AB68: Bill Text

Under current law, DVA is required to annually award a grant to counties that employ a full-time county veterans service officer. The grants are awarded for the purpose of improving a county's services to veterans. The amount of each grant is as follows: $8,500 for a county with a population of less than 20,000, $10,000 for a county with a population of 20,000 to 45,499, $11,500 for a county with a population of 45,500 to 74,999, and $13,000 for a county with a population of 75,000 or more. Counties that employ a part-time county veterans service officer are eligible to receive an annual grant not exceeding $500. DVA may also make annual grants not to exceed $15,000 to the governing bodies of federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands if the tribal governing body appoints a tribal veterans service officer. The bill increases the amount of each of these grants by 5 percent.

Veterans outreach and recovery program

Under current law, DVA administers a program to provide outreach, mental health services, and support to veterans who reside in the state who have a mental health condition or substance use disorder. The bill directs DVA to spend at least $100,000 annually under the program to promote suicide prevention and awareness by providing services to individuals who are members of a traditionally underserved population, including minority groups and individuals who reside in rural areas of the state.

Hire Heroes program

Under current law, DWD administers the Hire Heroes program that provides transitional jobs to veterans and reimburses employers of veterans for wages and other related costs. In order for a veteran to be eligible to participate in the program, he or she must be a DVA-certified veteran, be at least 18 years old, be ineligible to participate in the Wisconsin Works program, be unemployed for at least four weeks, and satisfy any applicable substance abuse screening, testing, and treatment. Prospective program participants must also submit an application to the program no later than seven years after the date of discharge from military service. The bill removes the seven-year limit on when veterans may submit an application to the program.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.

Because this bill relates to an exemption from state or local taxes, it may be referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions for a report to be printed as an appendix to the bill.

Because this bill may increase or decrease, directly or indirectly, the cost of the development, construction, financing, purchasing, sale, ownership, or availability of housing in this state, the Department of Administration, as required by law, will prepare a report to be printed as an appendix to this bill.

This proposal may contain a health insurance mandate requiring a social and financial impact report under s. 601.423, stats.

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:

AB68,1 Section 1. 1.031 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,193,7 1.031 Retrocession of jurisdiction. The governor may accept on behalf of the state, retrocession of full or partial jurisdiction over any roads, highways or other lands in federal enclaves within the state where such retrocession has been offered by appropriate federal authority. Documents concerning such action shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state administration and recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county wherein such lands are located.

AB68,2 Section 2. 5.02 (6m) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,193,17 5.02 (6m) (f) An unexpired identification card issued by a university or college in this state that is accredited, as defined in s. 39.30 (1) (d), or by a technical college in this state that is a member of and governed by the technical college system under ch. 38, that contains the date of issuance and signature of the individual to whom it is issued and that contains an expiration date indicating that the card expires no later than 2 years after the date of issuance if the individual establishes, except that if the identification card is expired the individual shall establish that he or she is enrolled as a student at the university or college on the date that the card is presented.

AB68,3 Section 3 . 5.02 (20) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,194,5 5.02 (20) “Special primary" means the primary held 4 weeks before the special election, except as provided in s. 8.50 (4m) and except when the special election is held on the same day as the general election the special primary shall be held on the same day as the general primary or if the special election is held concurrently with the spring election, the primary shall be held concurrently with the spring primary.

AB68,4 Section 4 . 5.02 (22) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,194,10 5.02 (22) “Spring primary" means the nonpartisan primary held on the 3rd Tuesday in February to nominate nonpartisan candidates to be voted for at the spring election and partisan candidates to be voted for at a special election under s. 8.50 (4m).

AB68,5 Section 5 . 5.05 (11m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB68,194,16 5.05 (11m) Aids to counties and municipalities for certain special election costs. (a) From the appropriation under s. 20.510 (1) (f), the commission shall reimburse counties and municipalities for costs incurred in the administration of special primaries for state or national office and special elections for state or national office.

AB68,194,18 (b) A cost is eligible for reimbursement under par. (a) only if all of the following apply:

AB68,194,19 1. The commission determines that the cost is reasonable.

AB68,194,20 2. The cost is specified under par. (c).

AB68,194,23 3. If applicable, the commission determines that the rate paid by the county or municipality for the cost does not exceed the rate customarily paid for similar costs at a primary or election that is not a special primary or election.

AB68,195,2 4. If the special primary or election coincides with a primary or election that is not a special primary or election, the commission determines that the cost does not exceed the amount that would be incurred if the primaries or elections did not coincide.

AB68,195,3 (c) Only the following costs are eligible for reimbursement under par. (a):

AB68,195,4 1. Rental payments for polling places.

AB68,195,6 2. Election day wages paid under s. 7.03 to election officials working at the polls.

AB68,195,7 3. Costs for the publication of required election notices.

