Business groups and company owners applauded Walker's proposal at a public hearing on Tuesday, one of several simultaneous hearings held on special session proposals. "This is about jobs," Bill Smith, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said. "It's about creating an environment that will allow jobs to grow."

But Orechovsky and others said some of the bill's provisions, like one that prohibits reviews and reports about health care providers from being allowed as evidence in civil or criminal cases, will make it harder to find out what happened to people like his mom.

That's not the intent of the bill, said Sen. Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee. He said the proposals will encourage health care providers and others to regulate themselves while helping to change Wisconsin's reputation as an "outlier" state when it comes to lawsuits.

Democratic legislators, however, argued the state does not have significant problems with frivolous lawsuits and excessive litigation. Both Democrats and business interests have cited a study by the Pacific Research Institute, which favors tighter controls on lawsuits. That group ranked Wisconsin 35th for its laws and rules, but it did far better overall. It was No. 9, among the best in the country, for its overall lawsuit climate, following states like Alaska, North Carolina and Virginia.