AB444: Bill Text

This bill requires the Department of Tourism to award grants to nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is the promotion and development of tourism in Wisconsin to assist those organizations to remain operational in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The bill also requires the department to award grants to such nonprofit organizations and to certain governmental organizations also having that same primary purpose for purposes of tourism marketing in connection with Wisconsin's recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic. A nonprofit or governmental organization may not receive grants totaling more than the lesser of $1,000,000 or 50 percent of the organization's average annual tourism marketing budget over the previous three years, not including 2020. The bill appropriates $25,000,000 for the grants.

Victim services grants

Under current law, DOJ administers a grant program to award grants to organizations that provide services to victims of sexual assault. Under this bill, DOJ must administer a grant program to award grants to organizations that provide services, such as advocacy, counseling, and crisis phone services, to victims of crimes. The bill provides $5,000,000 for the grants in each fiscal year of the 2021-23 biennium.

Funding for broadband expansion grant program

This bill appropriates $200,000,000 in general purpose revenue for the broadband expansion grant program administered by the Public Service Commission.

The Literacy Lab; support

This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to annually distribute the amount appropriated to The Literacy Lab to provide evidence-based literacy interventions to prekindergarten to third grade pupils in this state. The bill appropriates $1,500,000 for this purpose in each of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years.

University of Wisconsin System application fee exemption for service members

This bill creates an application fee exemption for veterans and members of the U.S. armed forces applying for admission to University of Wisconsin System schools.

Under current law, a student who is a service member must be given priority in registering for courses at UW System schools. A “service member” is defined as a person who has served or is serving on active duty under honorable conditions in the U.S. armed forces, in forces incorporated as part of the U.S. armed forces, in the national guard, or in a reserve component of the U.S. armed forces.

Under this bill, a UW System school may not charge an application fee to a service member applying for admission to the UW System school or to any program offered at the school.

Partnership program for the Lake Superior Research Institute

This bill requires the Board of Regents of the UW System to establish a partnership program between UW-Superior's Lake Superior Research Institute and northern Wisconsin communities. The program must be designed to accomplish specified objectives. The bill provides funding and 5.0 positions for the program through a new annual appropriation.

Grant to Mid-State Technical College for Apprenticeship Center

This bill requires the Technical College System Board to award a grant of $9,600,000 in the 2021-22 fiscal year to Mid-State Technical College for a manufacturing engineering apprenticeship center. The bill also provides funding for the grant through a continuing appropriation.

Black women's health and infant and maternal mortality

This bill instructs DHS to annually award $1,750,000 in grants to community-serving organizations that are led by Black women that improve Black women's health in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, and Kenosha Counties. Further, the bill directs DHS to annually award $1,750,000 in grants to organizations that work to reduce racial disparities related to infant and maternal mortality. Additionally, this bill instructs DHS to award a grant totaling $500,000 in fiscal year 2021-22 and another grant totaling $500,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 to an entity to coordinate efforts among the state, public and private sector organizations, and community organizations to support a statewide strategy to advance Black women's health.

Grants for community health workers

This bill directs DHS to annually award grants in the amount of $15,000,000 for community health workers.

Grants for federally qualified health centers in Racine County

This bill directs DHS to award grants in the total amount of $53,000,000 to create federally qualified health centers in Racine County before June 30, 2023. Federally qualified health centers are community-based health care providers that serve an underserved area or population.

Funding for rural emergency medical services

This bill provides $5,500,000 in each fiscal year of the 2021-23 biennium to support emergency medical services in rural areas.

Grant to Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County

This bill appropriates $4,000,000 in general purpose revenue for DHS to give the county-owned Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County in Darlington a grant for its facility planning, expansion, and construction.

