Wisconsin 2025 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate 3 R cosponsors

SB 147 — Relating to: interpreter action by telephone or live audiovisual means in civil or criminal proceedings.

Last action — Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed Assembly
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced March 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Assembly.

Prognosis

Advancing 58% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 25 sponsors

    1 primary, 24 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (3 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

An Act to amend 807.14 and 967.09 of the statutes;

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

32 added · 16 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment to Senate Bill 147 allows interpreters to participate in civil and criminal trials via telephone or live audiovisual means, whereas the previous version excluded trials from this option. This change is significant because it enhances accessibility for individuals who require interpretation services during court proceedings, ensuring they can fully engage in the judicial process. Now, both parties involved in a trial can request this mode of interpretation with the agreement of all involved, making the courts more accommodating for non-English speakers.

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Latest
- 2026 LEGISLATURE LRBa0114/1 MJW:wlj SENATE AMENDMENT 1, TO SENATE BILL 147 May 6, 2025 - Offered by SenatoANGGAARD .
CORRECTED COPY - 2026 LEGISLATURE LRB-2380/1 MJW:cdc SENATE BILL 147 March 21, 2025 - Introduced by Senators WANGGAARD , CABRAL-GUEVARA and TOMCZYK , cosponsored by Representatives UCHOW , ALLEN , ARMSTRONG , B RIL, DITTRICH, ONOVAN , GUNDRUM , KITCHENS, KNODL, MAXEY, MURPHY , M URSAU , NEYLON , NOVAK , O'CONNOR , O RTI-VELEZ, P ENTERMAN , PIWOWARCZYK , RODRIGUEZ , ORTWELL , TEFFEN and W ICHGERS.
At the locations indicated, amend the bill as follows:
Referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
1.
A N A CT to amend 807.14 and 967.09 of the statutes;
Page 1, line 5:
relating to:
delete Xother than trialY and substitute Xother than trialY.
interpreter action by telephone or live audiovisual means in civil or criminal proceedings.
2.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under current law, in any civil or criminal proceeding other than a trial, a court may permit an interpreter to act by telephone or live audiovisual means.
Page 1, line 6:
This bill removes the exclusion for trials, so that an interpreter may act by telephone or live audiovisual means in any civil or criminal proceeding.
after Xmeans.Y insert XOn request of any party, with the consent of all other parties, the court may permit an interpreter to act in a civil trial by telephone or live audiovisual means.Y.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
3.
SECTION 1.
Page 2, line 1:
807.14 of the statutes is amended to read:
delete the material beginning with X, otherY and ending with Xtrial,Y on line 2 and substitute X, other than trial,Y.
807.14 Interpreters.
4.
On request of any party, the court may permit an interpreter to act in any civil proceeding other than trial by telephone or live audiovisual means.
Page 2, line 2:
SECTION 2.
after Xmeans.Y insert XOn request of any party, with the consent of all other parties, the court may permit an interpreter to act in a criminal trial by telephone or live audiovisual means.Y.
967.09 of the statutes is amended to read:
(END)
967.09 Interpreters may serve by telephone or video.
On request of any - 2026 Legislature - 2 - LRB-2380/1 MJW:cdc SENATE BILL 147 S ECTION 2 party, the court may permit an interpreter to act in any criminal proceeding, other than trial, by telephone or live audiovisual means.
END )
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Action History

  1. Failed to concur in pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

  2. Read first time and referred to committee on Rules

  3. Received from Senate

  4. Ordered immediately messaged

  5. Read a third time and passed

  6. Rules suspended to give bill its third reading

  7. Ordered to a third reading

  8. Senate Amendment 1 adopted

  9. Read a second time

  10. Placed on calendar 5-15-2025 pursuant to Senate Rule 18(1)

  11. Available for scheduling

  12. Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 6, Noes 2

  13. Report adoption of Senate Amendment 1 recommended by Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Ayes 8, Noes 0

  14. Executive action taken

  15. Senate Amendment 1 offered by Senator Wanggaard

  16. Public hearing held

  17. Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

  18. Introduced by Senators Wanggaard, Cabral-Guevara and Tomczyk; cosponsored by Representatives Duchow, Allen, Armstrong, Brill, Dittrich, Donovan, Gundrum, Kitchens, Knodl, Maxey, Murphy, Mursau, Neylon, Novak, O'Connor, Ortiz-Velez, Penterman, Piwowarczyk, Rodriguez, Sortwell, Steffen and Wichgers

Sponsors

  • Duchow · Cosponsor
  • Allen · Cosponsor
  • Armstrong · Cosponsor
  • Brill · Cosponsor
  • Dittrich · Cosponsor
  • Donovan · Cosponsor
  • Gundrum · Cosponsor
  • Kitchens · Cosponsor
  • Knodl · Cosponsor
  • Maxey · Cosponsor
  • Murphy · Cosponsor
  • Mursau · Cosponsor
  • Neylon · Cosponsor
  • Novak · Cosponsor
  • O'Connor · Cosponsor
  • Ortiz-Velez · Cosponsor
  • Penterman · Cosponsor
  • Piwowarczyk · Cosponsor
  • Rodriguez · Cosponsor
  • Sortwell · Cosponsor
  • Steffen · Cosponsor
  • Wichgers · Cosponsor
  • Van Wanggaard · Primary
  • Rachael Cabral-Guevara · Cosponsor
  • Cory Tomczyk · Cosponsor

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 24 co-sponsors · 107 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (24)

  • Duchow
  • Allen
  • Armstrong
  • Brill
  • Dittrich
  • Donovan
  • Gundrum
  • Kitchens
  • Knodl
  • Maxey
  • Murphy
  • Mursau
  • Neylon
  • Novak
  • O'Connor
  • Ortiz-Velez
  • Penterman
  • Piwowarczyk
  • Rodriguez
  • Sortwell
  • Steffen
  • Wichgers
  • Cabral-Guevara, Rachael Republican
  • Tomczyk, Cory Republican

Not signed on (107)

107 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 107 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

public-safety civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 147 do?
An Act to amend 807.14 and 967.09 of the statutes;
Who sponsors SB 147?
SB 147 is sponsored by Duchow, Allen, Armstrong, Brill, Dittrich, Donovan, Gundrum, Kitchens, Knodl, Maxey, Murphy, Mursau, Neylon, Novak, O'Connor, Ortiz-Velez, Penterman, Piwowarczyk, Rodriguez, Sortwell, Steffen, Wichgers, Wanggaard, Van (Republican), Cabral-Guevara, Rachael (Republican), and Tomczyk, Cory (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 147?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced March 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 147?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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