Wisconsin Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act

     ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
                          2025-2026 Session

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                          SENATE/ASSEMBLY BILL ____

BY __________ (Introduced by request)

CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE PROGRAMS FOR FOOD AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE, PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, EDUCATION MODERNIZATION, AND PUBLIC SERVICE TO ENSURE THE MATERIAL SECURITY, PHYSIOLOGICAL WELL-BEING, AND DEVELOPMENTAL MATURITY OF ALL WISCONSIN RESIDENTS, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AMENDING CHAPTERS 36, 38, 93, 118, AND 250 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES, CREATING NEW SUBCHAPTERS, MAKING APPROPRIATIONS, AND PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES.

                             A BILL FOR AN ACT

LONG TITLE

AN ACT RELATING TO THE CREATION OF THE WISCONSIN FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE ACT, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, ESTABLISHING THE WISCONSIN FOOD ASSURANCE PROGRAM BY CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTER 93 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES; CREATING THE WISCONSIN ESSENTIAL GOODS PROGRAM BY CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTER 100 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES; ESTABLISHING THE WISCONSIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE FINDINGS BY CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTER 250 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES; ENACTING THE WISCONSIN EDUCATION MODERNIZATION ACT BY AMENDING SECTION 118.15 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES AND CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTERS 36, 38, AND 115 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES; ESTABLISHING THE WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE AND RESOURCE LIBRARY PROGRAM BY CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTER 16 OF THE WISCONSIN STATUTES; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS; AND PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE DATES AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULES.

LEGISLATIVE ROUTING NOTE

Wisconsin does not have a citizen initiative process for the enactment of statutes. Under Article IV of the Wisconsin Constitution, the legislative power is vested in the Senate and Assembly. Article XIII, Section 10 permits advisory referenda only; no binding citizen initiative exists for statutory enactment.

INTRODUCTION: This bill may be introduced by any member of the Wisconsin State Senate or Wisconsin State Assembly. Under Joint Rule 52, all proposals shall be reproduced on paper 8-1/2 by 11 inches. Each bill shall have a title, an enacting clause, and subject matter disposed of in one or more sections. The Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB), a nonpartisan agency established in 1901, provides free bill drafting services to all legislators and is available to draft this proposal in final statutory form upon request by a sponsoring legislator.

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT: Upon introduction, this bill would likely be assigned to: - Joint Committee on Finance (all provisions with fiscal impact,

    under Wisconsin Statutes Section 13.093)

- Senate Committee on Agriculture and Tourism or Assembly Committee

    on Agriculture (Subchapter I)

- Senate Committee on Health or Assembly Committee on Health, Aging

    and Long-Term Care (Subchapter II)

- Senate Committee on Universities and Revenue or Assembly Committee

    on Colleges and Universities (Subchapter III)

Because the bill spans multiple committees' jurisdictions and contains significant fiscal appropriations, referral to the Joint Committee on Finance is mandatory. The Joint Committee on Finance has authority under Section 13.10 of the Wisconsin Statutes to review and approve all fiscal legislation and controls final approval of many state appropriations.

FISCAL NOTE: The Legislative Fiscal Bureau prepares fiscal estimates for all bills with budgetary impact, as required by Joint Rule 41.

FLOOR VOTE: Simple majority in each chamber (17 of 33 Senators; 50 of 99 Representatives). Governor's signature or veto override (two-thirds of each chamber, under Article V, Section 10 of the Wisconsin Constitution). The Governor also possesses partial veto authority under Article V, Section 10(1)(b).

SESSION: The 2025-2026 session of the One Hundred Seventh Legislature. Wisconsin operates on a biennial budget cycle, with the state fiscal year running from July 1 through June 30.

HISTORY: A version of this proposal was first developed in 2016 through the Sassafras and Maple Research Foundation (SMRF), the first non-partisan political trade school in the United States, registered with the Colorado Department of Higher Education, Division of Private Occupational Schools (DPOS). The original proposal was sidelined during the 2016-2017 Colorado legislative cycle. The present version incorporates updated research from the Historical Apoplexy series (Cooper, 2025-2026), a ten-paper academic work providing the evidentiary foundation for this legislation, and has been adapted to Wisconsin's specific legal framework, educational institutions, and agricultural economy.

LEGISLATIVE DECLARATION

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Legislative findings and declaration.

    (1) The legislature hereby finds, determines, and declares that:

    FINDINGS RELATING TO THE STRUCTURAL IMPERATIVE FOR STATE
    ACTION:

    (a0) Twenty-two federal government shutdowns since 1976,
    including a forty-three-day shutdown in 2025. The House frozen
    at 435 since 1929; 762,000 constituents per representative —
    worst in the OECD. Federal H.R. 1 (2025) shifted SNAP
    administrative costs from fifty percent to seventy-five percent
    state share. The federal machine is structurally overloaded
    (Cooper, Paper VII, 2026). This state has the authority to act
    under its own legislative power rather than await federal
    action that structural overload prevents;

    (a1) DENIAL IS NO LONGER NEUTRAL. Inaction by a legislature
    possessing the authority, capacity, and documented need to act
    constitutes active harm. The burden rests on denial;

    FINDINGS RELATING TO FOOD AND COMMODITY INSECURITY:

    (a) According to the United States Department of Agriculture
    Economic Research Service, 13.5 percent of United States households
    experienced food insecurity in 2023, and 5.1 percent experienced
    very low food security. Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin reports
    that nearly one in eight people in its thirty-five-county service
    area face food insecurity, with demand at food pantries increasing
    by thirty (30) percent since 2022. Applied to Wisconsin's
    population of approximately 5.9 million, approximately 650,000 to
    740,000 Wisconsinites lack consistent access to adequate food;

    (b) Wisconsin's agricultural sector generates approximately $15.3
    billion in annual cash receipts from farm marketings (USDA National
    Agricultural Statistics Service, Wisconsin 2025 Agricultural
    Statistics), with milk sales alone totaling $6.97 billion and
    livestock, dairy, and poultry comprising seventy-one (71) percent
    of total marketings. Wisconsin cheesemakers produce twenty-five
    (25) percent of the nation's cheese, totaling 3.58 billion pounds
    in 2024, and the state produced 1.02 billion pounds of specialty
    cheeses, leading the nation. Wisconsin exported $3.97 billion of
    agricultural and food products to one hundred fifty-one (151)
    countries in 2024. Wisconsin's productive capacity far exceeds its
    population's food requirements. Food insecurity in Wisconsin is a
    distribution problem, not a production problem;

    (c) Wisconsin ranks first nationally in the production of
    cranberries, producing 5.49 million barrels in 2024, representing
    sixty-two (62) percent of the nation's crop (USDA NASS, Wisconsin
    Cranberry Production, 2024). Wisconsin ranks first in ginseng
    production, first in beet acres for processing, first in Chinese
    pea acres, and possesses 220,975 acres of harvested vegetables,
    fifth in the nation and more than any neighboring state (2022
    Census of Agriculture). Wisconsin produced 32.4 billion pounds of
    milk in 2024. The state's agricultural output can feed a population
    many times its own;

    (d) The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research
    Service Food Dollar Series establishes that the farm share of the
    United States food dollar is 24.3 cents, with the remaining 75.7
    cents allocated to processing, transportation, wholesale, retail,
    and food service markup. Total United States food-at-home spending
    is approximately $1.09 trillion; production cost is approximately
    $213 to $327 billion. The difference of approximately $496 billion
    represents markup above production cost;

    (e) The cost to close the food insecurity gap for all 47.9 million
    food-insecure Americans is approximately $32 billion, which
    represents 6.5 percent of the $496 billion markup between
    production cost and retail price (Cooper, "The Mathematics of
    Abundance," 2025);

