AB 606 Public Hearing Testimony, Senate Hearing Speculations
Here is the testimony from the Public Hearing for AB 606 – Three Tier Hemp Regulation Bill.
Wisconsin’s New “Hemp Regulation” Bill: A Bad Deal for Farmers, Small Businesses, and Consumers
Assembly Bill 606 and was introduced on October 29th, 2025 and Introduced by Representatives Swearingen, Brooks, Novak, Steffen, Wittke, Snyder, Moses, Mursau, Summerfield, Dallman, Donovan, B. Jacobson, Kaufert, Nedweski, Penterman, Tucker and Tusler;
cosponsored by Senators Wimberger, Pfaff (D), James and Tomczyk
In the Assembly, the bill author, Rob Swearingen (R) was awarded the high honor to get his bill sent to his committee (Committee on State Affairs) in which he chairs. How does this happen? Republican Assembly Leadership. My understanding is that in the Wisconsin State Assembly, a bill is assigned to a committee by the Speaker of the Assembly (VOS), based on the bill’s subject matter and the assembly’s rules of jurisdiction. The Speaker typically consults with the assembly’s parliamentarian to determine the most appropriate committee or committees to refer the bill to.
Here is the bill:
Senate Committee Speculation
So now we have to wait a minute or two as the Senate does the same thing.
As of November 5th, the State Senate has not assigned a bill number to this legislation, no committee assignment is known, but we can guess. Based of Republican Senate Leadership for 2025 and the action of Senate President Mary Felzkowski recently, one can start to look at the Senate Committee list and make a calculated guess.
If the bill goes to the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs chaired by Chris Kapenga (R), well, the bill is all but dead. That committee also includes Andre Jacque and Steve Nass, authors of the bill to ban intoxicating hemp in Wisconsin (SB 499), which Kapenga is the lead on. This could be interesting.
Here is a list of all the Senate Committees:
Senate Committee on Administrative Rules
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue (Chaired by Testin – who reported dropped off the three tier bill somewhere along the bill writing process)
Senate Committee on Education
Senate Committee on Finance
Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage
Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development (Chaired by Feyen)
Senate Committee on Health
Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry (Chaired by Quinn)
Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety (Chaired by Wanggaard)
Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs (Chaired by Kapenga)
Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families
Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs
Senate Committee on Senate Organization
Senate Committee on Transportation and Local Government
Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges
Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism
Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs
