WBBC era
One hearing, three bills, three different answers
The Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism, 25 February 2026 — every digital-asset bill of the session, in one sitting.
On 25 February 2026 the Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism held a single public hearing on all three of the digital-asset bills WDBC followed that session: SB 885 on staking, SB 951 creating a financial technology office inside DFI, and SB 975 regulating virtual currency kiosks.
Three weeks later the same committee took executive action on the same day. The three votes it produced are the clearest picture anyone has of what Wisconsin’s Legislature will and will not do on this subject.
What the three votes say
Put side by side, and remembering these were heard on the same day by the same members, the pattern is not subtle.
The bill that protects consumers from a known harm passed unanimously and drew cosponsors from across the chamber. The bill that gives an industry legal clarity passed narrowly and split the committee. The bill that builds state capacity was heard and then left alone.
All three then died together on 23 March when the session adjourned under Senate Joint Resolution 1 — but they did not die equal. The kiosk bill’s substance was already moving on the Assembly side, and it became law on 8 April 2026 as 2025 Wisconsin Act 226. Of everything heard in that room, the consumer-protection bill is the only part that is now on the statute books.
Consumer protection was unanimous. Industry clarity was 3–2. Building the state's own capacity did not get a vote. That is the order of difficulty, and any 2027 agenda that ignores it is guessing.
What we are doing with that lesson
Three fights for 2027, built around what this session actually showed us.