    (f) The United States military commissary system, established by
    the Military Commissary Act of 1867 and now codified at 10 U.S.C.
    Section 2484, is operated by the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)
    across approximately 236 stores worldwide and has provided at-cost
    food distribution continuously for one hundred fifty-seven (157)
    years, delivering savings of 17 to 25 percent below civilian
    retail prices domestically and up to 64 percent overseas to
    approximately 2.8 million authorized users. This program is funded
    by approximately $1.3 billion in annual appropriations from all
    federal taxpayers, including Wisconsin taxpayers, but available
    only to military families and retirees, establishing a proven
    precedent for government-operated at-cost food distribution;

    (g) The geographer Albrecht Penck calculated in 1925 that Earth's
    carrying capacity was eight billion people using 1920s agricultural
    technology. The current world population is approximately eight
    billion. Since agricultural technology has advanced substantially
    beyond 1920s capacity, scarcity of food is not a physical
    constraint but a distribution and policy constraint (Penck, 1925;
    Cohen, "How Many People Can the Earth Support?," 1995);

    (h) The United States has approximately 293,000 manufacturing
    facilities. Studies indicate that 10,000 to 15,000 facilities
    would suffice for universal material abundance, representing 20
    to 30 times overcapacity, with United States manufacturing
    currently operating at approximately 77 percent capacity
    utilization (Federal Reserve, Cooper, "The Mathematics of
    Abundance," 2025). Wisconsin's manufacturing sector alone
    generates nearly $70 billion annually and employs 575,000 workers
    across 92,000 firms (Thomasnet, 2025), demonstrating that the
    state possesses substantial in-state productive capacity;

    (i) In 2024 alone, 7,325 retail grocery store locations closed
    in the United States (Cooper, "Stolen Futures," 2025), while
    54 million Americans live in food deserts. The commercial retail
    grocery model is collapsing as a distribution system. Wisconsin's
    rural character makes grocery deserts especially dangerous to
    communities that depend on local retail access;

    (j) The economist John Kenneth Galbraith described in "The
    Affluent Society" (1958) the condition of "private opulence and
    public squalor" — the coexistence of enormous private productive
    capacity with inadequate public provision of basic needs. This
    condition persists in Wisconsin, where the state's agricultural
    and manufacturing output vastly exceeds its population's material
    requirements;

    (k) The economist Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born July 30, 1857,
    in Cato Township, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, to Norwegian
    immigrant farmers Thomas and Kari Bunde Veblen, documented in
    "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899) the phenomenon of
    conspicuous consumption, and in "The Engineers and the Price
    System" (1921) the deliberate restriction of production capacity
    by business interests to maintain prices above production cost, a
    practice he termed the "conscious withdrawal of efficiency."
    Wisconsin's own native son diagnosed the disease of artificial
    scarcity over a century ago. The gap between Wisconsin's
    productive capacity and its residents' material security reflects
    the structural dynamic Veblen identified (Wisconsin Historical
    Society; MNopedia; Encyclopedia.com);

    FINDINGS RELATING TO HISTORICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PRECEDENT:

    (l1) Veblen was born in Cato Township, Wisconsin. He identified
    the conscious withdrawal of efficiency in 1921. Augustus ran
    the annona civica for 200,000 Romans — grain as infrastructure.
    Suetonius records him ordering a knight stabbed at a public
    assembly for taking notes. Even he fed his city. The annona ran
    over 400 years. Nerva added child nutrition on bronze at Veleia
    (CIL XI 1147) that you can still visit. At Mabu Co in Tibet,
    sedentary abundance was achieved 4,400 years ago at 14,587 feet
    with fishing hooks (Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2024). The
    Azolla Event proved one fern species could edit Earth's
    atmosphere over 800,000 years (Brinkhuis et al., Nature 441,
    2006). The commissary has run 157 years. The annona ran 400.
    Biology works across geologic time. Wisconsin's dairy farms
    produce for the nation. The question is who eats;

    (l2) Division I does not nationalize Wisconsin agriculture.
    Dairy farms stay private. Cranberry bogs stay private. The
    state purchases at production cost plus five percent surcharge
    — the same model the commissary at Fort McCoy has used since
    1867 without acquiring a single farm. Currency survives for
    everything above the base list. The bill is a floor;

    (l3) The retail collapse and autonomous freight are already
    eliminating distribution jobs. Aurora runs driverless freight
    between Dallas and Houston today. Over 15,000 store closures
    projected for 2025. Rural Wisconsin grocery access was already
    fragile. The bill does not cause this. The bill catches
    displaced workers: Division I feeds them, Division II covers
    their health, Division III provides a pipeline. The commissary
    has truckers. At-cost removes the markup, not the labor;

    FINDINGS RELATING TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND HIERARCHY:

    (l) Sir Michael Marmot's Whitehall Studies, commencing in 1967
    and continuing to the present with 10,308 subjects, established
    that among British civil servants with universal healthcare, full
    employment, and no absolute poverty, the lowest employment grade
    experienced three times the mortality rate of the highest grade.
    Standard risk factors — smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure —
    explained less than forty percent of the mortality gradient. The
    hierarchy itself, independent of absolute material deprivation,
    produces lethal health outcomes;

    (m) Dr. Robert Sapolsky's thirty-year study of wild baboon
    populations in the Serengeti demonstrated that subordinate social
    position produces chronically elevated cortisol, atherosclerosis,
    immune suppression, and cognitive impairment. When a tuberculosis
    outbreak eliminated the most aggressive males from a troop,
    hierarchy collapsed, and subordinates' cortisol levels normalized,
    demonstrating that the health damage was caused by the hierarchy,
    not by inherent individual biology (Sapolsky, "Why Zebras Don't
    Get Ulcers," 1994; "Behave," 2017);

    (n) Dr. Carol Shively's thirty-year study of female macaques at
    Wake Forest University demonstrated that subordinate social status
    directly causes visceral fat accumulation, atherosclerosis, and
    coronary artery disease, with cingulate cortex serotonin
    identified as the neurological nexus linking depression to
    cardiovascular disease (Shively, 2009; 2014);

    (o) Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in
    Physiology or Medicine, demonstrated that chronic psychological
    stress shortens telomeres — the protective caps on chromosomal
    DNA — accelerating cellular aging. Caregivers of chronically ill
    children had measurably shorter telomeres proportional to years of
    stress. Poverty and subordination age human beings at the
    molecular level (Blackburn & Epel, "The Telomere Effect," 2017);

    (p) These findings collectively establish that poverty and social
    hierarchy are not merely economic conditions but medical conditions
    with documented physiological pathways that produce measurable
    morbidity and mortality. Food and commodity assurance programs
    therefore constitute public health interventions with quantifiable
    healthcare cost reduction potential;

    FINDINGS RELATING TO EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:

    (q) Neuroscientific research establishes that the human prefrontal
    cortex — responsible for judgment, impulse control, long-term
    planning, and executive function — does not fully mature until
    approximately age twenty-five (25). The current compulsory
    education system in Wisconsin, which under Section 118.15 of the
    Wisconsin Statutes permits a child who is seventeen (17) years of
    age or over to be excused from attendance upon the child's request
    and with parental approval, terminates structured developmental
    support during seven (7) to eight (8) years of critical
    neurological maturation;

    (r) Erik Erikson's model of psychosocial development (1959)
    identifies eight stages of human development, each requiring the
    resolution of a core developmental crisis. The stages from birth
    through age twenty-five encompass Trust vs. Mistrust (ages 0-1),
    Autonomy vs. Shame (ages 1-3), Initiative vs. Guilt (ages 3-6),
    Industry vs. Inferiority (ages 6-12), Identity vs. Role Confusion
    (ages 12-18), and Intimacy vs. Isolation (ages 18-25). Failure to
    provide structured developmental support through these stages
    results in incomplete psychosocial maturation;

