The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on State Affairs held a public hearing on Wednesday where a proposed bill — AB 446 — to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism into state statute was presented.
The measure — introduced by State Representative Ron Tusler — defines antisemitism using the IHRA framework, including its 11 contemporary examples.
“Each state agency and local governmental unit and each employee or official of this state or of a local governmental unit shall consider the definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including its examples, when evaluating evidence of discriminatory intent for any law, ordinance, or policy in this state that prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, color, or national origin or that provides for enhanced criminal penalties for criminal offenses when the defendant intentionally selects the victim or group of victims or selects the property that is damaged or otherwise affected by the crime because of the victim’s or group of victims’ actual or perceived race, religion, color, or national origin,” the legislation — the full text of which can be read HERE — says.
The bill is supported by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), and CAM Director of State Engagement David Soffer spoke before the committee at Wednesday’s hearing at the State Capitol in Madison.
“AB 446 will make a difference in combating antisemitism,” Soffer said. “The bill will help identify what is and, importantly, what is not considered antisemitism and help provide a guide to state institutions to understand best what actions should be treated as antisemitic-driven activity. The time has come to listen to the vast majority of the Jewish community that is asking you to solve this problem.”
A transcript of Soffer’s testimony can be read HERE.
Other speakers supporting the bill included American Jewish Committee (AJC) Director of International Jewish Affairs Rabbi Andrew Baker, and Jewish Federation of Madison Executive Director Alan Klugman, who was also representing the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, as well as two Jewish students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who shared their personal experiences with on-campus antisemitism in the aftermath of October 7th.
Co-sponsors of the legislation include Representatives Alex Dallman, Barbara Dittrich, Bob Donovan, Jodi Emerson, Rick Gundrum, Nate Gustafson, Dan Knodl, Rob Kreibich, Dave Murphy, Jerry O’Connor, Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, Lisa Subeck, and Chuck Wichgers, and Senators Rob Hutton, Rachael Cabral-Guevara, Dianne Hesselbein, Jesse James, Brad Pfaff, Patrick Testin, Jamie Wall, Van Wanggaard, and Bob Wirch.
A total of 37 U.S. states have adopted the IHRA antisemitism definition, according to a database compiled by the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) by CAM.
Over the past year, CAM has led an organized effort to engage and educate state legislators across the U.S. on antisemitism-related issues and potential policy remedies, such as the Wisconsin bill.
Legislative initiatives have also been put forth in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and five of these states — Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Tennessee — have seen new laws enacted since the start of April.
At the end of June, lawmakers and executive officials from 17 states convened in Kansas City, Missouri, for the first-ever CAM-organized State Leadership Summit on Antisemitism.
