Urge Governor Evers to VETO SB445 & AB446 entirely!
Take Action
Take Action: We urge you to take immediate action by contacting Governor Evers and demanding that he veto the IHRA proposal in its entirety.
Both AB446 and SB445 are bills fundamentally broken. No amendment can repair a framework that embeds a politicized definition of antisemitism into Wisconsin law in a manner that risks viewpoint discrimination.
As Wisconsin lawmakers rush to insert a last-minute amendment claiming SB445 and AB446 are not intended to create new crimes for students in public colleges. We call out this amendment as an admission. It is not a fix.
When legislation requires an emergency disclaimer clarifying that it is not meant to criminalize students, that alone reveals the inherent danger embedded in the bill’s structure. You do not need a “safeguard” against consequences that were never possible.
A line stating “this is not intended to create new crimes” does not change the operational reality. This bill seeks to use IHRA to pressure universities and public institutions to treat criticism of the State of Israel as suspect. Administrators, facing political risk, would be incentivized to overcorrect.
The passage of this bill would result in chilled speech, selective enforcement and erosion of First Amendment protections.
Wisconsin already has strong, constitutional protections against antisemitism and religious discrimination: Wis. Stat. § 939.645 (Hate Crimes Law) enhances penalties for crimes motivated by religion and other protected characteristics and has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Wis. Stat. § 943.012 makes vandalism of religious institutions a felony.
At the October 22, 2025 hearing, 89% of testimony opposed these bills. Opposition included Orthodox Jewish leaders, rabbis, former Jewish elected officials, interfaith coalitions, and civil liberties organizations. Kenneth Stern, the lead drafter of IHRA, has repeatedly warned against turning it into binding law. Adding a cosmetic safeguard does not neutralize constitutional defects. It highlights them.
Take action to urge the Governor to veto SB 445 and AB 446 in their entirety. Civil rights law must protect people from discrimination — not shield governments from criticism.
