollution exceedance at a CAFO.
  • Create a “Mega-CAFO Impact Permit” (Second-Tier Review)  Establish a second-tier Mega-CAFO Impact Permit for operations above 5,000 animal units, requiring all economic, environmental, and social impacts to be addressed, monitored, and enforced as a condition of approval.

Fund Mental Health Crisis Response & Regional Facilities. 

Amend Wisconsin’s Emergency Detention law (Wis. Stat. ch. 51.15) so mental health professionals respond in the vast majority of crises instead of law enforcement, and we will create 3-4 regional secure mental health facilities where professionals can bring people locally for stabilization and treatment. 

Stabilize Rural Health Care. 

Increase statewide investment in rural hospitals, clinics, and workforce, in order to stabilize rural healthcare infrastructure so communities can keep essential services open and staffed.

Restore Local Control Over Housing. 

  • Restore Proactive Rental Inspections. Restore the freedom for towns and municipalities to conduct proactive rental inspections by repealing the state ban on proactive inspections (AB 317) and creating a funded statewide inspection support program in partnership with local governments.
  • Restore Local Authority to Stabilize Rent. Return decision-making authority to local governments to adopt rent stabilization policies that reflect local housing conditions by repealing state law that blocks communities from stabilizing local rents (Wis. Stat. § 66.1015 (a)), and supporting implementation with state resources for administration and enforcement.
  • Restore Inclusionary Zoning + Local Land-Use Solutions. Restore local authority to adopt inclusionary zoning and other affordability-focused land-use tools that support mixed-use housing, affordability, and locally driven land-use solutions by repealing state restrictions in state law (Wis. Stat. § 66.1015(3)(b)).

Fight Dark Money & Corporate Influence. 

Strengthen Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws by closing disclosure loopholes, expanding donor transparency for outside spending, and tightening rules that allow corporate-funded spending to hide behind “issue advocacy.” (2015 Wisconsin Act 117.)

Protect our Constitutional Rights and Federal overreach diluting them:

Use all means available from the state and local government to pressure and demand that the federal government to honor our constitutional rights including but not limited to the freedom of speech, the freedom to peaceably assemble and protection from unwarranted searches and seizures and women’s right to vote. 

Local Control: Home Rule & the Right to Local Referenda. 

  • Strengthen municipal home rule by expanding local authority for cities, villages, towns, and counties through statutory reforms, while advancing longer-term constitutional change to secure durable local control statewide. (Wis. Stat. chs. 59 & 66; Wis. Const. art. XI.) 
  • Restore local authority to conduct advisory and binding referenda on matters of local concern. The legislature will amend state law to repeal restrictions on local referenda and affirm the right of municipalities and counties to place questions directly before voters in accordance with state election procedures.

Support and Incentivize Small Dairy Farms: 

We will support small dairy farmers that have been pushed out and harmed by large factory farms. We will pass the Dairy Innovation Bill (AB 363/SB 323) to establish a low-interest loan program for small dairy farms of less than 1,000 animal units, and revise ATCP 65 to allow small farmers to more readily sell their milk to consumers and incentivize creameries to buy a percentage of milk from small farmers.

Collective Bargaining. 

Restore full collective bargaining rights and union security for workers across the public and private sectors by repealing Right to Work and Wisconsin Act 10. Update state law to strengthen workers’ ability to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions through collective action. (Wis. Stat. ch. 111.)

Generate Tax Revenue to Fund the Public Goods. 

  • Estate Tax. Restore a Wisconsin estate tax on estates worth more than $5 million to raise revenue for schools, healthcare, housing, and other statewide priorities (Wis. Stat. ch. 72.). Direct the Department of Revenue to administer the tax so Wisconsin can raise significant revenue from the largest estates to invest in public priorities that benefit people across the state.
  • Millionaires Tax. Authorize municipalities to adopt a voter-approved local income surtax on individuals earning $1 million or more per year, giving communities a tool to invest in locally defined needs. (Wis. Stat. chs. 66 & 71.)

 

Affordable Childcare. 

  • Expand access to affordable, high-quality childcare by making sustained public investments that improve pay and working conditions for childcare workers. Prioritize ongoing budget funding to stabilize the childcare workforce, strengthen program quality, and ensure families across Wisconsin can access reliable, affordable care. 
  • Annual allocation for childcare shall be determined by the number of eligible children within a school district and paid to licensed providers monthly through the district upon presentation of service hours provided, verified by a parent or legal guardian.