SB557: Bill Text

Under current law, DCF must distribute grants to community action agencies to provide skills enhancement services, including access to transportation, child care, career counseling, job placement assistance, and financial support for education and training. Under this program, a community action agency may provide these services to individuals who work at least 20 hours per week and whose earned income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty line. The bill increases the earned income threshold for eligibility to 200 percent of the poverty line.

3. Transitional Jobs program

Under current law, DCF administers the Transitional Jobs program, which provides wage subsidies to employers of certain low-income parents or primary caregivers of a child and low-income young adults. The bill provides an additional $1,000,000 per fiscal year in federal TANF funding to the Transitional Jobs program to provide these services outside of Milwaukee County.

4. Job and employment services pilot program

The bill requires the Department of Workforce Development to establish a pilot program that offers job and employment services for individuals receiving housing vouchers or receiving services from state-funded homeless shelters. The bill requires the pilot program to offer services similar to those offered under the existing Transform Milwaukee Jobs and Transitional Jobs programs in current law. The bill funds the pilot program with $500,000 in each fiscal year of the 2023-25 fiscal biennium. Under the bill, the pilot program sunsets on June 30, 2025.

5. Council on Workforce Investment strategic plan

Under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA), federal funds are allocated to the state and, in turn, to local workforce development areas designated by the governor to provide employment and training activities for job seekers and workers. The WIOA repealed a prior law known as the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which contained a number of similar provisions. To receive funding under the WIOA, the governor must establish a Council on Workforce Investment. The bill requires the council to identify certain populations for services under its WIOA strategic plan. The populations to be included are 1) homeless individuals from ages 18 to 24; 2) certain children placed in out-of-home care; and 3) homeless adults.

6. Miscellaneous provisions

The bill repeals a provision concerning review and approval of certain matters regarding assistance to dislocated workers that was administered as part of the WIA, but that no longer exists. In addition, the bill updates references to the United States Code sections regarding WIOA.

Community action agencies

Under current law, DCF must distribute grants to community action agencies to provide skills enhancement services, including access to transportation, child care, career counseling, job placement assistance, and financial support for education and training. The bill provides an additional $1,000,000 in each fiscal year of the 2023-25 fiscal biennium for that purpose.

The bill also provides a match from state funding to the federal community services block grant, which funds the work of community action agencies. Under current law, a community action agency is an entity that provides services such as employment or housing assistance, financial planning, or educational services to low-income individuals and that works to combat poverty in the community that it serves. The bill increases the income cap for receiving services from a community action agency from 125 percent of the federal poverty line to 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

The bill also requires the Department of Health Services to establish a grant program to provide grants to community action agencies to enable them to respond to the needs of communities and low-income families and individuals in crisis resulting from opioid addiction-related issues. Through the program, DHS is required to endeavor to expand and support effective community efforts to identify and respond to causes and consequences of opioid misuse and addiction experienced by low-income individuals, families, and communities. Under the bill, DHS must award grants of at least $25,000 and up to $250,000 per year. The bill sets out criteria DHS must use in awarding grants as well as characteristics of applications to which DHS must give preference. Grants under the bill may not be more than three years in duration unless approved by the secretary of health services.

Lead exposure and abatement

1. Early intervention services for children with lead in their blood

Under current law, DHS implements a statewide program, referred to as the Birth to 3 Program, that provides early intervention services for children aged three and under who are developmentally delayed or are diagnosed as having a condition that is likely to result in significantly delayed development. The bill ensures that children with a concentration of lead in their blood of at least 3.5 micrograms per 100 milliliters of blood are eligible for services under the Birth to 3 Program. The bill also allows DHS to develop a methodology to allocate funding for early intervention services across county programs.

2. Lead-Safe Homes Program

Under current law, DHS provides lead abatement services through the Lead-Safe Homes Program. The Lead-Safe Homes Program provides repairs to owner-occupied and rental properties to make them lead-safe. Currently, the program is funded in part through federal funding. The bill increases state funding for the program by $28,400,000 over the fiscal biennium.

3. Windows Plus lead exposure program

The bill authorizes one general purpose revenue position within DHS and increases funding to resume the Windows Plus lead exposure program. The Windows Plus lead exposure program was initiated in the 2019-21 fiscal biennium with onetime funding to provide lead-safe renovations in homes built before 1950 that are inhabited or frequently visited by low-income families with children. The program focuses renovations on high-risk components of housing, such as windows, porches, floors, and siding.

4. Lead service line replacement

This bill appropriates $200,000,000 from the general fund to the environmental improvement program for projects involving forgivable loans to private users of public water systems to replace lead service lines. Under current law, DOA and the Department of Natural Resources 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.

