The bill raises the minimum wage thresholds for the business development and
enterprise zone tax credits for businesses that enter into contracts with WEDC after
December 31, 2021. Under current law, WEDC may certify businesses that engage
in qualifying activities, including full-time job creation and retention, to claim the
credits. One requirement for claiming either credit is that the business enter into
a contract with WEDC. In its contracts, WEDC uses a definition of “full-time
employee” that means an individual who, among other things, is paid at least 150
percent of the federal minimum wage. The bill changes this minimum wage
threshold to $27,900 for the business development tax credit and to $27,900 in a tier
I county or municipality and $37,000 in a tier II county or municipality for the
enterprise zone tax credit, with all these amounts adjusted annually for inflation.
Additionally, under current law, the enterprise zone tax credit is partially based on
the wages paid to zone employees that are at least 150 percent of the federal
minimum wage in a tier I county or municipality or $30,000 in a tier II county or
municipality. The bill changes these thresholds to $27,900 and $37,000, with both
amounts adjusted annually for inflation.
The bill also modifies the maximum wage earnings limit for businesses that
enter into contracts with WEDC after December 31, 2021. Under current law, the
maximum wage earnings that may be considered per employee for the enterprise
zone tax credit is $100,000. The bill increases this amount to $123,000, which is
adjusted annually for inflation, and establishes the same dollar amount limit for the
business development tax credit.
Designation of enterprise zones
Current law allows WEDC to designate an unlimited number of enterprise
zones, with each designation subject to approval by JCF under passive review.
Current law also provides that an enterprise zone expires after 12 years and, upon
such expiration,WEDC may designate a new zone subject to JCF approval.
The bill authorizes WEDC to designate up to 30 enterprise zones and repeals
the requirement that WEDC receive approval from JCF. Under the bill, WEDC may
cancel the designation of an enterprise zone if WEDC revokes the certifications for
all tax benefits within the zone and may designate a new zone after the cancellation.
The bill also provides that if an enterprise zone expires under the contract with the
business certified to claim tax benefits, WEDC may designate a new zone, and
WEDC is provided this authority on a retroactive basis.
Financial assistance for underserved communities
The bill requires WEDC to expend $5,000,000 annually to provide grants,
loans, and other assistance to underserved communities in Wisconsin, including
members of minority groups, woman-owned businesses, and individuals and
businesses in rural areas.
Funding for regional economic development organizations to assist with
pandemic recovery
The bill appropriates $8,000,000 to WEDC in the 2021-22 fiscal year to provide
funding to organizations focused on local or regional economic development in this
state for the purpose of assisting Wisconsin businesses and nonprofits in their
recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Small business pandemic recovery
The bill requires WEDC to aid in Wisconsin's economic recovery from the
COVID-19 global pandemic by providing financial assistance to small businesses
adversely affected by the pandemic, including for the retention of current employees
and the rehiring of former employees. The bill requires WEDC to coordinate with
DOR as necessary to administer the aid.
Creative economy development initiative grants
The bill authorizes the Arts Board to award grants on a competitive basis in the
2021-23 fiscal biennium to businesses, whether operated for profit or not for profit,
local governmental agencies, and business development organizations or
associations that work to promote any of the following in Wisconsin:
1. Individuals or organizations whose products or services have an origin in
artistic, cultural, creative, or aesthetic content.
2. Job creation.
3. Economic development.
4. Arts education.
5. Workforce training and development.
Under the bill, such a grant may not exceed $40,000, and the bill prohibits the
Arts Board from awarding a grant unless the proposed grant recipient has secured
from nonstate sources an amount equal to at least twice the amount of the proposed
grant. Under the bill, the Arts Board may award up to a total of $500,000 in such
grants during the 2021-23 fiscal biennium.
Finally, the bill requires the Arts Board to submit a report to JCF by May 1,
2023, regarding the effectiveness of the grants.
