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UPDATE: 3/29/2024 - SB 933 was VETOED by Governor Tony Evers on 3/29/2024; his veto statement can be read HERE. The governor states that he objects to the Wisconsin State Legislature restricts how transplant hospitals and serve their organ transplant patients and impede "the ability of trained and trusted medical professionals to determine how to best serve their patients." His statement would be inconsistent with the medical ethic of "informed consent" which prevents coercion from influencing patients facing medical treatment. Being forced to take a vaccine to receive medical care is inconsistent with consent; NVIC opposes all forced vaccination.
UPDATE: 3/26/2024 - SB 933 was sent to the Governor on 3/26/2024.
UPDATE: 2/22/2024 - SB 933 was enrolled on 2/27/2024. View the Enrolled Version HERE.
UPDATE: 2/22/2024 - SB 933 was concurred in the Assembly and passed the Assembly 3rd Reading by unanimous consent on 2/22/2024. It was then immediately messaged to the Senate on 2/22/2024.
UPDATE: 2/22/2024 - SB 933 was read a second time on the Assembly floor on 2/22/2024. The rules were suspended by unanimous consent and SB 933 was ordered to an Assembly 3rd Reading on 2/22/2024.
UPDATE: 2/22/2024 - AB 955 was laid on the table in the Assembly on 2/22/2024.
UPDATE: 2/20/2024 - SB 933 was referred to the Assembly Rules Committee and made a special order of business in the Assembly on 2/22/2024 at 10:43AM.
UPDATE: 2/20/2024 - SB 933 passed the Senate 3rd reading by a vote of 21 Ayes, 11 Noes, on 2/20/2024.
UPDATE: 2/13/2024 - SB 933 is eligible for a Senate floor vote as of 2/13/2024.
UPDATE: 2/9/2024 - SB 933 was recommended for passage in the Senate Health Committee by a vote of 4 Ayes, 2 Noes, on 2/9/2024.
UPDATE: 2/7/2024 - SB 933 is scheduled for an executive session in the Senate Health Committee on Friday, 2/9/2024 at 11:00AM in Room 323 South. View the Hearing Agenda HERE.
UPDATE: 2/4/2024 - SB 933 is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday, 2/6/2024 at 11:00AM in Room 201 Southeast. View the Hearing Agenda HERE.
UPDATE: 1/31/2024 - AB 955 was recommended for passage in the Assembly Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care Committee by a vote of 10 Ayes, 4 Noes, on 1/31/2024.
UPDATE: 1/28/2024 - AB 955 is scheduled for an executive session in the Assembly Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care Committee on Wednesday, 1/31/2024 at 10:00AM in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the Capitol. View the Hearing Agenda HERE.
UPDATE: 1/15/2024 - AB 955 is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care Committee on Wednesday, 1/17/2024 at 10:31AM in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the Capitol. View the Hearing Agenda HERE.
AB 955 was introduced in the Assembly and referred to the Assembly Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care Committee on 1/12/2024. This bill is authored by Representatives Joy L. Goeben, Elijah R. Behnke, Barbara Dittrich, James Edming, Dave G. Maxey, David Murphy, Nik P. Rettinger, Angie Sapik, Ellen L. Schutt, Chuck Wichgers, Scott Allen, and Janel Brandtjen.
SB 933 was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health Committee on 1/19/2024. This bill is authored by Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara.
AB 955 and SB 933 prohibit a person from discriminating against an individual relating to donating or receiving an organ based on the individual’s vaccination status.
AB 955 and SB 933 amend Wisconsin Code 157.06 related to corpses and anatomical gifts as summarized below.
SECTION 1. creates a new subsection to 157.06 to be numbered §157.06 (2) (ze) to add the term "vaccination status" as meaning the "status of an individual having received or not received, for reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction, one or more doses of a vaccine" to which the following conditions apply:
1. The vaccine is authorized for emergency use by the federal food and drug administration under 21 USC 360bbb-3;
2. The vaccine operates through the transfer of genetic materials into humans;
3. The dosing schedule for the vaccine is annual; or
4. The vaccine is for the prevention of a disease against which the individual has a sufficient concentration of antibodies in the individual's blood to confer protection, as shown by antibody titer.
SECTION 2. of AB 955 and SB 933 amends of Wisconsin Code 157.06 (15) (a) (intro.) to prohibit a hospital or transplant hospital from discriminating against an individual based on their vaccination status or disability when considering eligibility to receive a transplanted organ, receive treatment pre- or post-operative, receive a referral to a transplant specialist for evaluation, or receive proper placement on an organ transplant waiting list.
SECTION 3. of AB 955 and SB 933 amends of Wisconsin Code 157.06 (15) (a) to create a subsection to be numbered §157.06 (15) (a) 4m. that prohibits a hospital or transplant hospital from removing an individual from an organ transplant waiting list based solely on the individual's vaccine status or disability.
SECTION 4. of AB 955 and SB 933 also amends of Wisconsin Code 157.06 (15) (a) to create a new subsection to be numbered §157.06 (15) (a) 5. that prohibits a hospital or transplant hospital from doing the following:
Place the individual on an organ transplant waiting list at a lower priority position than the position at which the individual would have been placed if not for the individual's vaccination status or if the individual did not have a disability, unless the individual is placed at a lower priority position because the individual's disability relates directly to the medical need of the individual to receive the organ transplant and the individual's relative placement on the waiting list is reflective of the individual's medical need for the organ transplant.
SECTION 5. of AB 955 and SB 933 amends Wisconsin Code 157.06 (15) (b) to add that no person may refuse an individual insurance coverage for any procedure associated with being evaluated for or receiving organ transplantation based on their vaccination status or physical or mental disability.
AB 955 and SB 933 establish course of action for any individual who is discriminated against based on vaccination status per Wisconsin Code 157.06 (15) (e).
SECTION 6. of AB 955 and SB 933 amends Wisconsin Code 157.06 to create a new subsection to be numbered §157.06 (16) to be titled, "Discrimination on Basis of Vaccination Status Prohibited." This subsection prohibits any person from discriminating against an individual in any matter relating to donating or receiving an anatomical gift (organ) on the basis of the individual's vaccination status.
NVIC SUPPORTS AB 955 and SB 933 because every day seventeen people die waiting for an organ to become available, and these bills prevent organ transplant eligibility discrimination on the basis of vaccination status. No one should die waiting for an organ because they had medical, religious, or conscientious objections to vaccination. There are over 100,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list currently. Transplant patients who are most at risk for infectious morbidity and mortality as a result of their severely immunosuppressed state are also those least likely to respond to vaccination due to the number and type of immunosuppressive drugs used through the process of organ transplantation.
These pieces of legislation are the result of Wisconsinites who reported that they were cruelly denied access to the National Transplant waiting list based upon their vaccination status. These bills expand existing law that prohibits organ transplant program discrimination based on an individual's disability and add protections for an individual's vaccination status. NVIC opposes all vaccine mandates. Vaccines are medical products that carry known risks of injury and even death. No individual should have to choose between forgoing life-saving organ transplantation or risking injury or death due to a vaccination.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/proposals/reg/asm/bill/ab955 - text, status, and history of AB 955
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/proposals/sb933 - text, status, and history of SB 933
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