AB68,195,8 4. Printing and postage costs for absentee ballots and envelopes.

AB68,195,9 5. Costs for the design and printing of ballots and poll books.

AB68,195,11 6. Purchase of ballot bags or containers, including ties or seals for chain of custody purposes.

AB68,195,12 7. Costs to program electronic voting machines.

AB68,195,13 8. Purchase of memory devices for electronic voting machines.

AB68,195,14 9. Wages paid to conduct a county canvass.

AB68,195,15 10. Data entry costs for the statewide voter registration system.

AB68,6 Section 6 . 5.056 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,195,25 5.056 Matching program with secretary of transportation. The commission administrator shall enter into the agreement with the secretary of transportation specified under s. 85.61 (1) to match personally identifiable information on the official registration list maintained by the commission under s. 6.36 (1) and the information specified in s. ss. 6.256 (2) and 6.34 (2m) with personally identifiable information maintained by the department of transportation. Subject to s. 343.14 (2p) (b), the agreement shall provide for the electronic transfer of information under s. 6.256 (2) to the commission on a continuous basis, no less often than weekly.

AB68,7 Section 7. 5.35 (6) (a) 4c. of the statutes is created to read:

AB68,196,2 5.35 (6) (a) 4c. A voter bill of rights in substantially the following form:

AB68,196,3 Voter Bill of Rights

AB68,196,4 You have the following rights:

AB68,196,10 • The right to vote if you are registered and eligible to vote. You are eligible to vote if you (1) are a U.S. citizen, (2) are at least 18 years old, (3) are registered where you currently live, (4) are not currently serving any portion of a felony sentence, including probation or supervision, (5) are not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court, and (6) have not placed a bet or a wager on the outcome of the election.

AB68,196,11 • The right to inspect a sample ballot before voting.

AB68,196,14 • The right to cast a ballot if you are in line when your polling place closes or when your municipal clerk's office closes if you are voting by in-person absentee ballot on the last day for which such voting is allowed.

AB68,196,16 • The right to cast a secret ballot, without anyone bothering you or telling you how to vote.

AB68,196,18 • If you have a disability, the right to get help casting your ballot from anyone you choose, except from your employer or union representative.

AB68,196,20 • The right to get help voting in a language other than English if enough voters where you live speak your language.

AB68,196,22 • The right to get a new ballot if you made a mistake. You can get up to 3 ballots in all if you make a mistake and have not already cast your ballot.

AB68,197,3 • The right to cast a provisional ballot. You can cast a provisional ballot if you are unable or unwilling to provide required proof of identification for voting or a valid driver license or identification card number for registering to vote on election day. Your provisional ballot will not be counted unless you provide the required information to the poll workers by 8:00 p.m. on election day or to the municipal clerk by 4:00 p.m. of the Friday following the election.

AB68,197,4 • The right to have your ballot counted accurately.

AB68,197,6 • The right to vote free from coercion or intimidation by any election official or other person.

AB68,197,8 • The right to report any illegal or fraudulent election activity to an elections official or the State of Wisconsin Elections Commission.

AB68,8 Section 8 . 5.84 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,198,3 5.84 (1) Where any municipality employs an electronic voting system which utilizes automatic tabulating equipment, either at the polling place or at a central counting location, the municipal clerk shall, on any day not more than 10 days prior to the election day on which the equipment is to be utilized in an election, have the equipment tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given by the clerk at least 48 hours prior to the test by publication of a class 1 notice under ch. 985 in one or more newspapers published within the municipality if a newspaper is published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The test shall be open to the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each referendum. The test shall include for each office one or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law and, for a partisan primary election, one or more ballots which have votes cast for candidates of more than one recognized political party, in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the municipal clerk shall ascertain the cause and correct the error. The clerk shall make an errorless count before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved by the clerk for use in the election.

AB68,9 Section 9 . 5.86 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,198,20 5.86 (1) All proceedings at each central counting location shall be under the direction of the municipal clerk or an election official designated by the clerk unless the central counting location is at the county seat and the municipal clerk delegates the responsibility to supervise the location to the county clerk, in which case the proceedings shall be under the direction of the county clerk or an election official designated by the county clerk. If for any municipality the central counting location is at the county seat and the municipal clerk authorizes the early canvassing of absentee ballots under s. 7.525, the county clerk or the county clerk's designee shall begin the proceedings for that municipality on the day before the election consistent with that section. Unless election officials are selected under s. 7.30 (4) (c) without regard to party affiliation, the employees at each central counting location, other than any specially trained technicians who are required for the operation of the automatic tabulating equipment, shall be equally divided between members of the 2 major political parties under s. 7.30 (2) (a) and all duties performed by the employees shall be by teams consisting of an equal number of members of each political party whenever sufficient persons from each party are available.