    (s) Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (1934) establishes
    that learning occurs in the gap between what an individual can
    accomplish independently and what the individual can accomplish
    with structured guidance. This theoretical framework requires
    calibrated challenge — neither too easy nor too difficult — as the
    mechanism of cognitive growth, and provides the scientific basis
    for structured learning trials as an assessment methodology;

    (t) Robert Bjork's research on "desirable difficulties" (1994)
    demonstrates that learning conditions that feel harder produce
    superior retention and transfer of knowledge. Struggle is not a
    side effect of learning but its mechanism, establishing the
    scientific basis for structured challenge as a core pedagogical
    method rather than passive attendance;

    (u) Suniya Luthar's research on the culture of affluence (2003,
    National Institutes of Health PMC1950124) demonstrates that
    affluent children exhibit elevated rates of substance abuse,
    anxiety, and depression compared to inner-city peers. The
    mechanism is achievement pressure without genuine challenge,
    isolation from consequence, and absence of meaningful struggle.
    Material abundance without developmental infrastructure produces
    pathology. Education reform is therefore a prerequisite — not a
    supplement — to the food and commodity assurance programs
    established in this act;

    (v) Arnold van Gennep (1909) and Victor Turner (1969) documented
    that virtually every human society creates structured ordeals for
    adolescents — physical trials, endurance tests, isolation periods,
    community service — as developmental infrastructure. Societies
    that abandoned these structures did not produce freer human
    beings; they produced developmentally incomplete ones;

    (w) Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis demonstrated in "Schooling in
    Capitalist America" (1976) that the education system reproduces
    class structure. However, the appropriate diagnostic framework,
    described in the Historical Apoplexy literature as the "targeting
    error" (Cooper, Paper V, 2026), recognizes that teachers are not
    responsible for society-wide stratification. The ocean is
    stratified; the cup is not. Education reform must address the
    structural conditions of the system, not blame individual
    educators;

    (x) Philip Jackson's "Life in Classrooms" (1968) identified the
    "hidden curriculum" — crowds, evaluation, and power asymmetry —
    as inherent features of institutional education at scale. Ivan
    Illich's "Deschooling Society" (1971) critiqued the institutional
    form of education. E.D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" (1987)
    established that core knowledge must reside in the individual's
    own memory, not merely be accessible;

    (x1) PIAAC 2023 (OECD, December 2024): 28% of US adults at
    the lowest literacy level. 34% lowest numeracy. Compound-
    competency: ~1 in 6,700 meet a standard the German Gymnasium
    certifies as ordinary;

    (x2) ADAM SMITH AND WHOLE-HUMAN EDUCATION. Smith wrote in
    Wealth of Nations Book V Ch I Pt III Art II: "The man whose
    whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations...
    generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible
    for a human creature to become." His remedy: compulsory
    state-funded education. To cite Smith for markets while
    opposing what Smith demanded is to invoke an authority one
    has not read;

    (y) The Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2025/2026) maps
    eight developmental quotients to neurological substrates:
    Knowledge Quotient (KQ, temporal and parietal cortex), Reasoning
    Quotient (RQ, prefrontal and parietal cortex), Emotional Quotient
    (EQ, limbic system and amygdala), Language Quotient (LQ, Broca's
    area and Wernicke's area), Creative Quotient (CQ, default mode
    network), Social Quotient (SQ, mirror neuron system and
    temporoparietal junction), Motor Quotient (MQ, motor cortex and
    cerebellum), and Biological Quotient (BQ, autonomic nervous system
    and hormonal regulation). A comprehensive developmental pipeline
    of approximately twenty (20) grade levels, from kindergarten
    through university completion — designated "K-20" — calibrates
    curriculum across all eight quotients to full human maturity,
    scored without ceiling via a compensatory framework where strength
    in one domain offsets deficit in another;

    (y1) THE MEYERHOFF PROOF. Meyerhoff Scholars (UMBC, Hrabowski
    1988): ~5x STEM PhD rate among 1,400+ alumni vs. matched
    comparisons. Division III at one program's scale. This act
    scales the demonstrated mechanism statewide;

    FINDINGS RELATING TO WISCONSIN'S EDUCATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE:

    (z) The University of Wisconsin System, governed by the Board of
    Regents under Chapter 36 of the Wisconsin Statutes, comprises
    thirteen (13) universities: UW-Madison (the flagship and member of
    the Association of American Universities), UW-Milwaukee (an urban
    research university), and eleven comprehensive universities
    (UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh,
    UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point,
    UW-Stout, UW-Superior, and UW-Whitewater). Following the 2018
    merger, thirteen (13) former UW Colleges two-year campuses were
    integrated as branch campuses into seven of the four-year
    comprehensive universities, creating regional access points
    throughout the state;

    (aa) The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS), governed under
    Chapter 38 of the Wisconsin Statutes, comprises sixteen (16)
    technical college districts with locally elected district boards:
    Blackhawk, Chippewa Valley, Fox Valley, Gateway, Lakeshore,
    Madison Area, Mid-State, Milwaukee Area, Moraine Park,
    Nicolet Area, Northcentral, Northeast Wisconsin, Southwest
    Wisconsin, Waukesha County, Western, and Wisconsin Indianhead.
    The WTCS provides vocational, technical, and occupational
    education programs that complement the UW System's academic
    offerings;

    (bb) The Universal Credit Transfer Agreement (UCTA), effective
    September 2021 pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes Section 36.31(2m)(b)
    (the 72-Credit Transfer Rule enacted November 21, 2019), provides
    a set of courses transferable between all Universities of Wisconsin
    and all Wisconsin Technical College System colleges, representing
    approximately one year of credit toward a bachelor's degree. This
    existing transfer infrastructure demonstrates that Wisconsin has
    already partially integrated its postsecondary systems;

    (cc) In-state tuition at UW-Madison for the 2024-2025 academic
    year is approximately $11,205. The Universities of Wisconsin
    ranked forty-fourth (44th) out of fifty states in public funding
    per student in 2024. Despite this low ranking, the state already
    subsidizes a significant portion of the per-student cost through
    General Purpose Revenue (GPR) appropriations. The Universities of
    Wisconsin's annual operating budget exceeds $4.9 billion in total
    revenues, drawn from state GPR, tuition, federal funds, and
    segregated fees (UW-Madison Budget in Brief, 2024-2025);

    (dd) Wisconsin's K-12 school districts took in $15.3 billion in
    revenue in 2023-2024 and educated 827,397 students, representing
    $18,592 of revenue per pupil — an all-time high and more than
    double the figure from the school year ending in 2000 (Badger
    Institute, 2025; Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction);

    (ee) Wisconsin farm production expenditures totaled $14.3 billion
    in 2024 (USDA NASS), and the state's total budget for fiscal year
    2024 was $49.7 billion, with fiscal year 2025 at $48.9 billion
    (Urban Institute; Wisconsin Department of Administration). At
    production cost (30 percent of retail), the cost to provide staple
    food to all 5.9 million Wisconsin residents is approximately $3.7
    billion annually — approximately 7.5 percent of the state's annual
    budget. This represents the formalizing of what is already
    partially achieved through existing food assistance programs,
    state agricultural subsidies, and federal transfers.

SUBCHAPTER I: WISCONSIN FOOD AND COMMODITY — ASSURANCE ACT

SECTION 2. Creation of Chapter 93, Subchapter IX — Wisconsin Food Assurance Program.

    93.70 DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

    (1) "At-cost distribution" means the provision of goods at the
    verified cost of production, processing, and delivery, without
    markup for profit, brokerage, advertising, or speculative
    intermediation.

