Bipartisan legislation to give WisconsinEye, the state’s version of C-SPAN, taxpayer funds to publicly broadcast state government functions unanimously cleared the state Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
A piece about the Assembly action appeared in the Feb. 12, 2026 issue of The Portage Daily Register. According to the story:
Hours after Assembly Bill 974 cleared the Legislature’s lower chamber, Senate Republicans introduced a separate proposal that would open a competitive bidding process to solicit bids for a statewide public affairs network, raising doubt that the bipartisan agreement brokered between Assembly leaders will pass before lawmakers conclude the current legislative session next month.
The Assembly measure was introduced late last month after the organization commonly referred to as “WisEye” went dark on Dec. 15 citing a lack of adequate funding to cover operations. WisconsinEye resumed limited opera-tions last week after state lawmakers agreed to give the organization $50,000 in taxpayer funds — but those funds only cover the month of February.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, had voted in favor of the $50,000 infusion for WisEye, but has also questioned if the organization is the best approach to broadcasting legislative activities.
On Tuesday, LeMahieu and 14 other Senate Republicans circulated a proposal that would direct the state Department of Administration to issue a request for proposals to solicit bids for a statewide public affairs network.
The lawmakers said in a memo seeking cosponsors that a more competitive process would “ensure high-quality, secure, and cost-effective coverage of legislative, executive, and judicial proceedings while maintaining strict nonpartisanship.”
“For years, the state has relied on a single pub- lic affairs network model without a competitive procurement process that ensures taxpayers receive the best return on their investment,” the lawmakers wrote in the memo. “As technology evolves and expectations for pubic access increase, it is time to modernize how Wisconsin provides live coverage and archives of government proceedings.”
The Senate proposal would require the chosen network to adhere to many practices already pursued by WisconsinEye, including prioritizing floor sessions, legislative commit- tees, the executive branch and state Supreme Court. It would also require live streaming and the maintenance of a digital archive, and be free to the public.
It remains unclear if the proposal would secure support from the Assembly, which earlier in the day passed a bipartisan bill that would eliminate language requiring WisEye to raise a dollar for every dollar it receives from a roughly $10 million endowment fund previously set aside by the state.
Under the legislation, the state Department of Administration can distribute grant funds from that account to cover the network’s operating costs.
The state DOA noted in a fiscal estimate for the Assembly bill that the proposal “would not have any notable fiscal impact on the department.”
WisEye officials have said that level of funding would cover about two-thirds of the organization’s operating budget. WisEye would be on the hook for the remaining funds, as well as any money needed for equipment upgrades, maintenance or program expansion.
The bill also requires WisEye to appoint legislative designees to its board of directors, submit annual financial reports to the Legislature and provide free online access to Capitol events to the public. It also requires that, if WisEye ceases operations and divests assets in the future, the organization must pay back any grant funds received and transfer all archives to the state historical society.
Either measure would also need to be signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in order to go into effect.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said lawmakers may pursue a further extension of the $50,000 in monthly funds approved in early February if a funding bill agreement between the two houses can’t be agreed upon.
Speaking from the chamber floor Tuesday, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said the Assembly measure “reflects how important open government and accountability are to the people that we all serve.”
Despite providing gavel-to-gavel coverage since it began broadcasting in May 2007, WisconsinEye has faced funding challenges in recent years amid competition from other non- profits and a tough economic climate.
On Dec. 15, the organization shut down, ceased recording of government operations and took its website offline, including 30,000 hours of archived coverage, after it failed to raise enough money for its nearly $900,000 annual operating budget.
