Bill aims to make WIAA subject to open meetings, public records laws

MADISON, Wis. (Civic Media) – A bill currently being circulated for sponsorship in the Wisconsin Legislature would make the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association subject to open meetings and public records laws.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Rep. Cindi Duchow and Sen. Cory Tomczyk are currently seeking sponsors for the bill.

A similar bill, AB 873, didn’t make it out of a Senate committee in 2015. The 2015 effort revived a previous proposal put forth by Republicans in the state legislature in 2009.

The bill would prevent schools from becoming members of a sport association that wasn’t subject to open meetings or public records laws.

The 2025 version adds an exception to protect the names of students and game officials.

Rep. Duchow was among those who introduced the previous bill.

Funding for the WIAA comes largely through tournaments and corporate sponsorships, which the WIAA details at its Annual Meeting each April.

In 2024, the WIAA reported that about 85% of its operating revenue came from state tournaments. No money comes directly from taxpayers to fund the non-profit organization.

The WIAA responded to the proposal with a statement on Friday sent out to media outlets, stating that the bill’s authors might not understand how the WIAA is organized.

“The WIAA is a private, not-for-profit, member-based organization that operates without the use of any taxpayer dollars. Applying open records laws to this Association would be equivalent to imposing the same requirements on any other private business or entity. We believe this legislation displays a misunderstanding of the organization’s structure and the service that it provides to the 513 public and private member schools.

“The door is always open to discuss these matters, and the WIAA provides transparency in its spending, policy revisions, and opportunities to make appeals before member schools when differences arise.”

A number of legislators lobbied last year for reinstatement of a suspended wrestler to make the WIAA State Tournament, decrying the WIAA’s qualification and appeals process as lacking transparency. The WIAA eventually reversed the ban.

The WIAA also could potentially be changing its qualification and seeding process for football after a mistake left two teams out of this past year’s playoff field. Wisconsin’s football coaches association currently has a proposal in committee that could be voted on as soon as early February for implementation.

Additionally, the WIAA will likely take up a name, image, and likeness policy again this year after membership voted it down in 2024. Some states have bypassed their sport associations and done their own legislation on NIL. A bill has not yet been introduced in Wisconsin.