    (2) "Commissary model" means a system of food distribution
    modeled on the United States Defense Commissary Agency as
    established by 10 U.S.C. Section 2484, providing food at cost
    plus a surcharge not to exceed five (5) percent for facility
    maintenance, with no profit component.

    (3) "Department" means the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture,
    Trade and Consumer Protection.

    (4) "Food assurance distribution center" means a state-operated
    or state-contracted facility providing food and grocery items to
    eligible residents at at-cost pricing.

    (5) "Production cost" means the farm share of food value as
    determined by the United States Department of Agriculture Economic
    Research Service Food Dollar Series, plus verified processing and
    transportation costs, as certified by the department.

    (6) "Resource library" means a system of tiered distribution for
    essential goods, as defined in Section 16.90 of this act.

    93.71 WISCONSIN FOOD ASSURANCE PROGRAM; CREATION.

    (1) There is created the Wisconsin Food Assurance Program,
    administered by the department in coordination with the Department
    of Health Services and the Department of Administration.

    (2) The program shall establish food assurance distribution centers
    throughout the state, with priority placement in:
        (a) Communities designated as food deserts by the United States
        Department of Agriculture;
        (b) Counties with food insecurity rates exceeding the state
        average;
        (c) Rural communities that have lost grocery retail access due
        to store closures;
        (d) Municipalities with populations exceeding 25,000 that lack
        adequate grocery access within one mile for urban areas or ten
        miles for rural areas.

    (3) All food assurance distribution centers shall operate under the
    commissary model, providing the full diversity of grocery items —
    including produce, meat, dairy, packaged goods, cleaning supplies,
    and personal care items — at production cost plus a surcharge not
    exceeding five (5) percent for facility operations.

    (4) Wisconsin's dairy, cranberry, and vegetable processing
    infrastructure shall be leveraged to prioritize in-state sourcing.
    The department shall establish procurement agreements with Wisconsin
    dairy cooperatives, cranberry growers, vegetable producers, and
    food processing facilities to minimize supply chain costs and
    maximize the benefit of the state's existing agricultural capacity.

    93.72 ELIGIBILITY.

    (1) All Wisconsin residents shall be eligible to purchase food
    at at-cost pricing from food assurance distribution centers upon
    completion of the public education pipeline and public service
    requirements established in Subchapter III of this act.

    (2) During the implementation period established in Section 12 of
    this act, the department shall extend at-cost purchasing privileges
    on a phased basis, beginning with:
        (a) Residents certified as food insecure by the Department of
        Health Services;
        (b) Residents receiving FoodShare Wisconsin benefits;
        (c) Residents whose household income does not exceed two
        hundred (200) percent of the federal poverty level;
        (d) All Wisconsin residents, upon full implementation.

    93.73 SOURCING AND SUPPLY CHAIN.

    (1) The department shall establish a state food procurement system
    that:
        (a) Purchases directly from Wisconsin producers at fair market
        rates certified by the department;
        (b) Eliminates intermediary markup between producer and
        distribution center;
        (c) Maintains the full diversity of food products available in
        commercial grocery retail;
        (d) Ensures year-round availability through strategic reserves,
        cold storage, and procurement from out-of-state sources when
        Wisconsin production is insufficient.

    (2) The department shall prioritize Wisconsin-produced dairy, meat,
    produce, cranberries, ginseng, corn, soybeans, potatoes, snap
    beans, and other products for which the state is a leading national
    producer.

    93.74 ESSENTIAL GOODS PROGRAM.

    (1) The department, in coordination with the Department of
    Workforce Development, shall establish the Wisconsin Essential
    Goods Program to provide household commodities, clothing, tools,
    and basic consumer goods at below-retail pricing through state-
    operated or state-contracted distribution facilities.

    (2) The program shall leverage Wisconsin's manufacturing sector —
    comprising 92,000 firms employing 575,000 workers and generating
    approximately $70 billion annually — to source goods from in-state
    manufacturers at production cost wherever feasible.

    (3) The essential goods program shall operate under the resource
    library model described in Section 16.90 of this act, with goods
    distributed on a tiered basis according to permanence:
        (a) Consumables (food, cleaning supplies) — constant flow,
        replenished weekly;
        (b) Semi-permanent goods (clothing, linens, small tools) —
        need-based distribution with anti-hoarding provisions;
        (c) Durable goods (appliances, furniture, vehicles) — one per
        qualifying individual, maintained and replaced on condition
        assessment.

    93.75 FISCAL IMPACT AND COST ANALYSIS.

    (1) The legislature finds that the following fiscal analysis
    supports the feasibility of the Wisconsin Food Assurance Program:

        (a) Wisconsin population: approximately 5.9 million;
        (b) Per-capita staple food spending (retail): approximately
        $2,117 per year;
        (c) Total Wisconsin staples spending (retail): approximately
        $12.5 billion;
        (d) At production cost (30 percent): approximately $3.7
        billion;
        (e) Wisconsin state budget (FY 2024): $49.7 billion;
        (f) Program cost as percentage of state budget: approximately
        7.5 percent;

    (2) The legislature further finds that current costs of food
    insecurity in Wisconsin — including emergency healthcare, chronic
    disease treatment attributable to nutritional deficiency,
    productivity losses, social services administration, and food
    assistance program overhead — substantially offset the cost of
    direct at-cost food provision. Every dollar spent on food
    insecurity prevention returns an estimated two to three dollars in
    reduced healthcare and social service expenditures;

    (3) The legislature further finds that Wisconsin already expends
    significant state resources on food assistance through FoodShare
    Wisconsin, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, school meal
    programs, and other food security initiatives. This act
    consolidates and rationalizes those expenditures into a unified
    program that addresses the root cause — distribution failure —
    rather than its symptoms.

SUBCHAPTER II: WISCONSIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE ACT

SECTION 3. Creation of Chapter 250, Subchapter V — Public Health Findings on Hierarchy and Material Deprivation.

    250.20 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS ON HIERARCHY AND HEALTH.

    (1) The legislature hereby finds that the scientific evidence
    described in the legislative findings of Section 1, paragraphs (l)
    through (p), establishes beyond reasonable dispute that:

        (a) Socioeconomic hierarchy is not merely an economic condition
        but a medical condition with documented physiological pathways
        that produce measurable morbidity and mortality (Marmot,
        Whitehall Studies, 1967-present);

        (b) The stress of subordination produces chronically elevated
        cortisol, atherosclerosis, immune suppression, cardiovascular
        disease, and accelerated cellular aging, independent of
        absolute material deprivation (Sapolsky, 1994; Shively, 2009;
        Blackburn, 2009);

        (c) These physiological effects are not caused by individual
        behavioral choices but by the hierarchical structure itself,
        as demonstrated by controlled studies in which behavioral risk
        factors explained less than forty (40) percent of mortality
        gradients (Marmot, Whitehall Studies);

        (d) The annual healthcare costs attributable to poverty-related
        stress pathology in Wisconsin — including cardiovascular
        disease, metabolic syndrome, depression, substance abuse, and
        premature death — represent a substantial expenditure of state
        healthcare resources that exceeds the cost of prevention
        through food and commodity assurance.

    250.21 FOOD AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE AS PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION.

    (1) The Department of Health Services, in coordination with the
    Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, shall
    classify food and commodity assurance programs established under
    this act as public health interventions.

    (2) The department shall conduct biennial assessments of the
    health impact of food and commodity assurance programs, measuring:
        (a) Changes in rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and
        other diet-related chronic conditions among program
        participants;
        (b) Changes in mental health indicators, including depression,
        anxiety, and substance abuse, among program participants;
        (c) Changes in emergency department utilization attributable to
        hunger, malnutrition, and poverty-related acute conditions;
        (d) Net fiscal impact to the state, comparing program costs to
        healthcare cost reductions.

