MILITARY AFFAIRS
Changes to the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice
The bill makes a number of changes to the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice (WCMJ), including 1) the codification of offenses that have been included as offenses in the federal Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) related to retaliation, sexual harassment, and engagement in prohibited sexual activity with a recruit or trainee; 2) articulation of the limits of punishment under the WCMJ; 3) clarifications as to which courts-martial have primary jurisdiction over certain offenses; 4) removal of certain gender-specific language from the WCMJ; 5) requiring that the adjutant general prescribe rules of procedure for courts-martial arising under the WCMJ; and 6) requiring that the adjutant general prescribe and implement a policy that ensures that a victim of an offense under the WCMJ is treated with dignity, respect, courtesy, sensitivity, and fairness.
Wisconsin National Guard duties related to sexual assault and sexual harassment
The bill requires the adjutant general to submit to the governor and appropriate standing committees of the legislature an annual report containing information related to sexual assaults and sexual harassment reported by members of the Wisconsin National Guard and a summary of National Guard training and policies related to preventing and responding to incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Wisconsin National Guard misconduct case management system
The bill also requires DMA to establish and maintain a case management system that allows the National Guard to track and manage casework related to misconduct within the National Guard. Additionally, the bill requires DMA to submit to the governor and appropriate standing committees of the legislature an annual report describing any substantive changes to the UCMJ during the prior federal fiscal year, a comparison of those changes to the WCMJ, and recommendations regarding whether those changes should be incorporated into the WCMJ.
Creating an office of homeland security
The bill creates an office of homeland security in DMA that must work with the federal Department of Homeland Security and state and local law enforcement agencies to identify, investigate, assess, report, and share tips and leads linked to emerging homeland security threats. The director of the office of homeland security must be appointed by the adjutant general.
Aerial assistance
The bill provides that DMA may provide aerial assistance for incident awareness and assessment, drug interdiction and counter-drug activities, search and rescue efforts, or disasters and seek reimbursement for such services if provided.
Appropriation for reimbursements for drug house demolition
The bill creates a continuing program revenue appropriation for DMA to receive reimbursements from municipalities for the demolition of certain former drug dwellings.
Recovery of Next Generation 911 costs
Under current law, DMA must contract for the creation, operation, and maintenance of an emergency services IP network to implement what is known as “Next Generation 911,” a modern emergency communication network. The bill requires that the contracts include a provision that the contracted entity reimburse originating service providers, which are the entities that provide services used to connect to the emergency number system, for all their costs incurred in connecting to the Next Generation 911 system.
Statewide public safety interoperable communication system
The bill creates a continuing GPR appropriation to fund the development and operation of a statewide public safety interoperable communication system.
Payment to town of Silver Cliff to rebuild its public safety building
Under current law, DMA may make payments from a state disaster assistance appropriation account to local governmental units for the damages and costs incurred as the result of a disaster if the disaster meets one of the two following requirements: 1) the disaster is not eligible for other funding related to a presidentially declared “major disaster,” or 2) DMA determines the disaster meets a certain per capita impact indicator. Additionally, the entity receiving the grant is required to pay for 30 percent of the amount of damages and costs resulting from the disaster. The bill requires DMA to provide a $1,000,000 payment in fiscal year 2023-24 from the same appropriation to the town of Silver Cliff for the rebuilding of the town’s public safety building that was destroyed by a tornado and exempts the Silver Cliff disaster from the program’s eligibility requirement and 30 percent payment requirement.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Fish, game, and wildlife
Nonresident deer hunting license fee
Under current law, DNR issues approvals that authorize hunting, fishing, and trapping of wild animals. The bill increases the fee for a deer hunting license issued to a person who is not a resident of this state from $157.25 to $182.25.
Inland waters trout stamp fee
Under current law, DNR issues approvals that authorize hunting, fishing, and trapping of wild animals. The holder of a fishing license or sports license may not fish for trout in inland trout waters unless the person also holds a trout stamp. The bill increases the fee for an inland waters trout stamp from $9.75 to $14.75.
Use of ID card to establish residency for DNR approvals
Under current law, DNR issues approvals that authorize the holder of the approval to engage in certain activities, such as hunting wild animals. In general, residents of the state are issued a different approval, for a lower fee, than nonresidents of the state. Current law provides that a resident is anyone who has maintained a permanent abode in the state for at least 30 days prior to applying for an approval, which must be established by demonstrating domiciliary intent. Under current law, evidence of domiciliary intent includes voting, paying personal income taxes, or obtaining a driver’s license at a location in the state. The bill provides that domiciliary intent may also be satisfied by obtaining an identification card issued by DOT. Under current law, an identification card issued by DOT is required to contain the same information that is required for an operator’s license, including the license holder’s name, address, and photograph, but must be clearly labeled as providing only identification of the card’s holder.
Deer carcass disposal sites
The bill requires DNR to provide financial assistance to local governments, individuals, businesses, and conservation organizations to purchase large metal containers for the disposal of deer carcasses.
Endangered resources funding match
Under current law, DNR administers the endangered resources program, which includes improving habitats for endangered or threatened species, conducting the natural heritage inventory, conducting wildlife research and surveys, providing wildlife management services, and providing for wildlife damage control. Current law appropriates to DNR all moneys received from gifts, grants, and bequests for the program. Current law also allows an individual filing an income tax return to designate an additional payment for the program.
Current law appropriates from the general fund to DNR an amount equal to the amount of gifts, grants, and bequests received and any additional payments made for the program, not to exceed $500,000 in a fiscal year. The bill increases the limit to $950,000.
Aquatic plant management
Under current law, without a valid aquatic plant management permit issued by DNR, no person may introduce nonnative aquatic plants into waters of this state, manually remove aquatic plants from navigable waters, or control aquatic plants in waters of this state by the use of chemicals or by introducing biological agents, by using a process that involves dewatering, desiccation, burning, or freezing, or by using mechanical means. Under current law, DNR establishes fees for aquatic plant management permits, and those fees are deposited into a general fund appropriation used for facilities, materials, or services provided by DNR relating to its environmental quality functions and to the management of the state’s water resources. Under the bill, those fees are deposited into a general fund appropriation used solely for the aquatic plant management permit program.
Navigable waters
Great Lakes and Mississippi River erosion control revolving loan programs
The bill requires DNR to administer revolving loan programs to assist municipalities and owners of homes located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, or the Mississippi River where the structural integrity of municipal buildings or homes is threatened by erosion of the shoreline. Under the bill, moneys for the programs are provided from the environmental fund, the segregated fund used to finance environmental management programs administered by DNR and pollution abatement programs administered by DNR and DATCP. The bill requires DNR to promulgate administrative rules to administer the programs, including eligibility requirements and income limitations, and authorizes DNR to promulgate emergency rules for the period before permanent rules take effect.
Dam permit and approval fees
The bill changes the fees charged for permits and approvals for large dams. Under current law, a large dam is a dam that either has a structural height of 25 feet or more and impounds more than 15 acre-feet of water or has a structural height of more than six feet and impounds 50 acre-feet or more of water. Under the bill, the fees for large dams are based on the dam’s hazard classification: $1,000 for a large, high hazard dam; $500 for a large, significant hazard dam; and $200 for a large, low hazard dam. Current law requires DNR to classify the hazard level of each dam in the state for purposes of inspection regulations.
Bonding for dam safety projects
Under current law, the state may contract up to $39,500,000 in public debt to provide financial assistance to counties, cities, villages, towns, and public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts for dam safety projects. The bill increases the bonding authority for these projects by $10,000,000.
Sheboygan Marsh dam funding
The bill requires DNR to award a $500,000 dam safety grant to Sheboygan County to remove and reconstruct a dam on the Sheboygan River at the Sheboygan Marsh.
Recreation
Free admission to state parks for fourth graders
Under current law, no person may operate a vehicle in any state park or in certain other recreational areas on state land unless the vehicle displays a vehicle admission receipt. The bill requires DNR to waive the fee for an annual vehicle admission receipt issued to the parent or guardian of a pupil receiving a fourth grade level of instruction. A parent or guardian of a qualifying pupil may apply to DNR for the waiver by submitting required certifications. A parent or guardian may receive the waiver only once in his or her lifetime and DNR may issue a waiver only once for a household.
Online sales system for vehicle admission receipts and state trail passes
The bill creates a continuing appropriation from the conservation fund to DNR for costs associated with online sales systems for vehicle admission receipts for state parks, forests, and recreation areas and state trail passes.
Under current law, no person may operate a vehicle in any state park or in certain other recreational areas on state land unless the vehicle displays a current vehicle admission receipt. Vehicle admission receipts may currently be purchased in-person, via phone, at self-registration kiosks, and online. Current law also requires a state trail pass for certain activities on state trails. State trail passes may currently be purchased in-person, via phone, and at self-registration kiosks, but not online.
Campsite electrification
Under current law, DNR is authorized to establish and operate state campgrounds in state parks, state forests, and other lands under DNR supervision and management. For campsites located in a state park, DNR may provide and maintain electric receptacles, subject to certain limitations. One limitation provides that DNR may provide electric receptacles in no more than 35 percent of all state park campsites. The bill increases the limit to 40 percent.
General natural resources
Stewardship program; amounts transferred to the capital improvement fund
Current law authorizes the state to incur public debt for certain conservation activities under the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 program, which is administered by DNR. The state may incur this debt to acquire land for the state for conservation purposes and for property development activities and may award grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations to acquire land for these purposes. Current law establishes the amounts that DNR may obligate in each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025-26 for expenditure under each of five subprograms of the stewardship program. Moneys obligated under the stewardship program are appropriated from the capital improvement fund (CIF) and stewardship bond proceeds are deposited into CIF.
Current law provides that, in obligating moneys under the subprogram for land acquisition, DNR must set aside certain amounts to be obligated only for DNR to acquire land and to provide grants to counties for land acquisition (county forest grants). Specifically, the set-aside for DNR land acquisition each fiscal year is $1,000,000 plus the amount transferred to CIF under an appropriation that transfers from moneys received for forestry activities (the forestry account) to CIF $0 in 2021-22 and $5,000,000 in 2022-23. The set-aside for county forest grants is equal to the amount transferred to CIF under an appropriation that transfers from the forestry account to CIF $0 in 2021-22 and $3,000,000 in 2022-23.
The bill maintains in the 2023-25 biennium the amounts in the schedule that may be transferred to CIF under each appropriation, but provides that the total amount transferred may not exceed the total amounts in the schedule for both appropriations less the unobligated balance in CIF at the end of that fiscal year. The bill also provides that the amount transferred to CIF under each appropriation must be reduced by the unobligated balance in CIF on a pro rata basis.
Stewardship program; JCF approval
Under current law, generally, for any project or activity for which more than $250,000 of stewardship moneys are proposed to be obligated, DNR must obtain written approval for the project or activity from JCF. The bill increases this threshold to $500,000. The bill also eliminates the requirement that DNR obtain written approval for obligating stewardship moneys for any land acquisition located north of STH 64.
The bill also eliminates a requirement under current law that DNR provide a written directory of all stewardship land that is open for public access.
Wild rice stewardship
The bill appropriates to DNR from the general fund moneys for wild rice stewardship efforts within the waters of areas where American Indian tribes or bands hold treaty-based rights to harvest wild rice. The bill provides that not less than $50,000 of the amounts appropriated for each fiscal year must be allocated for public education and outreach pertaining to wild rice harvesting.
Terrestrial invasive species prevention
The bill creates an annual appropriation from the conservation fund to DNR for grants to cooperative invasive species management areas for surveying, monitoring, and controlling terrestrial invasive species.
Reversion of tribal gaming moneys
Under current law and Indian gaming compacts, Indian tribes make payments to the state to reimburse the state for costs relating to the regulation of certain gaming activities. A certain amount of this money is appropriated to be transferred on an annual basis to several appropriation accounts. At the end of each fiscal year, unobligated funds from some of the programs that receive tribal gaming revenues revert to the appropriation account to which Indian gaming receipts are credited.
Under current law, DNR makes a payment to the Lac du Flambeau band of Lake Superior Chippewa based on the amount of fees collected by DNR for certain hunting and fishing approvals and the number of certain approvals issued within the the Lac du Flambeau reservation. DNR makes this payment from an appropriation that receives tribal gaming revenues.
The bill provides that unencumbered amounts of this appropriation revert to the appropriation account to which Indian gaming receipts are credited.
Funding from Indian gaming receipts
Current law requires DOA to transfer portions of Indian gaming receipts to certain DNR appropriations annually. The bill eliminates the requirement to transfer these amounts to an appropriation that funds snowmobile law enforcement operations and safety training and fatality reporting and eliminates that appropriation. The bill makes no change to an appropriation funding the same purposes from the conservation fund.
Forestry
Public forest regeneration grants
The bill requires DNR to establish a public forest regeneration grant program. Under that program, DNR awards grants from moneys received for forestry activities for projects involving reforestation, forest regeneration, and forest management on public land. The bill provides that a project is eligible for a grant if it is located on public land owned by a local government or school district or by this state, except for land under the jurisdiction and control of DNR.
Forestry-industry-wide strategic plan
The bill requires DNR to develop a forestry-industry-wide strategic plan and road map and to submit a final report on this plan to the Council on Forestry no later than September 16, 2024.
County forest administration grants and county sustainable forestry program
The bill separates the existing biennial appropriation for county sustainable forestry grants and county forest administration grants into two separate biennial appropriations.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Telecommunications
Broadband expansion grant program
The bill makes various changes to the broadband expansion grant program.
