Democratic bills in Wisconsin would withhold payments to federal government, protect state data

Wisconsin Democrats on Wednesday announced legislation aimed at proactively responding to measures out of Washington that they say will hurt Wisconsinites, including potential changes to federal funding for state programs.

The package of bills stand little chance of moving forward in a Republican-held Legislature, but Rep. Renuka Mayadev, D-Madison, said the four bills are meant to send a message from the minority party.

“We will not sit back and watch Donald Trump pick the pockets of hard-working Wisconsin people,” she said. “We will not sit back and watch him violate the civil rights and the privacy rights of our Wisconsinites.”

The bills address federal funding freezes, such as pauses to federal funding for Head Start programs and, after warnings that the Elon Musk-aligned Department of Government Efficiency has eroded data security, make state government handling of private data more secure.

One bill would withhold state payments to the federal government if the federal government withholds state funding. Another would allow the state to impose liens on federal property in response to those same freezes.

Democrats said they had consulted with Attorney General Josh Kaul about the legality of these moves.

“This is an unprecedented time,” said Rep. Andrew Hysell, D-Sun Prairie. “The Constitution is being attacked daily by the Trump administration. So I think that to take strong, decisive action is incumbent upon us.”

Another bill would put guardrails on how Wisconsin submits personal information to the federal government. It would require state agencies that collect personal data in the course of licensing, tax collection or other processes to anonymize the data.

And a fourth bill would establish a process for Wisconsinites to respond to perceived violations of their constitutional rights by government officials or law enforcement.

Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said the proposal was aimed at responding to federal overreach.

“These bills are about protecting our neighbors from extreme overreach and broken promises from the federal government,” he said.