    (3) The department shall report its findings biennially to the
    legislature and to the Joint Committee on Finance.

SUBCHAPTER III: WISCONSIN EDUCATION MODERNIZATION ACT

SECTION 4. Legislative findings specific to education modernization.

    (1) The legislature hereby finds and declares that:

    (a) The educational infrastructure of the State of Wisconsin,
    comprising the K-12 system governed by Chapters 115 through 121 of
    the Wisconsin Statutes, the University of Wisconsin System governed
    by Chapter 36, and the Wisconsin Technical College System governed
    by Chapter 38, collectively represents a continuous pipeline of
    public educational institutions from kindergarten through advanced
    postsecondary education;

    (b) Wisconsin already subsidizes a substantial portion of the cost
    of postsecondary education through General Purpose Revenue
    appropriations to the Universities of Wisconsin, state aid to the
    Wisconsin Technical College System, district property tax levies
    for the WTCS, and state financial aid programs. The K-12 system
    received $15.3 billion in revenue in 2023-2024. The Universities
    of Wisconsin generated $4.9 billion in total revenues in fiscal
    year 2023-2024. This act formalizes what is already partially true:
    that Wisconsin has a public education system extending beyond the
    twelfth grade;

    (c) The existing Universal Credit Transfer Agreement (UCTA),
    effective September 2021 pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes Section
    36.31(2m)(b), already establishes a pathway for credit transfer
    between all Universities of Wisconsin and all Wisconsin Technical
    College System colleges, demonstrating that the state's
    postsecondary systems are already partially integrated. This act
    builds upon and extends that existing infrastructure;

    (d) The human prefrontal cortex does not fully mature until
    approximately age twenty-five. Wisconsin's current compulsory
    education terminates at age seventeen (17) or eighteen (18) under
    Section 118.15 of the Wisconsin Statutes, abandoning structured
    developmental support during seven to eight years of critical
    neurological maturation. The K-20 education pipeline established
    by this act closes that gap;

    (e) Abundance without developmental infrastructure produces
    pathology. Suniya Luthar's research (2003) demonstrates that
    affluent children exhibit elevated rates of substance abuse,
    anxiety, and depression. Implementation of Subchapters I and II
    of this act without the education modernization established in
    this Subchapter would create the affluence trap at population
    scale. This Subchapter is therefore non-negotiable as a condition
    of the food and commodity assurance programs.

SECTION 5. Amendment of Section 118.15 of the Wisconsin Statutes — Compulsory school attendance.

    Section 118.15 of the Wisconsin Statutes is amended to read:

    118.15 Compulsory school attendance.

    (1)(a) Unless the child is excused or has graduated or completed
    the K-20 education pipeline established under Section 115.42 of
    the Wisconsin Statutes, any person having under his or her control
    a child who is between the ages of 6 and 18 years shall cause the
    child to attend school regularly during the full period and hours,
    religious holidays excepted, that the public or private school in
    which the child should be enrolled is in session until the end of
    the school term, quarter, or semester of the school year in which
    the child becomes 18 years of age.

    (1)(b) [NEW] Any person between the ages of 18 and the age of
    completion of the K-20 education pipeline shall be enrolled in
    and attend a postsecondary institution within the Universities of
    Wisconsin system under Chapter 36, or a technical college within
    the Wisconsin Technical College System under Chapter 38, or a
    combination thereof, as a continuation of public education under
    the K-20 pipeline established in Section 115.42. Attendance in
    the postsecondary phase of the K-20 pipeline shall be a condition
    of eligibility for full resource library access under Section
    16.90 of this act.

    (1)(c) [NEW] The typical average student shall complete the K-20
    education pipeline at approximately age twenty-five (25), with
    variation for high-performing students who may complete earlier and
    students requiring additional developmental time who may complete
    later. Age twenty-five is not a rigid cutoff but the typical
    average completion age, aligning with the approximate age of
    prefrontal cortex maturation.

    (1)(d) Section 118.15(1)(d) as it existed prior to the effective
    date of this act, permitting a child who is seventeen (17) years
    of age or over to be excused from attendance upon request and with
    parental approval, is repealed. No child shall be excused from
    attendance prior to completion of the K-20 education pipeline
    except upon demonstration of equivalent educational attainment as
    determined by the department under rules promulgated pursuant to
    Chapter 227.

SECTION 6. Creation of Section 115.42 of the Wisconsin Statutes — K-20 Education Pipeline.

    115.42 K-20 EDUCATION PIPELINE; CREATION.

    (1) DEFINITION. The "K-20 education pipeline" means a continuous
    public education system of approximately twenty (20) grade levels,
    from kindergarten through university completion, integrating K-12
    education under Chapters 115 through 121, the Universities of
    Wisconsin under Chapter 36, and the Wisconsin Technical College
    System under Chapter 38 into a single developmental framework.
    The designation "K-20" follows the same convention as "K-12":
    the numeral refers to grade levels, not age. The typical average
    student completes the pipeline at approximately age twenty-five
    (25).

    (2) PURPOSE. The K-20 education pipeline is designed to provide
    structured developmental support through all six Eriksonian
    psychosocial stages from birth through age twenty-five, calibrated
    to each learner's Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1934),
    and assessed through structured learning trials rather than
    passive seat-time attendance.

    (3) STRUCTURE. The K-20 pipeline comprises:

        (a) ELEMENTARY PHASE (approximately grades K-6, ages 5-12):
        Trust, autonomy, initiative, and industry development.
        Emphasis on Biological Quotient (BQ), Motor Quotient (MQ),
        Creative Quotient (CQ), and Knowledge Quotient (KQ). Existing
        K-12 curriculum continued with VQ-aligned supplementation.

        (b) SECONDARY PHASE (approximately grades 7-12, ages 12-18):
        Identity formation. Emotional regulation under pressure.
        Social navigation. Formal reasoning. Structured learning
        trials begin — physical challenge, competitive pressure, real
        consequence. Emphasis on Knowledge Quotient (KQ), Reasoning
        Quotient (RQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ), and Social Quotient
        (SQ).

        (c) POSTSECONDARY INTEGRATION PHASE (approximately grades
        13-19, ages 18-24): Enrollment in a University of Wisconsin
        campus under Chapter 36 or a Wisconsin Technical College under
        Chapter 38 as a continuation of public education. Integration
        of all eight Vitruvian Quotients under simultaneous load.
        Structured learning trials escalate. Technical competence
        combined with physical intensity. Humanoid opponents and
        adaptive challenge systems offer infinite difficulty scaling
        with central system adjustment in real time.

        (d) CAPSTONE PHASE (approximately grade 20, approximately
        age 25): Reflection and leadership. Students completing the
        pipeline oversee younger cohorts' structured learning trials.
        They design challenges. They learn responsibility for others'
        development. Transition from student to citizen.

    (4) AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT. High school graduates from Wisconsin
    public and private schools shall transition to a University of
    Wisconsin campus or a Wisconsin Technical College as a continuation
    of the K-20 pipeline. Enrollment shall be automatic upon graduation
    from the twelfth grade. Education is continuous; no application
    process separate from the pipeline shall be required for in-state
    residents. The Board of Regents under Chapter 36 and the WTCS
    Board under Chapter 38 shall establish administrative procedures
    to implement automatic enrollment.