Current law requires PSC to administer the broadband expansion grant program, under which PSC designates as “underserved” areas of the state that are served by fewer than two broadband service providers and awards grants to eligible applicants for the purpose of constructing broadband infrastructure in underserved areas. The bill changes the purpose of the grant program to constructing broadband infrastructure in unserved areas. Under current law, “unserved areas” are areas not served by an Internet service provider (ISP) that 1) is a fixed wireless service or wired service and 2) provides service at actual speeds of at least 20 percent of the upload and download speeds for advanced telecommunications capability as designated by the Federal Communications Commission. The bill adds that the service must be available, reliable, and affordable and changes the speed standard for an unserved area to at least actual download speeds of 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of 20 megabits per second. The bill also allows PSC to adjust those speed standards every two years if it determines there is good cause to do so in order to align with changes in technology and actual market conditions, in which case it must publish the adjusted speed thresholds on its website.
Current law requires PSC to establish criteria for evaluating applications and awarding grants under the broadband expansion grant program and requires that the criteria give priority to projects meeting various standards, such as including matching funds and involving public-private partnerships. Under the bill, the criteria must require that projects serve unserved areas. The bill specifies that the criteria must give priority to projects with at least 40 percent matching funds and higher priority to projects with more than 40 percent matching funds. The bill specifies that the criteria must give priority to projects that are capable of offering service at actual download speeds of 100 megabits per second or greater and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second or greater and higher priority to projects capable of exceeding those speeds, but allows PSC to adjust these speeds every two years, similar to the threshold speeds in the definition of “unserved area.” The bill changes a requirement under current law that the criteria prioritize projects in a large geographic area to projects in a geographic area that is difficult to connect. The bill removes a requirement to prioritize projects that will not result in delaying the provision of broadband service to areas that neighbor areas to be served by the proposed project.
When evaluating a grant application, the bill requires PSC to consider the affordability of the service and all federal funding for broadband facilities in the project area of the proposed project.
The bill adds a procedure by which an ISP in or near a project area proposed in an application for a broadband expansion grant may challenge the awarding of that grant. An ISP may challenge the grant if that ISP currently provides available, reliable, and affordable fixed wireless or wired broadband service to any part of the project area at minimum download and upload speeds or if that ISP commits to completing construction of broadband infrastructure and providing available, reliable, and affordable broadband service to any part of the project area at minimum download and upload speeds no later than 24 months after the date of the PSC order awarding grants. The bill requires such a challenger to allow PSC to inspect its broadband infrastructure to ensure it meets minimum service requirements. The bill requires PSC to evaluate the challenge and prohibits it from funding any portion of a project relating to the area that is the subject of the challenge if it determines as credible the challenging ISP’s commitment to provide broadband service that meets the requirements. If PSC denies funding as a result of such a challenge and the ISP does not fulfill its commitment, PSC is prohibited from awarding grant funding to that ISP and the ISP is prohibited from participating in the challenge process for the following two grant cycles.
The bill provides funding from the general fund for the broadband expansion grant program in addition to its current funding from the universal service fund, which consists of moneys that are required to be contributed by certain telecommunications providers and used to promote access to telecommunications service, among other purposes. The bill requires PSC to award in each fiscal year no less than 10 percent of the amount in the schedule under the new appropriation in fiscal year 2023-24 for the broadband expansion grant program (minimum amount). However, if the balance in the appropriation is less than the minimum amount, the bill requires PSC to award the entire remaining balance. Further, if PSC does not receive sufficient broadband expansion grant applications that meet the eligibility criteria to award the minimum amount or, if applicable, the remaining balance, the bill requires PSC to award the maximum amount of broadband expansion grants possible that fiscal year.
Municipality construction, ownership, or operation of broadband facilities
Current law prohibits, with several exceptions, a municipality from constructing, owning, or operating a facility for providing video service, telecommunications service, or broadband service to the public unless 1) the municipality holds a public hearing on the proposed action, 2) notice of the public hearing is given, and 3) the municipality prepares and makes available for public inspection a report estimating the total costs of, and revenues derived from, constructing, owning, or operating the facility for a period of at least three years. The bill eliminates the requirement that a municipality prepare and make available for public inspection that report if the facility is a broadband facility intended to serve an area designated as unserved by PSC.
Currently, under one of the exceptions, the public hearing and cost report do not apply to a facility for providing broadband service if 1) the municipality offers use of the facility on a nondiscriminatory basis to persons who provide broadband service to end users of the service, 2) the municipality itself does not use the facility to provide broadband service to end users, and 3) the municipality determines that, at the time of authorization, the facility does not compete with more than one provider of broadband service. The bill eliminates the requirements under items 2 and 3 for facilities that are intended to serve an unserved area. As a result, a municipality is not required to hold a public hearing or prepare a report for a broadband facility intended to serve an unserved area if the municipality offers use of the facility on a nondiscriminatory basis to persons who provide broadband service.
