Wisconsin Legislative Council
AMENDMENT MEMO
One Ea st Ma in Stre e t, Suite 401 • Ma dison, W I 53703 • (608) 266-1304 • le g.council@le gis.wisconsin.gov • http://www.le gis.wisconsin.gov/lc
Memo published: June 1, 2023 Contact: David Moore, Senior Staff Attorney
2023 Senate Bill 120
Senate
Substitute Amendment 1
2023 SENATE BILL 120
Current law prohibits a municipal employer from bargaining collectively with a collective bargaining
unit containing a public safety employee with respect to certain topics. As relevant to the bill, a
municipal employer may not collectively bargain with respect to “the design and selection of health care
coverage plans by the municipal employer for public safety employees” or “the impact of . . . the design
and selection of the health care coverage plans on the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of
the public safety employee.”
Senate Bill 120 specifies that for these purposes, “design” does not include the decision as to who is
covered by a health care coverage plan selected by the municipal employer. The bill provides that the
Legislature’s intent in explaining this meaning of design is “to clarify the intent of 2011 Wisconsin Acts
10 and 32 and that this act is to be considered a restatement of current law.”
SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1
Senate Substitute Amendment 1 alters the bill’s language concerning the meaning of “design” for the
purposes of a municipal employer’s authority to collectively bargain with a collective bargaining unit
containing a public safety employee. The substitute amendment provides that “design” does not include
the coverage of current employees and their dependents, including coverage upon an employee’s
retirement, death, or disability, by a health care coverage plan selected by a municipal employer. Like
the bill, the substitute amendment also provides the Legislature’s intent that in explaining this meaning
of design is to clarify the intent of 2011 Wisconsin Acts 10 and 32 and that this act is to be considered a
restatement of current law.
BILL HISTORY
Senator James offered Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 120 on April 26, 2023. On May
23, 2023, the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety voted unanimously to recommend
adoption of the substitute amendment and passage of the bill, as amended. For a full history of the bill,
visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
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