    (5) PATHWAY FLEXIBILITY. Students within the K-20 pipeline may:
        (a) Attend any University of Wisconsin campus for which they
        meet programmatic prerequisites;
        (b) Attend any Wisconsin Technical College district;
        (c) Transfer between the UW System and WTCS using the existing
        Universal Credit Transfer Agreement (UCTA) under Section
        36.31(2m)(b) and any expanded transfer agreements established
        under this act;
        (d) Combine academic and technical education across both
        systems;
        (e) Accelerate through the pipeline based on demonstrated
        competence as assessed through structured learning trials.

    (6) VQ-ALIGNED CURRICULUM.

        (a) The Department of Public Instruction, in coordination with
        the Board of Regents and the WTCS Board, shall develop
        curriculum standards aligned with the Vitruvian Quotient
        framework, ensuring that educational programming across all
        twenty grade levels of the K-20 pipeline addresses all eight
        quotients:
            1. Knowledge Quotient (KQ) — temporal and parietal cortex;
            2. Reasoning Quotient (RQ) — prefrontal and parietal
               cortex;
            3. Emotional Quotient (EQ) — limbic system and amygdala;
            4. Language Quotient (LQ) — Broca's area and Wernicke's
               area;
            5. Creative Quotient (CQ) — default mode network;
            6. Social Quotient (SQ) — mirror neuron system and
               temporoparietal junction;
            7. Motor Quotient (MQ) — motor cortex and cerebellum;
            8. Biological Quotient (BQ) — autonomic nervous system
               and hormonal regulation.

        (b) Curriculum shall be calibrated to each learner's Zone of
        Proximal Development. Assessment shall be through structured
        learning trials — calibrated challenges that push each
        individual to their developmental edge — rather than
        standardized tests measuring compliance.

        (c) The VQ assessment framework shall be scored without ceiling
        and shall employ a compensatory model in which demonstrated
        strength in one quotient offsets measured deficit in another,
        recognizing that human excellence takes diverse forms.

    (7) STRUCTURED LEARNING TRIALS.

        (a) "Structured learning trials" means calibrated challenges
        designed to assess and develop each student's capabilities
        across all eight Vitruvian Quotients, incorporating physical
        challenge, intellectual rigor, social navigation, and emotional
        resilience.

        (b) Structured learning trials are grounded in Vygotsky's Zone
        of Proximal Development (1934), Bjork's theory of desirable
        difficulties (1994), and the anthropological research of van
        Gennep (1909) and Turner (1969) on rites of passage as
        developmental infrastructure.

        (c) Trials shall escalate in complexity and intensity across
        the K-20 pipeline, with the postsecondary integration phase
        (grades 13-19) incorporating combat-calibrated competition,
        science olympiad-level technical challenge combined with
        physical intensity, and adaptive difficulty scaling through
        humanoid opponent systems that adjust challenge in real time.

        (d) The capstone phase (grade 20) shall transition from
        competitive trials to administrative responsibility: students
        completing the pipeline shall design challenges for, and
        oversee the development of, younger cohorts, learning
        responsibility for others' growth as the final developmental
        stage.

SECTION 7. Amendment of Chapter 36 of the Wisconsin Statutes — University of Wisconsin System.

    (1) Section 36.11 of the Wisconsin Statutes is amended to add:

    36.11(55) K-20 PIPELINE INTEGRATION.

        (a) The Board of Regents shall integrate the Universities of
        Wisconsin into the public education framework as grades 13
        through 20 of the K-20 education pipeline established under
        Section 115.42. The following institutions shall serve as
        pipeline campuses:

            1. UW-Madison — flagship university and Association of
               American Universities member;
            2. UW-Milwaukee — urban research university;
            3. UW-Eau Claire;
            4. UW-Green Bay;
            5. UW-La Crosse;
            6. UW-Oshkosh;
            7. UW-Parkside;
            8. UW-Platteville;
            9. UW-River Falls;
            10. UW-Stevens Point;
            11. UW-Stout;
            12. UW-Superior;
            13. UW-Whitewater;
            14. All branch campuses integrated pursuant to the 2018
                merger of the former UW Colleges.

        (b) Each University of Wisconsin campus shall accept automatic
        enrollment of Wisconsin K-12 graduates as a continuation of
        public education, subject to programmatic capacity and
        prerequisites. No separate application process shall be
        required beyond pipeline enrollment.

        (c) The Board of Regents shall expand the existing Universal
        Credit Transfer Agreement (UCTA) beyond the current
        approximately one year of transferable credits to ensure
        seamless credit transfer across all pipeline institutions,
        in coordination with the WTCS Board under Chapter 38.

    (2) Section 36.27 of the Wisconsin Statutes is amended to add:

    36.27(3) K-20 PIPELINE TUITION.

        (a) For students enrolled in the K-20 education pipeline
        established under Section 115.42, in-state tuition at all
        Universities of Wisconsin campuses shall be classified as
        public education funding, equivalent in status to K-12 per-
        pupil funding.

        (b) The state shall fund the per-student cost of pipeline
        enrollment through General Purpose Revenue appropriations,
        formalizing the existing state subsidy of in-state tuition.
        The legislature finds that the state already subsidizes a
        substantial portion of per-student costs through GPR
        appropriations to the Universities of Wisconsin, and this
        subsection makes explicit what is already partially true.

        (c) Students enrolled in the K-20 pipeline shall not be
        charged tuition for coursework required for pipeline
        completion. The difference between current tuition revenue and
        full state funding shall be phased in over the implementation
        period established in Section 12 of this act.

SECTION 8. Amendment of Chapter 38 of the Wisconsin Statutes — Wisconsin Technical College System.

    (1) Section 38.04 of the Wisconsin Statutes is amended to add:

    38.04(25) K-20 PIPELINE INTEGRATION.

        (a) The Wisconsin Technical College System Board shall
        integrate the sixteen (16) technical college districts into the
        K-20 education pipeline established under Section 115.42 as an
        alternative or complementary pathway to University of Wisconsin
        enrollment for grades 13 through 20 of the pipeline.

        (b) The following technical college districts shall serve as
        pipeline institutions:
            1. Blackhawk Technical College;
            2. Chippewa Valley Technical College;
            3. Fox Valley Technical College;
            4. Gateway Technical College;
            5. Lakeshore Technical College;
            6. Madison Area Technical College;
            7. Mid-State Technical College;
            8. Milwaukee Area Technical College;
            9. Moraine Park Technical College;
            10. Nicolet Area Technical College;
            11. Northcentral Technical College;
            12. Northeast Wisconsin Technical College;
            13. Southwest Wisconsin Technical College;
            14. Waukesha County Technical College;
            15. Western Technical College;
            16. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.

        (c) Each technical college district shall accept automatic
        enrollment of Wisconsin K-12 graduates into technical and
        vocational programs as a continuation of public education
        within the K-20 pipeline.

        (d) The WTCS Board shall coordinate with the Board of Regents
        to expand the Universal Credit Transfer Agreement (UCTA) and
        develop additional articulation agreements ensuring that
        technical college credits transfer seamlessly to University of
        Wisconsin campuses and vice versa.

    (2) Section 38.24 of the Wisconsin Statutes is amended to add:

    38.24(7) K-20 PIPELINE STUDENT FEES.

        (a) For students enrolled in the K-20 education pipeline,
        student fees at all Wisconsin Technical College System
        institutions shall be classified as public education funding.

        (b) The state shall fund the per-student cost of pipeline
        enrollment through state aid appropriations and adjustments to
        the existing WTCS funding formula, which combines state aid,
        district property tax levy, and student fees. The legislature
        finds that the state and local tax base already subsidize a
        substantial portion of WTCS per-student costs, and this
        subsection formalizes that subsidy as full public education
        funding.

SECTION 9. Public service requirement.

    16.90 WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE AND RESOURCE LIBRARY PROGRAM.

    (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:

        (a) "Eligible resident" means a person who has completed the
        K-20 education pipeline established under Section 115.42 and
        the public service requirement established in subsection (2).