Mental health bed capacity in north central Wisconsin

This bill requires DHS to award a grant to an organization that applies to DHS and that provides mental and behavioral health services in north central Wisconsin and has a campus in Marathon County. The grant is in the amount of $5,000,000 for the purpose of expanding mental health bed capacity. The organization that is awarded the grant under the bill must do all of the following: 1) agree to renovate or expand its existing mental health campus to provide additional capacity for mental health treatment; 2) identify measures that it believes will serve the needs of area residents with mental health needs, especially, as a critical component of the measures, in reducing the burden on state-operated facilities; and 3) report annually to the legislature the services provided with the resources funding by the grant. The organization that receives the grant is liable to repay the grant funds to the state if the organization fails to continue to maintain the expanded mental health services for an agreed upon period.

Mental health funding

This bill provides $25,000,000 general purpose revenue in each fiscal year of the 2021-23 biennium to fund DHS mental health services, initiatives, programs, and facilities.

Grants for community health centers

This bill increases by $3,000,000 in each fiscal year the funding for grants to community health centers. Under current law, DHS must award grants to each community health center that receives federal grants in an amount calculated by multiplying the amount of state funds available for all community health centers by the fraction obtained by dividing the amount of federal grant moneys that the particular community health center receives by the total amount of federal grant moneys paid to all Wisconsin community health centers. The additional funding provided in the bill is to be divided among community health centers in the same manner as current law.

Grants to free and charitable clinics

This bill incorporates into statutory language the allocation made in 2019 Wisconsin Act 9, the biennial budget act, that requires DHS to give $500,000 in grants annually to free and charitable clinics. The bill also increases the annual grant to free and charitable clinics from $500,000 to $3,500,000

Suicide prevention programming grants

This bill requires DHS to award grants to organizations or coalitions of organizations, including cities, villages, towns, counties, and federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands for suicide prevention programming. A grant recipient must contribute matching funds or in-kind services having a value equal to at least 20 percent of the grant amount.

Grants to prevent suicide by firearm

This bill requires DHS to award grants to organizations or coalitions of organizations, including cities, villages, towns, counties, and federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands, for 1) training staff at a firearm retailer or firearm range on how to recognize a person who may be considering suicide; 2) providing suicide prevention materials for distribution at a firearm retailer or firearm range; or 3) providing voluntary, temporary firearm storage. A grant recipient must contribute matching funds or in-kind services having a value equal to at least 20 percent of the grant amount.

Farmer tuition assistance grants

This bill appropriates $500,000 from the general fund for the creation and funding of a tuition assistance grant program under which the Technical College System Board shall award grants to current or prospective farmers in the state for the purpose of paying no more than 50 percent of tuition costs for enrolling in Wisconsin technical college courses on farm management or farm finance. A current or prospective farmer may receive no more than $1,000 in these grants per year for no more than three years.

Lead service line replacement

This bill appropriates $100,000,000 from the general fund to the environmental improvement program for projects involving forgivable loans to private users of public water systems to cover not more than 50 percent of the cost to replace lead service lines.

Under current law, DOA and DNR administer the safe drinking water loan program (SDWLP), which provides financial assistance from the environmental improvement program to local governmental units and to the private owners of community water systems that serve local governmental units for projects for the planning, designing, construction, or modification of public water systems. DNR establishes a funding list for SDWLP projects and DOA allocates funding for those projects.

Wisconsin Historical Society

This bill increases funding by $2,000,000 for general program operations of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum

This bill increases funding by $300,000 for the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB444,1 Section 1 . 13.48 (26m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,10,6 13.48 (26m) Lead service line replacement. The legislature finds and determines that the prevalence of lead service lines in connections to public water systems poses a public health hazard and that processes for reducing lead entering drinking water from such pipes requires additional treatment of wastewater. It is therefore in the public interest, and it is the public policy of this state, to assist private users of public water systems in replacing lead service lines.

AB444,2 Section 2 . 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table - See PDF for table - See PDF for table

AB444,3 Section 3 . 20.155 (3) (a) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,12,3 20.155 (3) (a) Broadband expansion grants; general purpose revenue. The amounts in the schedule for broadband expansion grants under s. 196.504 (2).

