A bipartisan committee of Wisconsin legislators has signed off on a $250,000 funding deal for WisconsinEye, the livestream service that covers the state Legislature.
The Joint Committee on Legislative Organization approved the funds, to be paid out $50,000 per month starting Aug. 1, on a 9-1 vote, the nonpartisan Legislative Council announced Tuesday. The committee is made up of six Republican and four Democratic leaders of both the Senate and the Assembly.
Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac), the assistant Senate majority leader, cast the only vote against the proposal.
The funding is to support WisconsinEye so it can provide livestream coverage of floor sessions in the Legislature as well as public hearings and votes held by Senate and Assembly committees, as it continues to seek long-term funding to operate.
WisEye President Jon Henkes welcomed the vote Tuesday, saying that it provided “a strong statement of support” in both chambers “for unfettered citizen access to state government proceedings,” with both Republicans and Democrats signing on.
“They’ve put action to their words that transparency is essential to our democracy, and we are extremely grateful,” Henkes said in a statement.
Henkes said the sum was sufficient for WisconsinEye to maintain operations through December, including its coverage of events in the 2026 election campaign as well as coverage of the Legislature’s joint study committees, which are discussing a variety of topics with future policy implications.
The vote also provides “an existing foundation of ongoing support” that will be important to charitable donors and WisEye program sponsors, according to the WisconsinEye statement.
The streaming service is counting on the new Legislature that takes office in January 2027 to reach a bipartisan agreement for future partial funding for the service.
WisconsinEye launched as an independent nonprofit in 2007 to livestream and archive government meetings and legislative sessions. The service has operated on donations and runs independently from the state Legislature.
WisconsinEye’s management announced in November 2025 that it needed additional revenue to support the service’s $900,000 annual budget after donations fell behind in the last couple of years. The service went dark for nearly two months at the end of December, resuming in February.
Two separate proposals to fund the service passed earlier this year, one in the Assembly and the other in the Senate, but neither one got a vote in the opposite chamber.
Originally published on wisconsinexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.