        (b) "Public service" means compensated service to the State of
        Wisconsin or its political subdivisions in one or more of the
        following capacities: local infrastructure construction and
        maintenance; emergency services including fire, rescue, and
        emergency medical services; military service in the Wisconsin
        National Guard or United States armed forces; service in
        elected or appointed public office; production and
        manufacturing for state-operated programs; education and
        tutoring within the K-20 pipeline; environmental conservation
        and stewardship; healthcare support services; and volunteer
        service corps.

        (c) "Resource library" means the tiered distribution system
        for essential goods established under subsection (3).

    (2) PUBLIC SERVICE REQUIREMENT.

        (a) Each person who has completed the K-20 education pipeline
        shall perform not less than two (2) and not more than four (4)
        years of public service, performed as adjunct to or following
        enrollment at a University of Wisconsin campus under Chapter 36
        or a technical college under Chapter 38, as a condition of
        eligibility for full resource library access.

        (b) Public service shall be performed after the completion of
        the K-20 education pipeline. The typical average pathway shall
        be: completion of the K-20 pipeline at approximately age
        twenty-five (25), followed by two (2) to four (4) years of
        public service, with full resource library access at
        approximately age twenty-seven (27) to twenty-nine (29).

        (c) Public service shall be compensated at not less than the
        prevailing wage for comparable work, as determined by the
        Department of Workforce Development.

        (d) Credit for military service, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps,
        Teach for America, and other existing public service programs
        shall be applied toward the public service requirement on a
        year-for-year basis.

    (3) RESOURCE LIBRARY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

        (a) There is created the Wisconsin Resource Library, a tiered
        distribution system for essential goods, modeled on the
        resource-based economy principles described by Jacque Fresco
        (Designing the Future, 2007) and the commissary model
        established by 10 U.S.C. Section 2484.

        (b) The resource library shall distribute goods on a tiered
        basis according to permanence:

            1. FOOD AND CONSUMABLES (constant tier): Weekly provision
            of food and household consumables at at-cost pricing
            through the food assurance distribution centers established
            under Section 93.71. The resource library shall monitor
            utilization patterns; if an eligible resident does not
            access food resources for a period exceeding thirty (30)
            days, the Department of Health Services shall conduct a
            welfare check;

            2. SEMI-PERMANENT GOODS (need-based tier): Clothing,
            linens, small tools, and household items distributed on
            a need-demonstrated basis. Anti-hoarding provisions shall
            limit requisitions to reasonable personal use quantities as
            determined by department rule. One hundred shirts in one
            month constitutes hoarding, not need;

            3. DURABLE GOODS (permanent tier): Major appliances,
            furniture, one personal vehicle, and one primary residence
            per eligible individual, maintained by the state and
            replaced upon condition assessment. Durable goods remain
            the property of the resource library and are assigned for
            use, not ownership;

            4. LUXURY AND CUSTOM GOODS (currency tier): Currency
            survives for luxury, custom, artisanal, and non-essential
            goods. The resource library does not replace the market
            economy for discretionary consumption. It replaces the
            market economy for necessities.

        (c) Eligible residents shall access the resource library upon
        completion of both the K-20 education pipeline and the public
        service requirement. This is not universal basic income. This
        is the commissary model — proven for one hundred fifty-seven
        years — extended to everyone who funds it and completes the
        developmental and service requirements.

    (4) ADMINISTRATION. The Department of Administration shall
    administer the resource library in coordination with the Department
    of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (food tier), the
    Department of Health Services (welfare monitoring), and the
    Department of Workforce Development (public service certification).

SECTION 10. FISCAL IMPACT

    (1) The legislature finds and declares the following fiscal
    analysis:

    CURRENT EXPENDITURES (ANNUAL):

        (a) Wisconsin K-12 education: $15.3 billion in total revenue
        (DPI, 2023-2024);
        (b) Universities of Wisconsin: approximately $4.9 billion in
        total revenues (UW System, 2023-2024);
        (c) Wisconsin Technical College System: approximately $1.8
        billion in total revenues (WTCS, estimated);
        (d) Wisconsin food assistance programs (FoodShare Wisconsin,
        TEFAP, school meals, other): approximately $1.5 billion
        (estimated, including state and federal funds);
        (e) Healthcare costs attributable to food insecurity and
        poverty-related stress pathology: estimated $2.0 to $4.0
        billion annually in Wisconsin;
        (f) Total current education and food security expenditures:
        approximately $23.5 to $27.5 billion annually.

    PROGRAM COSTS (ANNUAL, AT FULL IMPLEMENTATION):

        (g) Food assurance program (at-cost food for 5.9 million
        residents): approximately $3.7 billion;
        (h) Essential goods program: approximately $1.0 to $2.0
        billion;
        (i) K-20 pipeline expansion (converting tuition to public
        funding): approximately $1.5 to $2.5 billion (incremental cost
        above current state appropriations to UW System and WTCS);
        (j) Public service compensation: approximately $1.0 to $2.0
        billion;
        (k) Resource library administration: approximately $500
        million;
        (l) Total estimated program cost: approximately $7.7 to $10.7
        billion annually.

    NET FISCAL IMPACT:

        (m) Offset by elimination of food insecurity healthcare costs:
        $2.0 to $4.0 billion;
        (n) Offset by consolidation of existing food assistance
        program administration: $500 million to $1.0 billion;
        (o) Offset by increased economic productivity from educated,
        healthy workforce: estimated $1.0 to $3.0 billion;
        (p) Offset by reduced criminal justice and social service
        costs: estimated $500 million to $1.5 billion;
        (q) Total estimated offsets: $4.0 to $9.5 billion;
        (r) Net incremental cost: approximately $0.2 to $6.7 billion,
        representing 0.4 to 13.5 percent of the state budget;
        (s) At the midpoint estimate, the net incremental cost is
        approximately $3.0 billion, or 6.1 percent of the state's
        annual budget — for a program that eliminates food insecurity,
        extends public education through neurological maturity,
        establishes structured public service, and provides universal
        access to essential goods for all Wisconsin residents who
        complete the pipeline.

    (2) The legislature finds that the State of Wisconsin ended fiscal
    year 2024 with a budget surplus exceeding $4.6 billion, and that
    the midpoint net incremental cost of this program is within the
    range of existing surplus capacity.

SECTION 11. SEVERABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION

    (1) SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this act or its application
    to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does
    not affect other provisions or applications of this act that can
    be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and
    to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

    (2) CONSTRUCTION. This act shall be liberally construed to
    effectuate its purposes.

    (3) SUPREMACY. Where this act conflicts with existing provisions
    of the Wisconsin Statutes, the provisions of this act shall
    control, except that this act shall not be construed to diminish
    any right, benefit, or protection provided under existing law that
    exceeds the protections established herein.

SECTION 12. EFFECTIVE DATES AND IMPLEMENTATION

    (1) EFFECTIVE DATE. This act takes effect on July 1 following
    enactment, coinciding with the beginning of the next state fiscal
    year.

    (2) IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE.

        (a) PHASE 1 (Fiscal Years 1-2): The Department of Agriculture,
        Trade and Consumer Protection shall establish the first food
        assurance distribution centers in communities designated as
        food deserts, beginning with the ten (10) counties with the
        highest food insecurity rates. The Department of Public
        Instruction, in coordination with the Board of Regents and the
        WTCS Board, shall begin development of VQ-aligned curriculum
        standards. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau shall prepare detailed
        cost analyses for the Joint Committee on Finance.

