“Red flags go up for me,” Wisconsin State Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) said when talking about State Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), who’s come under scrutiny for being absent for floor sessions.
Zimmerman was gone for more than 25% of Wisconsin Assembly floor sessions during the 2025-26 legislative session. A report from the Milwaukee-based research group, A Better Wisconsin Together shows that of the 24 Wisconsin Assembly meetings over the two-year 2025-26 legislative session that just wrapped up in February, Zimmerman missed six.
“Shannon’s attendance is really, really bad,” Emerson said. “He’s done some great work in the Assembly, but I think his attendance says that maybe it’s time for him to retire and move on to the next chapter of his life.”
The report said the Wisconsin lawmaker missed more than 225 votes, including a committee vote directly affecting a healthcare crisis in his own backyard.
Zimmerman represents western Wisconsin’s 30th Assembly District—it covers parts of southwest St. Croix County and northwest Pierce County, including Hudson and River Falls. He’s held the seat since 2017.
“The nearly sixty-thousand people of the 30th District Rep. Zimmerman is paid to represent deserve to know why they were left without a voice on hundreds of important votes over this session,” said Lucy Ripp, communications director at A Better Wisconsin Together.
The report cites videos of sessions recorded by WisconsinEye, the state’s public affairs network, which show Zimmerman not in attendance at meetings. He requested several leaves of absence.
“While Rep. Zimmerman is avoiding work by supposedly jetting off and soaking up the sun, the taxpayers covering his salary are here in Wisconsin working hard,” Ripp said, noting that Zimmerman’s salary is $60,000 plus benefits.
Emerson said she understands that “life happens” and missing a couple of meetings is understandable, but when it’s a pattern, it becomes a problem.
She didn’t mince words.
“If I had an employee that was missing 25% of their work, I’d have to sit down with them and say, ‘Are there adjustments that need to be made, or is this maybe not the right job for you right now with your life?’”
“And I think the constituents of the 30th Assembly District need to have that conversation—they are his employers,” she said.
“Thank you for your service.”
He’s not voting on the budget
Zimmerman’s absences have also extended beyond the Assembly floor. His only committee assignment is the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), the central body that shapes Wisconsin’s entire state budget. Zimmerman missed three of those meetings: June 17, 2025, August 21, 2025, and February 3, 2026.
Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) is also a member of the 16-person Joint Finance Committee. “It’s a responsibility that I take extremely seriously because we need to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollar, and that starts with being in your seat when you’re on the Joint Finance Committee,” Andraca told UpNorthNews.
The Wisconsin JFC reviews the governor’s proposal, holds public hearings, and revises the bill, often rewriting it before it goes to the full legislature and finally to the governor for signature.
“When you are voting on different motions on Joint Finance, you are literally talking about and casting a vote on how everyone’s taxpayer dollars are being spent,” Andraca explained, noting how important the committee is. “So to miss that vote, your constituents don’t have a say in that, and you are shaping all of the spending that the state is going to do for the next two years.”
He’s not voting on local issues
The stakes became concrete on Feb. 3 when Zimmerman missed a vote directly addressing health care in his district.
“As we know, west central Wisconsin has really been having a healthcare crisis since the closure of the hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, and probably our biggest crisis has been around access to mental health services,” Emerson said. “We had a vote that established a grant through the Department of Human Services that would fill that gap and build a new hospital for this.”
The JFC voted on a $10 million grant to increase funding for mental health services in western Wisconsin, aimed to address critical service gaps following the 2024 closure of HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals. The funding was a response to the loss of more than 100 behavioral health beds.
“Sadly, he wasn’t there and this is directly affecting not only his constituents but our entire area, and by default, the entire state.”
Without Zimmerman, the JFC did unanimously (15-0) approve releasing the grant to Rogers Behavioral Health to build a new mental health and addiction treatment facility in Chippewa Falls.
“When you aren’t there for something that should be important to your constituents, I think your constituents have to ask, ‘How important is this job to him?’” said Emerson. “I hope people in the 30th Assembly District are having some hard conversations right now and asking, “Is this maybe the end of his tenure?’”
Emerson said Zimmerman is neglecting the district’s needs.
“Something this critically important to all of us in the west central Wisconsin area, we need all the voices at the table and he’s not at the table.”