AB68,10 Section 10. 6.02 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,198,24 6.02 (1) Every U.S. citizen age 18 or older who has resided in an election district or ward for 28 10 consecutive days before any election where the citizen offers to vote is an eligible elector.

AB68,11 Section 11. 6.02 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,199,5 6.02 (2) Any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who moves within this state later than 28 10 days before an election shall vote at his or her previous ward or election district if the person is otherwise qualified. If the elector can comply with the 28-day 10-day residence requirement at the new address and is otherwise qualified, he or she may vote in the new ward or election district.

AB68,12 Section 12. 6.10 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,199,14 6.10 (3) When an elector moves his or her residence from one ward or municipality to another ward or municipality within the state at least 28 10 days before the election, the elector may vote in and be considered a resident of the new ward or municipality where residing upon registering at the proper polling place or other registration location in the new ward or municipality under s. 6.55 (2) or 6.86 (3) (a) 2. If the elector moves his or her residence later than 28 10 days before an election, the elector shall vote in the elector's former ward or municipality if otherwise qualified to vote there.

AB68,13 Section 13. 6.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,200,2 6.10 (4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at different places for part of the week, month, or year, if one of the places is the residence of the person's parents, is the place of the parents' residence unless through registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere. If the person has no parents and if the person has not registered elsewhere, the person's residence shall be at the place that the person considered his or her residence in preference to any other for at least 28 10 consecutive days before an election. If this place is within the municipality, the person is entitled to all the privileges and subject to all the duties of other citizens having their residence there, including voting.

AB68,14 Section 14. 6.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,200,9 6.15 (1) Qualifications. Any person who was or who is an eligible elector under ss. 6.02 and 6.03, except that he or she has been a resident of this state for less than 28 10 consecutive days prior to the date of the presidential election, is entitled to vote for the president and vice president but for no other offices. The fact that the person was not registered to vote in the state from which he or she moved does not prevent voting in this state if the elector is otherwise qualified.

AB68,15 Section 15. 6.15 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,200,18 6.15 (2) (a) The elector's request for the application form may be made in person to the municipal clerk of the municipality where the person resides. Application may be made not sooner than 27 9 days nor later than 5 p.m. on the day before the election, or may be made at the proper polling place in the ward or election district in which the elector resides. If an elector makes application before election day, the application form shall be returned to the municipal clerk after the affidavit has been signed in the presence of the clerk or any officer authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form:

AB68,200,19 STATE OF WISCONSIN

AB68,200,20 County of ....

AB68,201,6 I, ...., do solemnly swear that I am a citizen of the United States; that prior to establishing Wisconsin residence, my legal residence was in the .... (town) (village) (city) of ...., state of ...., residing at .... (street address); that on the day of the next presidential election, I shall be at least 18 years of age and that I have been a legal resident of the state of Wisconsin since ...., .... (year), residing at .... (street address), in the [.... ward of the .... aldermanic district of] the (town) (village) (city) of ...., county of ....; that I have resided in the state less than 28 10 consecutive days, that I am qualified to vote for president and vice president at the election to be held November ...., .... (year), that I am not voting at any other place in this election and that I hereby make application for an official presidential ballot, in accordance with section 6.15 of the Wisconsin statutes.

AB68,201,7 Signed ....

AB68,201,8 P.O. Address ....

AB68,201,9 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of ...., .... (year)

AB68,201,10 ....(Name)

AB68,201,11 ....(Title)

AB68,16 Section 16 . 6.15 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,201,19 6.15 (4) (b) During polling hours, or between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day before the election if authorized for that election under s. 7.525, the inspectors shall open each carrier envelope, announce the elector's name, check the affidavit for proper execution, and check the voting qualifications for the ward, if any. In municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers shall perform this function at a meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers.

AB68,17 Section 17. 6.18 (form) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB68,201,24 6.18 (form) This form shall be returned to the municipal clerk's office. Application must be received in sufficient time for ballots to be mailed and returned prior to any presidential election at which applicant wishes to vote. Complete all statements in full.

AB68,201,25 APPLICATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL

AB68,202,1 ELECTOR'S ABSENTEE BALLOT

AB68,202,2 (To be voted at the Presidential Election

AB68,202,3 on November ...., .... (year)

AB68,202,12 I, .... hereby swear or affirm that I am a citizen of the United States, formerly residing at .... in the .... ward .... aldermanic district (city, town, village) of ...., County of .... for 28 10 consecutive days prior to leaving the State of Wisconsin. I, .... do solemnly swear or affirm that I do not qualify to register or vote under the laws of the State of ....(State you now reside in) where I am presently residing. A citizen must be a resident of: State ....(Insert time) County ....(Insert time) City, Town or Village ....(Insert time), in order to be eligible to register or vote therein. I further swear or affirm that my legal residence was established in the State of ....(the State where you now reside) on .... Month .... Day .... Year.