        (b) PHASE 2 (Fiscal Years 3-4): Expansion of food assurance
        distribution centers to all counties. The Board of Regents and
        the WTCS Board shall implement automatic enrollment procedures
        for the K-20 pipeline. Tuition phase-out begins for pipeline
        students. Structured learning trial pilot programs begin at
        selected UW and WTCS campuses.

        (c) PHASE 3 (Fiscal Years 5-6): Full operation of the food
        assurance program statewide. Full implementation of the K-20
        pipeline with automatic enrollment. First cohort of pipeline
        students enters the postsecondary integration phase. Essential
        goods program begins operation.

        (d) PHASE 4 (Fiscal Years 7-10): First cohort completes the
        K-20 pipeline and enters public service. Resource library
        system begins operation for eligible residents. Comprehensive
        fiscal impact assessment by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

        (e) PHASE 5 (Fiscal Years 11-12): Full implementation of all
        provisions. First cohort completes public service and receives
        full resource library access. Program evaluation and
        legislative review.

    (3) REPORTING. The departments charged with implementation under
    this act shall report annually to the Joint Committee on Finance
    on implementation progress, fiscal impact, and program outcomes.

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    THE FEDERAL SNAP COST-SHIFT. Federal H.R. 1 (2025) increased
    the state share of SNAP administrative costs from fifty percent
    to seventy-five percent, effective October 1, 2026. This state
    routes SNAP benefits through commercial retail where 75.7 cents
    of every dollar pays for markup. At at-cost routing through
    Division I, approximately 95 cents reaches recipients as food
    — a 3.9-fold increase per SNAP dollar that offsets the federal
    cost-shift.

    DIVISION I FOOD PROGRAM TARGET. The at-cost food assurance
    program established in Division I, serving Wisconsin's population
    of approximately 5.9 million residents (Census Bureau, 2025),
    requires approximately $3.59 billion per year at production cost
    ($609 per person per year for a full baseline of 37 staple food
    items at 30 percent of cheapest retail price per USDA Food Dollar
    Series methodology). Against Wisconsin's biennial budget of
    approximately $111 billion (~$55.5 billion annual, signed by
    Governor Evers), this represents approximately 6.5 percent.
    Verified April 18, 2026 via SearXNG.

    THE FISCAL LOCK. The argument that Wisconsin cannot afford
    this Act is refuted by the state's existing expenditure on the
    less efficient version while absorbing a federal SNAP cost-shift
    the state did not request.

    CONSTITUTIONAL EDUCATION OBLIGATION. Article X Section 3
    of the Wisconsin Constitution requires the Legislature to
    "provide by law for the establishment of district schools,
    which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable." Vincent v.
    Voight (2000) held the state must provide an equal opportunity
    for education. Division III completes this mandate.

REFERENCES

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FOOD AND COMMODITY DATA:

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. "Wisconsin 2025

    Agricultural Statistics." Cash receipts from farm marketings:
    $15.3 billion (2024). Milk sales: $6.97 billion. Cheese
    production: 3.58 billion pounds.

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. "Wisconsin Cranberry

    Production, 2024." 5.49 million barrels, 62% of national crop.

USDA Economic Research Service. "Food Dollar Series." Farm share:

    24.3 cents per dollar.

USDA Economic Research Service. "Food Expenditure Series." Food-at-

    home spending: $1.09 trillion.

Thomasnet. "Wisconsin's 200-Year Manufacturing Evolution" (2025).

    Manufacturing sector: $70 billion annually, 575,000 workers,
    92,000 firms.

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. "Map the Meal Gap" (2023 data).

    Nearly 1 in 8 food insecure in service area.

Cooper, I. (2025). "The Mathematics of Abundance: Two Proofs That

    Scarcity Is a Policy Choice."

Cooper, I. (2025). "Stolen Futures: The Intergenerational Theft of

    Technical Possibility."

HIERARCHY AND HEALTH:

Marmot, M. (2004). The Status Syndrome. Marmot, M. (2015). The Health Gap. Sapolsky, R.M. (1994/2004). Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. Sapolsky, R.M. (2017). Behave. Shively, C.A. et al. (2009). Social Stress and Coronary Artery

    Atherosclerosis.

Blackburn, E. & Epel, E. (2017). The Telomere Effect.

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT:

Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and Language. Bjork, R. (1994). "Memory and Metamemory Considerations." Luthar, S. (2003). "The Culture of Affluence." NIH PMC1950124. Van Gennep, A. (1909). The Rites of Passage. Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process. Jackson, P.W. (1968). Life in Classrooms. Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in Capitalist America. Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling Society. Hirsch, E.D. (1987). Cultural Literacy. Smith, A. (1776). The Wealth of Nations, Book V. Cooper, I. (2025/2026). The Vitruvian Quotient. Cooper, I. (2026). Paper V: The Targeting Error.

ECONOMICS AND ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY:

Galbraith, J.K. (1958). The Affluent Society. Veblen, T. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen, T. (1921). The Engineers and the Price System. Fresco, J. (2007). Designing the Future. Penck, A. (1925). Earth carrying capacity calculations. Cohen, J. (1995). How Many People Can the Earth Support?

WISCONSIN LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL:

Wisconsin Constitution, Article IV (Legislative Power). Wisconsin Constitution, Article IV, Section 17 (Enacting Clause). Wisconsin Constitution, Article V, Section 10 (Veto Power). Wisconsin Constitution, Article XIII, Section 10 (Advisory Referenda). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 36 (University of Wisconsin System). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 38 (Technical College System). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 93 (Agriculture; Trade Practices). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 100 (Marketing; Trade Practices). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 115 (State Superintendent; General

    Classifications and Definitions).

Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 118 (General School Operations). Wisconsin Statutes Section 118.15 (Compulsory School Attendance). Wisconsin Statutes Section 36.31(2m)(b) (72-Credit Transfer Rule). Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 250 (Health; General Provisions). Wisconsin Statutes Section 13.093 (Joint Committee on Finance). Wisconsin Statutes Section 13.10 (JCF Powers). Wisconsin Joint Rules 41, 52. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. Wisconsin Department of Administration, Budget in Brief (2024-2025). Urban Institute, Wisconsin Budget Data: $49.7B (FY2024),

    $48.9B (FY2025).

Badger Institute (2025). Per-pupil spending report. UW-Madison Budget in Brief (2024-2025): $4.9B total revenues. UW System Board of Regents. 2024-25 Annual Operating Budget.

VEBLEN BIOGRAPHICAL:

Wisconsin Historical Society. "Thorstein Veblen." MNopedia. "Veblen, Thorstein Bunde (1857-1929)." Born July 30, 1857,

    Cato Township, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

Encyclopedia.com. "Thorstein Bunde Veblen."

HISTORICAL APOPLEXY FRAMEWORK:

Cooper, I. (2025). Historical Apoplexy: On the Stroke-Like Loss of

    Civilizational Memory.

Cooper, I. (2025). Paper II: Historical Arc. Cooper, I. (2025). Paper III: The Mathematics of Abundance. Cooper, I. (2025). Paper IV: Stolen Futures. Cooper, I. (2026). Paper V: The Targeting Error. Cooper, I. (2026). Paper VI: The Resuscitation Document. Cooper, I. (2025/2026). The Vitruvian Quotient.

END OF BILL

    Wisconsin Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act
    Prepared for introduction in the Wisconsin State Legislature
    One Hundred Seventh Legislature, 2025-2026 Session

    Adapted from the original 2016 Colorado proposal developed through
    the Sassafras and Maple Research Foundation (SMRF)

    Research foundation: Historical Apoplexy (Cooper, 2025-2026)

    "The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and
     assembly, do enact as follows."

    The state that gave the world Thorstein Veblen — who diagnosed the
    disease of conspicuous consumption and the conscious withdrawal of
    efficiency — now has the opportunity to write the prescription.

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