Update on WI AB377/SB357 (3/13/2026)

March 13, 2026 Update

Senate Bill 357 Co-Author Senator Jacque has made a proposal to amend the bill he wrote, SB 357, to remove all parts that mention AI Interpreting. This might be voted upon on Tuesday, March 17th. Please continue to send letters to your Senator urging them to oppose AI Interpreting in SB 357 /AB 377.

WAD created a document to help you understand how SB 357/AB 377 would amend the current Statutes, and how Senator Jacque’s new amendment would alter SB 357 and impact the amendments to the Statues. View the document here: https://visit.wisdeaf.org/sb357update

Video Description: White woman wearing black sweater.

Transcript:

Hello, I’m Jenny, Vice President for WAD.

I have an update to share. On March 12th, Senator Jacque, one of the co-authors for the bill SB 357, which is similar to AB 377, has made a proposal to amend to SB 357. In his amendment, he is proposing to keep the portion about making English the official language for the State of Wisconsin and for governmental purposes, and to remove the portions that reference the use of AI Interpreting. It is very possible that the Senate will vote on this amendment on Tuesday, March 17th.

If you’re not sure how the amendment impacts the bill and how the bill and the amendment would affect changes to the current law, we have created a document that will allow you to see it all together. In the document you will see the current Wisconsin statutes, what SB 357 is proposing, the amendment to SB 357 states, how SB 357 appear with the amendments, and how the Statutes would be revised based on SB 357, and the amended SB 357 if it carries.

WAD encourages you to continue to send letters to your Senator, urging them to not support AI Interpreting within SB 357 and AB 377.

Thank you!