Senate Top 5 Bills Article

By: Bella Bauman

Youth in Government Legislative delegates across Wisconsin work very hard each year to write bills that they believe will benefit the state. Although these bills are not being passed in the official Wisconsin Senate, it is a great opportunity for delegates to experience what happens in the United States government system. These delegates go through a difficult process of brainstorming, researching, writing, and fact-checking their bills to ensure they present their best bill when they attend Model Government in Madison in March. Here are the top five bills that were decided on from Pre-Gov.

The top five bills from the 2024-2025 year are “An Act to Make Wisconsin More Self Reliant” by Elliot Thalmann of the Fox Cities delegation, “An Act to grant tax-exempt status to fishing companies or charter boats for invasive species management” by Joshua Sauer of the Manitowoc delegation, “An Act to provide unionized UW System faculty better representation” by Ben Abler of the Manitowoc delegation, “An Act to make 4K enrollment mandatory” by Jaylee Ziemer of the Reedsville delegation, and finally, “An Act to reduce sexual libido and recidivism in perpetrators of sex crimes” by Elizabeth James of the Manitowoc delegation. All of these bills were carefully thought out, and all the delegates had the necessary structure for a bill to be passed in the Senate. The structure includes having a purpose, analysis, proposal for action, financing (if required), penalties and enforcements (if required), and an effective date. Having these aspects of a bill ensures that, if these bills were going to be passed in the real United States Senate, they would fulfill all the necessary requirements. Missing or incorrect information leads to issues which are made note of, debated, and voted on during the Model Government’s Senate. These five bills have met most of the criteria of a successful, well thought out bill and therefore will be presented and voted on first, and Model Government will likely move onto the next stages of the bills being passed.

All of the Legislative delegates from all of the delegations, whether from Assembly or Senate, work tirelessly to put their best bills forward and make the short three-day weekend at Model Government in Madison an exciting, informational time for all. It is a phenomenal opportunity to experience how the United States government functions, whether or not someone decides to pursue a future in politics. Regardless of whether the bill passes or not, everyone has an amazing time being with friends and will hopefully have an opportunity to create an even better bill next year.