Wisconsin’s digital future is being written now.
The 2027 bills are being drafted now, in two interim study committees. WDBC’s work is to know what is in them early, publish it plainly, and bring the people who build here into the same room as the people who write the rules. Members and sponsors pay for that work.
Why it matters
The rules get written by the people in the room
Wisconsin’s digital economy will be governed by rules written in this building over the next two sessions. WDBC’s job is to make sure the people who build here know what is being drafted before it is final, and bring better information than anyone else in the room.
Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison · Photo by Steve W on Pexels
The moment
Two things are reaching the Capitol at once. The GENIUS Act settled federal stablecoin law in July 2025 and left the states a lane to build on. And data centers are being built here faster than the rules on who pays for their power and water, in a state that still has no consumer privacy law. Wisconsin can write these rules carefully now, or inherit someone else’s.
Two priorities for 2027
Each serves both pillars at once: grow the industry, and protect the people in it.
Put the GENIUS Act to work in Wisconsin
With federal stablecoin law now settled, Wisconsin can build a state framework that keeps the opportunity here: reserve income directed to public priorities, and a clear path for digital-asset businesses to base and grow in the state. WDBC is building that case through research and public convenings with the institutions that would steward it.
AI runs on data. Start with the rules for it.
A privacy law Wisconsin businesses can follow, and clear statewide terms so the data centers being built here pay their own way. AB 172, a comprehensive consumer privacy bill, cleared committee 10–0 and died on the calendar. WDBC is researching how the next version can protect people without freezing out the businesses that build here.
What the work is
Good policy depends on good information, delivered consistently and credibly. WDBC’s work comes down to three things:
Research you can check
Tracking every Wisconsin bill on the digital-economy beat, grading it by pillar, and publishing sourced, nonpartisan briefings for members and the public.
A standing, nonpartisan convener
Campaigns come and go. The goal is an organization that any administration, and every legislative session, can count on to bring the right people together.
Rooms that build coalitions
Events and forums that bring industry, institutions, and public officials to the same table for open, on-the-record discussion.