Sober living

The bill requires DHS to encourage the development, expansion, and quality control of networks of sober living residences and to allocate moneys to create a revolving loan fund for establishing sober living residences or a network of sober living residences or to award grants for purposes specified in the bill.

Nonemergency medical transportation services

The bill requires DHS to determine and implement a reimbursement rate for nonemergency medical transportation services for Medical Assistance recipients who are nursing home residents that is the same as the prevalent brokerage reimbursement rate applied to other nonemergency medical transportation services for Medical Assistance recipients.

Transportation

1. Transportation grants

Under current law, the Department of Transportation may award grants to public and private organizations for the development and implementation of demand management, ride-sharing, and job access and employment transportation assistance programs. The bill increases the amount of state monies appropriated in the 2023-25 fiscal biennium for the development and implementation of job access and employment transportation assistance programs by 5 percent of the amount appropriated for those purposes in fiscal year 2022-23.

2. Urban mass transit aid

Under current law, DOT provides state aid payments to local public bodies in urban areas served by mass transit systems to assist the local public bodies with the expenses of operating those systems. The bill increases the total amount of state aid payments for mass transit systems serving urban areas having a population of less than 50,000 to $5,707,800 in calendar year 2023 and thereafter.

3. Specialized transportation services

Under current law, DOT administers specialized transportation programs to provide financial assistance for transportation services for seniors and individuals with disabilities. One program provides funding to counties based on each county’s proportion of the state’s population of seniors and individuals with disabilities. The other program provides funds to local public bodies and nonprofit organizations through a competitive application process to supplement federal funding under the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program. The bill increases funding for both programs by 2 percent of the amount appropriated for those purposes in fiscal year 2022-23.

Higher education

The bill requires the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System to allocate $50,000 each fiscal year for the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison to study and provide an annual report to the public on poverty in this state.

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

SB557,,4 The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB557,1 Section 1. 13.48 (26m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,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.

SB557,2 Section 2. 16.03 (2) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,8 16.03 (2) (d) No later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, do all of the following:

SB557,,9 1. Identify ways in which the departments of administration, children and families, health services, public instruction, workforce development, and veterans affairs and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority can increase access to services for homeless individuals and families, including individuals who are included in the category of homeless children and youths, as defined in 42 USC 11434a (2).

SB557,,10 2. Advise each of the departments specified in subd. 1. and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to revise any policy or practice of the department or authority that the council determines impedes homeless individuals and families from obtaining services.

SB557,3 Section 3. 16.19 of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,12 16.19 Civil legal services for the indigent. Annually, the department shall pay the amount appropriated under s. 20.505 (7) (e) to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., to provide civil legal services to indigent persons. The Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., shall distribute the amount received as grants to programs that provide civil legal services to indigent persons, and those programs may use the grant funds to match other federal and private grants. The grants may be used only for the purposes for which the funding was provided.

SB557,4 Section 4. 16.306 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,14 16.306 (2) (a) From the appropriation appropriations under s. 20.505 (7) (fk) and (fm), the department may award a grant to an eligible applicant for the purpose of providing housing and associated supportive services to homeless individuals and families to facilitate their movement to independent living if the conditions under par. (b) are satisfied. The department shall ensure that the funds for the grants are reasonably balanced among geographic areas of the state that correspond to the geographic areas served by each continuum of care organization designated by the federal department of housing and urban development, consistent with the quality of applications submitted award grants under this paragraph on a competitive basis.

SB557,5 Section 5. 16.3065 of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,16 16.3065 Emergency rental assistance. (1) In this section, “eligible applicant” has the meaning given in s. 16.306 (1).

SB557,,17 (2) From the appropriation under s. 20.505 (7) (bq), the department shall award grants to eligible applicants to provide tenant-based rental assistance to individuals and families. All grant funds shall be used to provide tenant-based rental assistance to individuals and families who have suffered an economic hardship and whose annual household income does not exceed 80 percent of the median household income for the county in which the individual or family resides.

SB557,6 Section 6. 16.3085 (2) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,19 16.3085 (2) (b) 2. Employment-related services, including connecting parents who are job training graduates or who have a recent work history with their local workforce development board established under 29 USC 2832 3122 and assisting them with using the job center website maintained by the department of workforce development.

SB557,7 Section 7. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:

SB557,8 Section 8. 20.320 (2) (a) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,22 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).

SB557,9 Section 9. 20.435 (5) (em) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,24 20.435 (5) (em) Sober living residences. Biennially, the amounts in the schedule to support sober living residences or sober living residence networks under s. 46.483.

