Stalled legislation that would give incumbent utilities the first shot at building new transmission lines was the most lobbied bill during the first six months of the year, according to numbers compiled for WisPolitics.com.

Add in the hours spent on legislation some Assembly Republicans introduced in the hopes of breaking the impasse, and interest groups put in twice as many hours on “right of first refusal” as the next most lobbied bill during the first part of the session.

So far, that effort has led to a stalemate. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, told WisPolitics in December that he wanted the legislation passed by the spring to provide certainty ahead of the deadline to submit bids for new work slated for Wisconsin.

But proposals were due July 28 to MISO, the electric grid operator for the central U.S., from those wanting to build a 345 kV transmission line in southeastern Wisconsin with an estimated price tag of $568.3 million. And plans were to be submitted by Monday for a 765 kV line — the state’s first of that capacity — with an estimated cost of $1.2 billion.

A MISO spokesperson said the bids are confidential until the selection report is released later this year.

Dubbed ROFR, the legislation was already the subject of an intense lobbying effort last session. Opponents argued giving utilities already doing business in Wisconsin the right of first refusal to construct, own and maintain a new transmission line that connects to one of their existing ones would undercut competition and lead to higher costs. Meanwhile, backers have argued it would actually reduce expenses because the utilities could spread some costs of the coming transmission lines outside of Wisconsin rather than having them borne solely by state ratepayers.

In the 2023-24 session, groups put in 5,789 hours seeking to influence the Capitol on the bill. By comparison, they put in 3,936 hours on the second-most lobbied bill, legislation related to community solar programs. Neither became law last session.

During the first six months of 2025, groups reported spending 1,786 hours on SB 28 and its companion AB 25, this session’s versions of the legislation. They put in another 176 hours on AB 174, a reworked version of ROFR that Assembly Republicans introduced amid the impasse over the original legislation. It has yet to receive a public hearing in the Assembly, and no senators have co-sponsored the bill.

Those lobbying for passage of ROFR include utilities, labor unions and local government groups, among others. ATC Management Inc., which reported spending $245,333 lobbying the Capitol during the first six months of the year, says it focused 60% of its effort on the Assembly and Senate versions of ROFR. It put another 5% of its overall effort toward AB 174, though it took no position on the bill.

“ATC remains committed to protecting Wisconsin ratepayers from unnecessarily high costs and federal bureaucratic delays that would stifle economic development and jeopardize the safety and reliability of the state’s transmission infrastructure,” said Ellen Nowak, the utility’s VP of state and federal affairs.

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin has spearheaded the effort against ROFR with other conservative groups plus Clean Wisconsin among those opposed to the bills. AFP reported $117,711 in expenses over the first six months of the year seeking to influence the Capitol, with 20% of that effort on the ROFR bills.

According to figures the Ethics Commission compiled at the request of WisPolitics, the other most lobbied bills for the first half of 2025 include:

• Measures to require a pharmacy benefit manager to pay a pharmacy or a pharmacist a dispensing fee that would be no less than what the state pays under the Medical Assistance program. Neither version of the bill has received a public hearing, with 38 groups registering that they’ve spent time on the legislation. Those who support it include the Wisconsin Medical Society, while Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce is among those opposed.

• A bill to require the Department of Health Services to seek a waiver allowing the state to provide postpartum care for 12 months rather than the current cutoff of 60 days. The bill cleared the Senate 32-1 in April. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has consistently opposed the bill as a welfare expansion. Fifty-two groups have registered on the bill, all of them in favor. That includes Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin as well as Wisconsin Right to Life.

• A proposal to allow companies such as DoorDash and Uber to offer portable benefit accounts to contract employees. It cleared the Senate 17-15 and the Assembly 56-36.  But Dem Gov. Tony Evers recently vetoed the legislation, writing he objected to the bill’s definition of an independent contractor in the absence of guaranteed benefits for workers. Evers said such a change is a “serious endeavor” that requires “substantive conversations” including management and workers.

Ten groups registered in favor of the bill, including DoorDash and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO was the only group to register in opposition, raising concerns about a provision stating gig workers aren’t considered employees.

• And legislation to bring back a film tax credit in Wisconsin. The provision ended up being included in the state budget that was signed into law.