E-Verify requirements in Wisconsin: no mandate after the 2026 veto of Assembly Bill 281

As of October 2026, Wisconsin does not require any employer to use E-Verify, but it came closer than most no-mandate states. 2025 Assembly Bill 281 passed both the Assembly and the Senate in early 2026. It would have made E-Verify enrollment a condition of state contracts and required state agencies and local governments to verify their own new hires. Governor Evers vetoed it on April 3, 2026, and on May 13, 2026 the Assembly failed to pass it over his objections. The bill's status on the Legislature's site is "Veto Sustained."

So for now a Wisconsin employer uses E-Verify only by choice, or because a federal contract with the FAR E-Verify clause requires it.

Who is covered in Wisconsin

What AB 281 would have done

The Legislative Reference Bureau's analysis of the bill begins from current law: the Department of Administration and other state purchasers buy materials and services, and DOA lets construction contracts, generally to the lowest responsible bidder. The bill would have added E-Verify to that system in four places.

The contract bars would have stopped applying if the federal program were discontinued. As drafted, the bill covered state and local government and state contractors only; it would not have reached a private employer with no state contract. None of these sections exists in Wisconsin law as of October 2026.

How it moved, and stopped

The lead Senate sponsor's May 2025 release framed the bill as bringing Wisconsin in line with neighbors such as Minnesota and Indiana. A similar bill could be filed in the 2027-2028 session; it would start from scratch and could look different.

What applies to every Wisconsin employer

Form I-9

Form I-9 for every new hire, with Section 2 completed within three business days of the first day of work; see I-9 timing in hiring. E-Verify, where used, runs from the I-9 data.

The federal contractor clause

Under FAR 22.1803, clause 52.222-54 goes into federal contracts over $150,000 unless performed only outside the United States, shorter than 120 days, or only for commercially available off-the-shelf items, and flows down to subcontracts for services or construction over $3,500 with work in the United States. A covered contractor enrolls within 30 calendar days of award and verifies new hires company-wide and employees assigned to the contract.

The federal rules once you enroll

The E-Verify employer memorandum of understanding requires verifying all new employees at the enrolled site, within three business days after hire, and never before a firm offer is accepted and Form I-9 is complete. It forbids pre-employment screening and any adverse action while a tentative nonconfirmation is contested; see E-Verify tentative nonconfirmation.

Should a Wisconsin state contractor enroll anyway?

With the veto sustained, there is no state requirement for a Wisconsin state contractor to enroll. The tradeoff is the same as anywhere: once a hiring site is enrolled, every new hire there must be verified, and the employer takes on the MOU's obligations and DHS's right to monitor use. A contractor that expects the bill to return can prepare without enrolling: clean up Form I-9 practice, decide which sites it would enroll, and read E-Verify enrollment steps so it can move quickly if a law passes.

Records to keep in the meantime

A Wisconsin employer using E-Verify by choice or under a federal clause should keep the signed MOU, its company ID, the list of enrolled hiring sites and the case results with each Form I-9, for the federal retention period: three years after hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. See I-9 retention rules. If a future bill revives the contract bar, AB 281's model would have required a signed compliance statement in each state contract, so evidence of enrollment is the thing to have ready.

Staffing agencies and recruiters in Wisconsin

• No Wisconsin placement carries a state E-Verify duty, including placements with state agencies and local governments.
• Placements in neighboring states can. Minnesota requires certification of E-Verify use for vendors on state service contracts over $50,000, and Michigan's fiscal 2025-26 budget conditioned most state department contracts on E-Verify; see Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois.
• An enrolled agency runs E-Verify as the employer of record that completes Form I-9; see E-Verify for staffing agencies.
• Licensing is a separate question; see staffing agency license requirements in Wisconsin.

A worked example

This is an invented example. A Madison IT staffing firm supplies contract analysts to a state agency under a services contract signed in February 2026, while AB 281 was awaiting Senate action. The firm had prepared to enroll in E-Verify in case the bill became law. After the veto, and the failed override in May, it checks its contract: the contract contains no E-Verify term, so the firm completes Form I-9 for each analyst and leaves E-Verify enrollment as a business decision. When it later signs a subcontract under a federal contract that includes FAR 52.222-54, it enrolls within 30 days of award because federal law, not Wisconsin law, now requires it.

A Wisconsin checklist

1. No federal contract with FAR 52.222-54? E-Verify is optional; Form I-9 is not.
2. Remove any AB 281 compliance steps you added in anticipation, or keep them as policy, but do not cite them as law.
3. Read state and local contracts for any E-Verify term added by the agency itself.
4. If enrolled, verify every new hire at the site, after an accepted offer and a completed I-9.
5. For workers outside Wisconsin, apply the rule of the state where they work; see E-Verify requirements by state.