Wisconsin legislation · 2025-2026 Regular Session
Wisconsin SB1085: An Act to amend 119.04 (1); to create 20.255 (3) (bt), 40.02 (22) (b) 15. and 115.418 of the statutes; Relating to: longevity bonuses for teachers in school districts. (FE)
Status: Failed, April 24, 2026
What the bill says
To amend 119.04 (1); to create 20.255 (3) (bt), 40.02 (22) (b) 15. and 2115.418 of the statutes; relating to: longevity bonuses for teachers in school 3districts. Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under this bill, the Department of Public Instruction must pay a $7,000 bonus to any teacher who has been licensed by DPI and employed by a school board continuously for five school years. Under the bill, the first school year counted for the longevity bonus payments is the 2026-27 school year, such that DPI will begin making bonus payments in the 2031-32 school year…
From the introduced text, March 4, 2026:
to amend 119.04 (1); to create 20.255 (3) (bt), 40.02 (22) (b) 15. and 2115.418 of the statutes; relating to: longevity bonuses for teachers in school 3districts. Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under this bill, the Department of Public Instruction must pay a $7,000 bonus to any teacher who has been licensed by DPI and employed by a school board continuously for five school years. Under the bill, the first school year counted for the longevity bonus payments is the 2026-27 school year, such that DPI will begin making bonus payments in the 2031-32 school year. Teachers are eligible for additional bonus payments for subsequent five-year periods that do not overlap. The bonus is not considered earnings for the purposes of the Wisconsin Retirement System. For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: SB1085,14Section 1. 20.255 (3) (bt) of the statutes is created to read: SB1085,2,2120.255 (3) (bt) Teacher longevity bonuses. A sum sufficient to make the 2payments under s. 115.418. SB1085,23Section 2. 40.02 (22) (b) 15. of the statutes is created to read: SB1085,2,5440.02 (22) (b) 15. A bonus payment made by the department of public 5instruction under s. 115.418. SB1085,36Section 3. …