One of the Republican lawmakers who helped write a proposed a bill that could expel students for disrupting events at University of Wisconsin System schools said he expects the bill to get bipartisan support. 

"Free expression must be and shall be protected at Wisconsin’s publicly funded colleges and universities," Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum told WPR on Monday. "And that’s what this bill does."

The bill would penalize those who engage in [2] "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, obscene, unreasonably loud or other disorderly conduct." It would not bar protests outright on college campuses — simply protests that interfere with campus speakers or events.

Critics have called that description "unconstitutionally vague." Kremer agrees.

With some tightening of the language, he said he’s confident the bill will gain the necessary support to pass.

"The Democrats in Wisconsin have actually been very silent on this issue right now, because I think this is going to be a bipartisan bill," he said.

Pushback and protest aren’t new on college campuses, but the phenomenon has sparked debate recently.

Protest erupted in February over controversial right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos’ appearance at University of California, Berkeley. The speech was later canceled [3] by school officials over safety concerns, and elicited a tweet from President Donald Trump.

If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017 [4]

Kremer said the bill is not in response to any one event. Instead, he said, it’s about ensuring a true "marketplace of ideas" on college campuses.