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The Wisconsin State Assembly voted 66-33 on Tuesday to pass legislation — AB 446 — to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism into state statute and use it to evaluate discriminatory intent and enhanced criminal penalties.
The measure — sponsored by State Representatives Ron Tusler, 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 — defines antisemitism using the IHRA framework, including its 11 contemporary examples.
A companion Senate bill — SB 445 — is sponsored by State Senators Rob Hutton, Rachael Cabral-Guevara, Dianne Hesselbein, Jesse James, Brad Pfaff, Patrick Testin, Jamie Wall, Van Wanggaard, and Bob Wirch, and was heard by the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety last month.
“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. “Nothing in this section may be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution or to conflict with federal or state antidiscrimination laws.”
Addressing the Assembly on Tuesday, Representative Tusler — AB 446’s author — told his fellow lawmakers, “If you believe it’s a bad thing that antisemitism is rising in America, and you want to be able to distinguish what is and what is not antisemitism, that green button is for you,” referring to voting yes.
Representative Subeck said, “I am a Jewish woman who has experienced antisemitism. And this is our opportunity to stand up and do something.”
“Do what’s right for your Jewish neighbors,” she added. “Do what’s right for your Jewish friends. Do what’s right for the Jewish people who you might not even know.”
Watch Tuesday’s full debate and vote HERE (the AB 446 segment runs from 43:45 – 1:22:00).
The bill is supported by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), and CAM Director of State Engagement David Soffer testified on its behalf at a hearing of the Assembly Committee on State Affairs at the State Capitol in Madison in October.
“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.
Soffer also testified before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety in January, and was among the CAM representatives who participated in a special antisemitism briefing for state lawmakers and staff in November.
At the briefing, CAM President of U.S. Affairs Alyza Lewin said, “While antisemitism is one of society’s oldest hatred, it still remains difficult to recognize because of how often it morphs. What we see today is Jews in Wisconsin are being targeted based on their Jewishness. Jews are defined by their peoplehood, which is rooted in the Land of Israel. By feeling that connection, they are now being demonized for the actions of Israel and losing their peer connections and relationships over this.”
“The IHRA definition on its own does not prohibit or condemn speech,” Lewin noted. “It is trying to help people understand what contemporary antisemitism looks like.”
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, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and six of these states — Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Tennessee — have seen new laws enacted since the start of last 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.
