Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told WisPolitics his chamber likely will pass legislation to allow online gaming in Wisconsin, though the final version of the bill may differ from the one abruptly pulled from a floor calendar last month.
During a year-end interview in his Assembly office, the Rochester Republican said his colleagues have expressed two concerns.
One is that only Native American tribes are allowed to offer gaming, an issue that Vos acknowledged lawmakers can do little about in the near term.
The second is the proliferation of gaming beyond just the outcome of a contest and now including numerous prop bets that can be placed about various facets of a game. That includes which team scores first or the number of walks a pitcher issues in a baseball game.
“When you and I were younger, placing a bet on a game, it usually meant who won or who lost,” Vos said. “Now you can have literally hundreds of machinations during the course of a single baseball or football game. Some people think that’s really creating problem gaming in the long run. So we’re trying to see if there are some restrictions that could go into effect. So you couldn’t have that, you know, hyper gaming. So I think those are two areas that people are looking at.”
Current law only allows gaming in Wisconsin on tribal lands. AB 601 would allow online bets so long as they went through servers on tribal lands. The bill is based on a “hub and spoke system” used in Florida that has been upheld by the federal courts.
Conservative groups such as the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty have argued against the bill, which GOP leaders pulled from the Assembly calendar last month to address concerns from caucus members.
The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. GOP Sens. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, of Appleton, and André Jacque, of New Franken, voted against it in committee this fall. Unless at least one of them changes their mind, their opposition alone would leave the Senate short of the 17 GOP votes needed to pass it on the floor without Dem support.
“The final version that we’ll get across the finish line, I don’t know that yet, but I do think that before we adjourn, we’ll enact that,” Vos said.
The longest serving speaker in state history gave WisPolitics a preview of the spring floor period. Vos said it will wrap up in the Assembly by Feb. 19, the last regularly scheduled day for a regular session day.
Generally, Vos said Assembly Republicans will push several ideas to address affordability, including property tax bills.
Vos said Republicans hope to polish off an amendment to the state Constitution that would address the partial veto Dem Gov. Tony Evers issued in the 2023-25 budget. It extended by four centuries an annual increase in per pupil spending of $325 per student. The amendment would bar guvs from using partial vetoes to create or increase taxes or fees and would go to voters next year for a referendum if it clears both houses.
Vos also argued state-imposed property tax rates need to be tightened with Republicans hoping to announce next month new steps on that front next month. Vos added with declining enrollment in schools, the state needs to look at finding ways to consolidate services to make districts more efficient. The Assembly passed a series of bills on that front this fall.
“It seems to me that in the same way that we operated 50 years ago, in a world where technology wasn’t even part of how we operated, has to be considered,” Vos said.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, told WisPolitics earlier this month legislation to give utilities with existing infrastructure the first shot at building new powerlines likely wouldn’t come up in his chamber this spring. Vos said in the new interview the bill — dubbed ROFR for right of first refusal — is unlikely to get a floor vote in his chamber. Both leaders backed the utility industry supported bill, but it drew opposition from conservative groups such as Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin.
“It’s really a shame, but probably not,” Vos said of the bill getting to the floor.
Vos also:
*again said he’s looking at the end of January or February for an announcement on whether he’ll seek reelection in 2026. Vos was first elected to the Assembly in 2004 and became speaker in 2013. He has held the post for longer than anyone else in state history. Vos said he’s still talking with his wife about his future, and that conversation isn’t something that necessarily just takes a weekend as the two talk about their options.
“You know, ‘Do you want to go through another two years? What’s the world going to look like?’” Vos said.
*said it’s too early to discuss whether he’ll lead the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee effort this fall regardless of his decision on reelection. Still, he expressed confidence Republicans will keep control of the Assembly after next fall in spite of chatter about Dems’ performance in New Jersey and Virginia, where they won the guv’s races and picked up seats in the Legislature. Vos said even if those results were extrapolated to Wisconsin, Republicans would still come back in the majority in his chamber.
Republicans now control the chamber 54-45.
Vos has a half-dozen “majority makers” in his caucus, a list that includes: Dean Kaufert, of Neenah; Bob Donovan, of Greenfield; Clint Moses, of Menomonie; Todd Novak, of Dodgeville; Jessie Rodriguez, of Oak Creek; and Pat Snyder, of Weston.
Vos said he wouldn’t speak individually to each of those members’ plans for next year, but he expects the vast majority to run again.
Kamala Harris took more votes than Donald Trump last fall in the districts of Donovan, Kaufert, Novak and Rodriguez, and having a GOP candidate who can outperform the top of the ticket will be key in those seats, particularly if 2026 turns out to be a strong year for Dems.
“While Democrats are talking about transgenderism and hating Donald Trump, I think that Republicans are talking about affordability. How do we make Wisconsin a place where you can buy a home, raise a family and send your kids to college?” Vos said.
*called the Dem guv field the “island of misfit toys” and dismissed each as a weak contender. In Vos’ mind: former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has already lost statewide and has serious challenges “with his background and his persona;” Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez has none of Evers’ positives and a lot of his negatives; Madison state lawmakers Francesca Hong and Kelda Roys “don’t even know what the center looks like because they’re so far to the left;” the “business lane” of Joel Brennan and former WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes “has had zero fire;” and Milwaukee County Exec David Crowley hasn’t “lit a fire” under anyone.
Some GOP operatives have raised concerns about U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican frontrunner. That includes whether he would struggle to bring out Donald Trump voters without the president on the ticket and if he would give voters in southeastern Wisconsin motivation to come back into the Republican fold after drifting away over the past decade.
Vos argued both Tiffany and Washington County Exec Josh Schoemann are strong candidates. He said Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in particular would need to put his attention on south central and southeastern Wisconsin.
“So my advice to him would be, rent a condo, right?” Vos said of Tiffany. “Live in southeastern Wisconsin, because it’s where you’re going to make a huge difference.”