AB444,4 Section 4 . 20.165 (2) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,3 20.165 (2) (d) Private on-site wastewater treatment system grants and septage study. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for financial assistance under the private on-site wastewater treatment system replacement and rehabilitation program under s. 145.245 and for the septage characterization study under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 9138 (1).

AB444,5 Section 5 . 20.192 (1) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,7 20.192 (1) (c) Paper mill purchase loans. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for the loans under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 9149 (1) and (2).

AB444,6 Section 6 . 20.192 (1) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,11 20.192 (1) (d) River North housing development grant. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for a grant to the River North housing development project in the city of Manitowoc.

AB444,7 Section 7 . 20.192 (1) (d) of the statutes, as created by 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.

AB444,8 Section 8 . 20.255 (3) (fs) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,16 20.255 (3) (fs) The Literacy Lab. The amounts in the schedule for payments to The Literacy Lab under s. 115.28 (66).

AB444,9 Section 9 . 20.285 (1) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,19 20.285 (1) (bm) Partnership program for the Lake Superior Research Institute. The amounts in the schedule for the partnership program under s. 36.25 (40).

AB444,10 Section 10 . 20.292 (1) (fm) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,13,22 20.292 (1) (fm) Farmer tuition assistance grants. Biennially, the amounts in the schedule for farmer tuition assistance grants under s. 38.274.

AB444,11 Section 11 . 20.320 (2) (a) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,14,3 20.320 (2) (a) Lead service line replacement. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for lead service line replacement loans under s. 281.61 (8) (b).

AB444,12 Section 12 . 20.370 (6) (ed) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,14,7 20.370 (6) (ed) Environmental aids — PFAS municipal grant program. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for the municipal grant program under s. 292.66.

AB444,13 Section 13 . 20.380 (1) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,14,11 20.380 (1) (c) Destination marketing grants. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for destination marketing grants under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 9143 (1 ).

AB444,14 Section 14 . 20.380 (1) (c) of the statutes, as created by 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.

AB444,15 Section 15 . 20.395 (2) (fc) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB444,14,18 20.395 (2) (fc) Local roads improvement discretionary supplement. From the general fund, as a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for the local roads improvement discretionary supplemental supplement grant program under s. 86.31 (3s) 85.0215.

AB444,16 Section 16 . 20.435 (1) (cr) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB444,14,23 20.435 (1) (cr) Minority health grants. The amounts in the schedule for the minority health program under s. 250.20 (3) and (4), for the Black women's health grants under s. 250.20 (7), and for the infant and maternal mortality grants under s. 250.20 (8).

AB444,17 Section 17 . 20.435 (1) (fh) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB444,15,2 20.435 (1) (fh) Community health services. The amounts in the schedule for grants under s. 250.15 and grants for community health workers under s. 250.16.

AB444,18 Section 18. 20.435 (4) (jw) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB444,15,11 20.435 (4) (jw) BadgerCare Plus and hospital assessment. All moneys received from payment of enrollment fees under the program under s. 49.45 (23), all moneys transferred under s. 50.38 (9), all moneys transferred from the appropriation account under par. (jz), and 10 percent of all moneys received from penalty assessments under s. 49.471 (9) (c), for administration of the program under s. 49.45 (23), to provide a portion of the state share of administrative costs for the BadgerCare Plus Medical Assistance program under s. 49.471, and for administration of the hospital assessment under s. 50.38.

AB444,19 Section 19 . 20.435 (5) (ef) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,15,15 20.435 (5) (ef) Suicide prevention programming grants. Biennially, the amounts in the schedule for suicide prevention programming grants under s. 51.72 and for grants related to preventing suicide by firearm under s. 51.73.

AB444,20 Section 20 . 20.455 (5) (ec) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,15,18 20.455 (5) (ec) Victim services grants. The amounts in the schedule to provide grants for victim services under s. 165.932 and to administer the grant program.

AB444,21 Section 21 . 20.505 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB444,15,21 20.505 (1) (am) Miscellaneous projects. The amounts in the schedule for the grants awarded under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 9101 (1).