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Read. Follow. Verify.Wisconsin Senate Bill 759 Caps Consumer Loan Interest Rates at 36 Percent
Last action · March 23, 2026: Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1Sponsors: André Jacque and 10 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Senate Bill 759 limits the maximum that licensed lenders can charge on consumer loans to 36 percent and invalidates loans that exceed this cap. The measure also expands the definition of a lender to catch arrangements that attempt to evade licensing requirements and mandates detailed annual reporting on high-interest loans.
Licensed lenders charging rates above 36 percent face unenforceable loan agreements and new reporting burdens regarding repossessions, refinancings, and defaults.
- Under prior Wisconsin law, consumer loans made by licensed lenders generally did not have a maximum interest rate limit or finance charge ceiling. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
licensed lenders
Licensed lenders are prohibited from charging APRs over 36 percent, must comply with new anti-evasion rules, and must include additional loan data in their annual reports.
consumer loan borrowers
Borrowers receive protection through a statutory interest rate cap and rendering of unenforceable loans that exceed the 36 percent limit.
Department of Financial Institutions
The department and its division must collect new data points from lenders and submit an aggregated annual report to the legislature.
Key Facts
- The bill establishes a maximum annual percentage rate (APR) of 36 percent for consumer loans made by licensed lenders.
- Consumer loans with an APR exceeding 36 percent are rendered completely unenforceable if a licensee violates the limit.
- The 36 percent cap does not apply to pawnbrokers' loans or to the post-maturity interest rate limit of 12 percent per year.
- A person is legally considered a lender if they maintain the predominant economic interest, hold a right of first refusal to purchase loans, or structure transactions to evade regulations regardless of agent status.
Show all 7 facts
- The measure prohibits any device, subterfuge, or pretense—such as disguised property sale-leasebacks or cash rebates—to circumvent licensed lender requirements.
- Licensed lenders making or servicing loans with APRs over 18 percent must submit annual reports detailing loan counts, average APRs, refinancings, repossessions, defaults, and money judgments.
- The Division of Banking must submit an annual report summarizing the aggregated data from lenders to the appropriate legislative standing committees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the maximum interest rate a licensed lender can charge under this bill?
What happens if a licensed lender charges an APR higher than 36 percent?
Does the bill apply to pawnbrokers' loans?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Failed in the Senate.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 23, 2026SenateFailed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1
- Dec 18, 2025SenateFiscal estimate received
- Dec 12, 2025SenateIntroducedRead first time and referred to Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage
- Dec 12, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced by Senators Jacque and Cabral-Guevara; cosponsored by Representatives Allen, Rivera-Wagner, Anderson, Goodwin, Gundrum, Knodl, Kreibich, Ortiz-Velez and Stroud
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 6 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Establishment of Interest Rate Caps for Licensed Lenders
Wisconsin law previously lacked a maximum interest rate limit for most consumer loans made by licensed lenders; this bill creates a definitive 36 percent cap.
Connected Entities
Sources
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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