WHEDA investment in small businesses
The bill authorizes WHEDA to annually invest up to $1,000,000 of its general
funds in businesses and startup companies that, among other conditions, have fewer
than 50 full-time employees or gross annual sales of less than $5,000,000. Under
current law, WHEDA may not invest more than $1,000,000 in total in these entities,
and the entities must, among other conditions, have fewer than 25 full-time
employees or gross annual sales of less than $2,500,000.
Cooperative feasibility grants
The bill directs WEDC, for each year of the 2021-23 fiscal biennium, to award
up to $200,000 in grants for cooperative feasibility studies. The bill requires WEDC
to make the awards in consultation with the Cooperative Network.
Tribal economic development
The bill requires WEDC to establish and administer programs that promote
small business economic development benefitting American Indian tribes or bands
in the state.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy project expenditures for the
business development tax credit
The bill adds a new category of expenditures that qualify for the business
development tax credit. Under current law, WEDC may award the tax credit to a
certified business based on its qualifying expenses related to job creation and
retention, employee training, capital investment, and corporate headquarters
location or retention in Wisconsin. Under the bill, WEDC may also award the tax
credit on the basis of a certified business's energy efficiency or renewable energy
project expenditures. The credit is up to 25 percent of the expenditures, with WEDC
directed under the bill to ensure that the percentage of expenditures taken into
account positively correlates to the scale of the project. The bill applies to credits
awarded after December 31, 2021.
Modifications to brownfield grant program
Under current law, WEDC administers a brownfields grant program and a
brownfield site assessment grant program to provide grants for developing property
adversely impacted by environmental contamination and conducting related
activities. One condition for awarding a grant is that the person who caused the
environmental contamination and, for the brownfields grant program, any person
who possessed or controlled the contaminant prior to its release must be unknown,
unable to be located, or financially unable to pay remediation or other specified costs.
Under the bill, this condition does not apply if WEDC determines that the case has
received sufficient closure from DNR. The bill specifies that a brownfields grant
recipient may not be the party who caused the environmental contamination, which
is a condition that already applies to brownfield site assessment grant recipients
under current law. The bill also provides that, when making a grant under the
brownfields grant program, WEDC must consult with DNR, rather than consider
DNR's recommendations as required under current law.
Financing working capital costs of certain nonprofit institutions
Under current law, WHEFA may issue bonds to finance certain projects of
health, educational, research, and other nonprofit institutions. The bill authorizes
WHEFA to issue bonds for the purpose of financing such institutions' working capital
costs.
Business development tax credit changes
Under current law, the tax benefits WEDC may award to a person certified
under the business development tax credit program include an amount equal to up
to 50 percent of the person's training costs incurred to undertake activities to
enhance an eligible employee's general knowledge, employability, and flexibility in
the workplace; to develop skills unique to the person's workplace or equipment; or
to develop skills that will increase the quality of the person's product. Under the bill,
that criterion for awarding business development tax credits is changed to an
amount equal to up to 50 percent of the person's training costs incurred to undertake
activities to upgrade or improve the job-related skills of an eligible employee, train
an eligible employee on the use of job-related new technologies, or provide
job-related training to an eligible employee whose employment with the person
represents the employee's first full-time job.
Also, under current law, the tax benefits WEDC may award to a person certified
under the business development tax credit program include an amount determined
by WEDC that is equal to a percentage of the amount of wages that the person paid
to an eligible employee in the taxable year, if the position in which the eligible
employee was employed was created or retained in connection with the person's
location or retention of the person's corporate headquarters in Wisconsin and the job
duties associated with the eligible employee's position involve the performance of
corporate headquarters functions. Under the bill, WEDC may award business
development tax credits under that criterion regardless of whether the job duties
associated with the eligible employee's position involve the performance of corporate
headquarters functions.
Base year for the enterprise zone tax credit
The bill modifies the definition of “base year” for purposes of the enterprise zone
tax credit. The amount of the credit for job creation or retention depends, in part,
on the number of the business's employees in the taxable year as compared to the
number of employees in the base year. Current law defines “base year” to mean the
taxable year beginning during the calendar year prior to the calendar year in which
the enterprise zone was created. For businesses that enter into contracts with
WEDC after December 31, 2021, the bill defines “base year” as the 12-month period
prior to the date on which the claimant was certified to claim the tax credit.