SB557,10 Section 10. 20.437 (2) (cs) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,26 20.437 (2) (cs) Community services block grant; state match. A sum sufficient to match 25 percent of the amounts received under 42 USC 9903 for the federal community services block grant for the purposes for which the federal community services block grant funds are received.

SB557,11 Section 11. 20.437 (2) (eg) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,28 20.437 (2) (eg) Internet assistance program. The amounts in the schedule for the Internet assistance program under s. 49.168.

SB557,12 Section 12. 20.445 (1) (fc) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,30 20.445 (1) (fc) Job and employment services; pilot program. The amounts in the schedule for the pilot program established under 2023 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 69 (1).

SB557,13 Section 13. 20.445 (1) (fc) of the statutes, as created by 2023 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.

SB557,14 Section 14. 20.505 (7) (bq) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,33 20.505 (7) (bq) Emergency rental assistance. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for emergency rental assistance grants under s. 16.3065.

SB557,15 Section 15. 20.505 (7) (e) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,35 20.505 (7) (e) Indigent civil legal services. The amounts in the schedule to provide grants for the provision of civil legal services to indigent persons under s. 16.19.

SB557,16 Section 16. 20.505 (7) (fk) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,37 20.505 (7) (fk) Housing grants. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for housing grants under s. 16.306.

SB557,17 Section 17. 36.25 (56) of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,39 36.25 (56) Annual poverty study. Of the moneys appropriated to the Board of Regents under s. 20.285 (1) (a), the board shall, beginning in fiscal year 2023-24, allocate $50,000 in each fiscal year for the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study and provide an annual report to the public on poverty in this state.

SB557,18 Section 18. 38.40 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,41 38.40 (2) Interagency assistance. The council on workforce investment established under 29 USC 2821 3111 and the department of public instruction shall assist the board in providing the technical preparation, school-to-work, and work-based learning programs under sub. (1m).

SB557,19 Section 19. 46.483 of the statutes is created to read:

SB557,,43 46.483 Sober living residences. (1) Definition. In this section, “sober living residence” means a residential dwelling unit or other form of group housing that is offered or advertised by a person as a residence that provides a peer-supported, alcohol-free, and drug-free living environment where no treatment services are provided on-site and that would qualify for a loan under 42 USC 300x-25.

SB557,,44 (2) Requirement; funding support. The department shall encourage the development, expansion, and quality control of networks of sober living residences. From the appropriation under s. 20.435 (5) (em), the department shall allocate moneys for any of the following purposes:

SB557,,45 (a) Creating a revolving loan fund for establishing a sober living residence or a network of sober living residences.

SB557,,46 (b) Awarding grants to train and supervise field workers to provide technical assistance to sober living residences.

SB557,,47 (c) Awarding grants to entities that establish sober living residences or to sober living residences to support the development, expansion, and quality operation of sober living residences.

SB557,20 Section 20. 46.56 (14) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,49 46.56 (14) (a) In order to support the development of a comprehensive service system of coordinated care for children who are involved in 2 or more systems of care and their families, the department shall establish a state advisory committee with representatives of county departments and tribal governing bodies, the department of public instruction, educational agencies, the department of children and families, the department of corrections, the juvenile correctional system, professionals experienced in the provision of services to children who are involved in 2 or more systems of care and their families, advocates for such families and their children, the subunit of the department of workforce development that administers vocational rehabilitation, a representative of the local workforce development board established under 29 USC 2832 3122, a representative of the philanthropy community, the technical college system, health care providers, courts assigned to exercise jurisdiction under chs. 48 and 938, child welfare officials, and other appropriate persons as selected by the department. The department may use an existing committee for this purpose if it has representatives from the listed groups and is willing to perform the required functions. This committee shall establish principles and core values for administering initiatives, monitor the development of initiatives throughout the state, and support communication and mutual assistance among operating initiatives as well as those that are being developed.

SB557,21 Section 21. 49.143 (2) (a) 4m. e. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,51 49.143 (2) (a) 4m. e. Coordinate with local workforce development boards established under 29 USC 2832 3122 to ensure compatibility of purpose and no duplication of effort.

SB557,22 Section 22. 49.163 (4) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB557,,53 49.163 (4) Contract for administration. (intro.) The department may contract with any person to administer the program under this section, including a Wisconsin Works agency; county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23; local workforce development board established under 29 USC 2832 3122; or community action agency under s. 49.265. The department, or the agency or agencies with which the department contracts under this subsection, shall do all of the following:

SB557,23 Section 23. 49.1635 (1) of the statutes is repealed.