Housing-Related Legislation to Watch
- 1000friendsofwisco
- May 4
- 2 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
2025-2026 Legislative Session
By Ken Smith, Housing Policy Director
Please see a detailed breakdown of housing-related legislation from the 2025-2026 Legislative Session here.
It is widely understood that housing poses a significant challenge across the country and certainly in our Badger State! The Wisconsin legislature understands this, with housing being a bipartisan issue. Potential solutions have partisan implications, but the laws passed during the 2025-2026 Legislative Session were broadly bipartisan and an acknowledgement of the shared challenges faced by many Wisconsinites.
Some laws were highly specific, while others were quite broad. If there is a theme, one could say the legislature sought to ease real and perceived constraints on developers while making it easier to finance residential developments, particularly single-family homes. Notably lacking were laws aimed at directly improving zoning and land use regulations, with encouragement of more affordable, smaller homes and lots in Act 235. Perhaps the two most significant laws were the 2025 Wisconsin Act 173 and Act 235.
Act 173, the “Truth in Planning” law, intends to create greater certainty for developers while holding local governments accountable for their planning decisions. However, as detailed in the breakdown, it creates significant uncertainty for local governments to implement and indeed may not be fully realized as many local governments, particularly the smaller ones, currently do not have updated comprehensive land use plans required under state law. Further, it may not have the desired result as other development or planning-related sections in the statutes. Very importantly, this bill also allows municipalities to extend their tax incremental districts up to a second year for the purposes of affordable housing.
The League of Wisconsin Municipalities regards Act 235, relating to residential tax incremental districts, as “monumental” and is intended to be a financial development tool for municipalities to spur more affordable developments, which may not currently occur, as present market inertia favors more expensive, large single-family homes on large lots – or residential towers and large apartment complexes.
In the next 2027-2028 Legislative Session, there will be a new governor and perhaps a change in partisan control of at least one chamber. These dynamics will certainly affect any future housing legislation, but 1000 Friends will continue to advocate for sustainable land use policies that enhance the production of housing, affordable housing, and more housing types.
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