Information sharing between WEDC and DOR
The bill allows WEDC and DOR to enter into an agreement under which WEDC
may obtain copies of tax returns and related documents from DOR. The bill also
authorizes WEDC to examine tax returns and related documents held by DOR to the
extent necessary to administer WEDC's economic development programs. Under
current law, WEDC's examination authority is limited to the development zone
program.
Modifications to WEDC reporting requirements
The bill modifies WEDC's reporting requirements to the legislature. First, the
bill alters the requirement that WEDC, prior to the beginning of each calendar year,
report to the legislature on the economic development projects it intends to develop
and implement during the year. Under the bill, the reporting period is the fiscal year,
not the calendar year. Second, the bill repeals the requirement that WEDC report
to the legislature on the economic development tax credit program. This program
ended in 2015, and tax year 2019 is the final year for which taxpayers may claim the
credit under contracts with WEDC.
Increase to WEDC GPR appropriation
The bill increases from $16,512,500 per fiscal year under current law to
$25,012,500 in the 2021-22 fiscal year and $20,012,500 in the 2022-23 fiscal year
the amount WEDC may expend from its GPR appropriation for its economic
development programs.
Changes to WEDC's appropriation from the economic development fund
Current law appropriates moneys to WEDC from the economic development
fund for WEDC's operations and to fund its economic development programs. An
economic development surcharge administered by DOR funds the economic
development fund. Currently, the total amount WEDC may expend from the
economic development fund is limited to surcharge amounts deposited into the fund
by DOR and is limited by the amount of moneys appropriated from the fund to DOR
for purposes of administering the economic development surcharge.
Under the bill, WEDC may expend all moneys from the economic development
fund not expended by DOR for purposes of administering the economic development
surcharge. Those moneys include interest and earnings of the fund and
unencumbered amounts lapsed to the fund at the end of each fiscal year from DOR's
annual appropriation for administration of the economic development surcharge.
Tourism
American Indian tourism marketing
The bill requires DOA to award an annual grant to the Great Lakes
Inter-Tribal Council to provide funding for a program to promote tourism featuring
American Indian heritage and culture. The bill also transfers from the Department
of Tourism to DOA a contract between the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council and the
Department of Tourism that relates to the promotion of tourism featuring American
Indian heritage and culture.
Mass burial monument at UW–Stevens Point
The bill appropriates $100,000 to the Arts Board to provide a grant to a Native
American artist through the Wisconsin Woodland Indian Art Initiative for the
design, production, and installation on the UW–Stevens Point campus of a
permanent marker in recognition of the Native Americans who died due to a scarlet
fever epidemic.
New PR-S appropriation
The bill creates a new appropriation for the Department of Tourism to expend
moneys the department receives from other state agencies for the purposes for which
those moneys are received.
correctional system
Adult correctional system
Extended supervision
Under current law, when a person is sentenced to prison, the person is given a
bifurcated sentence, with the first portion of the sentence served in confinement in
prison and the second portion of the sentence served in the community on extended
supervision. DOC may not discharge a person from extended supervision until the
entire term of the bifurcated sentence is completed. Under certain circumstances,
the sentencing court may reduce the confinement portion of the bifurcated sentence,
but current law does not allow the sentencing court to reduce the period of extended
supervision. The bill allows the sentencing court to reduce the term of a person's
extended supervision if all of the following apply:
1. The person has served the lesser of three years or 50 percent of the term of
extended supervision without violating the conditions and rules of supervision.
2. The person has met all of his or her financial obligations to the victim of the
crime.
3. The person is not required to register as a sex offender and is serving a
sentence for a crime that is not a crime against life or bodily security or a specified
crime against a child.
Earned compliance credit
The bill creates an earned compliance credit for time spent on extended
supervision or parole. Under current law, a person's extended supervision or parole
may be revoked if he or she violates a condition of the extended supervision or parole.
If extended supervision or parole is revoked, the person is returned to prison for an
amount of time up to the length of the original sentence, less any time actually served
in confinement and less any credit for good behavior. Under current law, when
extended supervision or parole is revoked, the time spent on extended supervision
or parole is not credited as time served under the sentence.
Under the bill, an eligible inmate receives an earned compliance credit for time
served on extended supervision or parole. The earned compliance credit equals the
amount of time served on extended supervision or parole without violating any
conditions or rules of extended supervision or parole. Under the bill, a person is
eligible to receive the earned compliance credit only if the person is not required to
register as a sex offender and is serving a sentence for a crime that is not a specified
violent crime or a specified crime against a child. Under the bill, if a person's
extended supervision or parole is revoked, he or she may be incarcerated for up to
the length of the original sentence, less any credit for time served in confinement, any
credit for good behavior, and any earned compliance credit.
Revocation of probation, parole, or extended supervision
Under current law, if a person violates a condition or rule of probation, parole,
or extended supervision, the Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA) in DOA, or
DOC if a hearing is waived, may revoke that person's probation, parole, or extended
supervision and return the person to confinement. Under the bill, a person's
probation, parole, or extended supervision may not be revoked for a rule violation
unless one of the following conditions is met:
1. The person committed three or more independent rule violations during his
or her term of probation, parole, or extended supervision.
2. The person violated a condition prohibiting contact with a specified
individual.
3. The person is a registered sex offender.
4. When the person committed the rule violation, the person also allegedly
committed a crime.
5. The person failed to report for supervision for more than 60 consecutive days.
Sanctions for violating a condition or rule of probation, parole, or extended
supervision
Under current law, if a person admits to violating a rule or condition of
probation, parole, or extended supervision, DOC may sanction the person with
imprisonment for up to 90 days instead of revoking probation, parole, or extended
supervision. The bill changes the sanction procedure.
Under the bill, if the person does not admit to committing the rule violation,
DHA holds a hearing on the violation. If DHA determines that the person committed
the violation, DHA may sanction the person with imprisonment for up to 30 days, or
up to 90 days if the rule violation meets the grounds for revocation. Under the bill,
if the person admits to the alleged rule violation, DOC may impose the 30-day or
90-day sanction without a hearing.
Earned release
Under current law, an eligible inmate may earn early release to parole or
extended supervision by successfully completing a substance abuse program. An
inmate is eligible for earned release only if the inmate is serving time for a crime that
is not a violent crime and, for an inmate who is serving a bifurcated sentence, the
sentencing court determines that the inmate is eligible.
The bill expands the earned release program to include educational, vocational,
treatment, or other qualifying training programs that are evidence-based to reduce
recidivism. The bill also provides that DOC, not the sentencing court, determines
eligibility for all inmates.
Reports
The bill requires DOC to submit the following annual reports to the governor,
the legislature, and the director of state courts:
1. A report on early discharges from extended supervision and the reduction
in incarceration due to the earned compliance credit.
2. A report on the expanded earned release program.
3. A report on revocation of parole, extended supervision, and probation.
Each of these annual reports is required to include an accounting of the cost
savings resulting from the relevant programs under the bill. The bill requires DOC
use the amount of the cost savings reported to pay for the extended supervision,
earned release, and revocation programs under the bill.
The bill also requires DOC to conduct a onetime review and report to the
governor, the legislature, and the director of state courts on all of the following:
1. The efficacy of DOC's standard conditions and rules of supervision.
2. DOC's evidence-based risk assessment tool.
3. DOC's training of community supervision officers.
4. The aging and elderly population in Wisconsin's prisons and possible options
for alternatives to prison for that population.
Reduction of mandatory minimum sentences
Under current law, a sentencing court may reduce the confinement portion of
a bifurcated sentence if the inmate qualifies for a sentence adjustment, earned
release, or compassionate release.
