The bill requires DOA to award grants of equal amounts to each American
Indian tribe or band in this state for the purpose of supporting programs to meet the
needs of members of the tribe or band.
The bill also requires DOA to award grants of equal amounts to each American
Indian tribe or band in this state to promote tribal language revitalization and
cultural preservation.
Under the bill, no grant moneys awarded under the above grant programs may
be used to pay gaming-related expenses.
Other tribal grants
The bill requires DOA to do all of the following:
1. Award grants to the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin to support the Healing to
Wellness Court program at the Oneida Nation, in an amount not to exceed $259,100
annually.
2. Award grants to the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin to support coordination
between the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and Great Lakes tribal
nations, in an amount not to exceed $110,100 annually.
3. Award grants to the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin to support the Oneida
Nation's collaboration with the Audubon Society concerning Audubon Great Lakes
restoration projects, in an amount not to exceed $175,000 annually. This grant
requirement sunsets after five years.
4. Award grants to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to support the
Menominee Indian Tribe's transit services, in an amount not to exceed $266,600
annually.
Gaming investigative services
The bill creates a GPR appropriation for the Division of Gaming in DOA to fund
investigative and outreach services for charitable gaming and tribal gaming.
Investment and capital grants programs
The bill creates three new grant programs to be administered by DOA: a
neighborhood capital investment grant program; a health-care infrastructure
capital grant program; and a tourism capital investment grant program. The bill
also creates a new GPR appropriation for the grant programs and allocates specified
dollar amounts to the programs during the 2023-25 fiscal biennium.
Fund of funds investment program
Currently, DOA administers a program for the investment of moneys in venture
capital funds that invest in businesses located in this state, called the fund of funds
investment program. Under the program, the state initially contracted with an
investment manager during the 2013-14 fiscal year to invest $25,000,000 in venture
capital funds. The gross proceeds from the investment of this $25,000,000 were to
be returned to the state for deposit into the general fund. The bill provides that the
gross proceeds are to be reinvested in venture capital funds unless otherwise
directed by DOA.
Programs for the certification of certain businesses for preference in state
contracting
Under current law, DOA administers disabled veteran-owned business
certifications, woman-owned business certifications, and minority business
certifications. A business that qualifies for and maintains one or more of those
certifications may be eligible to receive certain benefits, including some advantages
when bidding on public projects. Current law authorizes DOA to charge a
certification fee to cover its costs to administer the certifications programs. The bill
eliminates that fee authorization.
Additionally, the bill establishes the following new certification programs:
1. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-owned businesses, including
financial advisers and investment firms. DOA may certify a business as a lesbian,
gay, bisexual, or transgender-owned business if it determines the business satisfies
all of the following:
a. One or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals own at least
51 percent of the business or, in the case of any publicly owned business, one or more
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals own at least 51 percent of the stock
of the business.
b. One or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals or one or more
duly authorized representatives of one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender
individuals control the management and daily business operations of the business.
c. The business is currently performing a useful business function.
2. Disability-owned businesses, including financial advisers and investment
firms. Under the bill, the distinction between disabled veteran-owned businesses
and businesses owned by veterans is removed. This means that under the bill, there
are certifications for veteran-owned businesses and disability-owned businesses.
DOA may certify a business as a disability-owned business if it determines the
business satisfies all of the following:
a. One or more individuals with a disability own at least 51 percent of the
business or, in the case of any publicly owned business, one or more individuals with
a disability own at least 51 percent of the stock of the business.
b. One or more individuals with a disability or one or more duly authorized
representatives of one or more individuals with a disability control the management
and daily business operations of the business.
c. The business has its principal place of business in this state.
d. The business is currently performing a useful business function.
Under the bill, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-owned businesses and
disability-owned businesses are not charged a fee for certification and, if certified,
are eligible to receive certain advantages including when bidding on public projects,
similar to certified disabled veteran-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses,
and minority businesses.
Under current law, state agencies must attempt to ensure that they pay
minority businesses 5 percent of the total amount expended for state procurements
in each fiscal year. The bill requires state agencies to attempt to ensure that they
pay veteran-owned businesses, disability-owned businesses, and lesbian, gay,
bisexual, or transgender-owned businesses an aggregate amount of 5 percent of the
total amount expended for state procurements in each fiscal year.
Finally, the bill requires DOA to develop, maintain, and keep current a
database of certified minority-owned businesses.
Creating the Office of Environmental Justice
The bill creates the Office of Environmental Justice in DOA. The office is led
by a director outside the classified service who is appointed by the secretary of
administration.
The duties of the office include all of the following: 1) developing a statewide
climate risk assessment and resiliency plan; 2) assisting state agencies, local
governments, and tribal governments with the development of climate risk
assessment and resiliency plans; 3) administering a climate risk assessment and
resiliency plan technical assistance grant program; 4) collaborating with state
agencies and entities that serve vulnerable communities to address the impact of
climate change on vulnerable communities; 5) providing guidance to state entities
on issues regarding environmental justice and related community issues to address
environmental issues and concerns that affect primarily low income and minority
communities; and 6) creating an annual report on issues, concerns, and problems
related to environmental justice. The bill also creates the unclassified positions of
chief resiliency officer and director of the Office of Environmental Justice. Under the
bill, the chief resiliency officer and the director of the Office of Environmental Justice
are assigned to executive salary group three.
The bill makes an appropriation for the administration of the Office of
Environmental Justice and the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy and for the
chief resiliency officer.
The bill also makes an appropriation for the climate risk assessment and
resiliency plan technical assistance grant program.
Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy
The bill creates the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy in DOA to
administer certain energy programs. The bill requires the Office of Sustainability
and Clean Energy to work on initiatives with specified goals regarding clean and
renewable energy, innovative sustainability, and diversification of energy resources
and imposes duties on the office for advising, supporting, reporting, and assisting
state agencies, local governments, and private entities on clean and renewable
energy. The bill allows the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy to provide
technical assistance to governmental units and private entities. In addition, the bill
requires the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy to establish a program for
making grants for clean energy production research. The bill also makes an
appropriation for grants for clean energy production research.
Clean energy small business incubator
The bill creates a clean energy small business incubator that is operated by the
Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy in DOA. The incubator is required to
provide business development, mentorship, and expertise to small businesses with
primary places of business in this state that operate in the clean energy sector. The
bill also creates a grant program operated by the incubator to provide grants to small
business start-ups that operate in the clean energy sector with a primary place of
business in this state and requires the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy to
establish requirements for recipients of such grants. Finally, the bill creates a new
GPR appropriation for the administration of the incubator and for grants to small
business start-ups in the clean energy sector.
Chief equity officer
The bill creates the unclassified position of chief equity officer in DOA, which
is assigned to executive salary group four.
Volkswagen settlement grants for mass transit systems
Under current law, for each county or municipality in which an urban mass
transit system operates, and which receives a grant for the replacement of public
transit vehicles under the Volkswagen settlement, DOA must reduce the shared
revenue aid it provides to the county or municipality based on the amount of the
grant under the Volkswagen settlement. For a county or municipality in which the
urban mass transit system serves a population of 200,000 or more, the bill changes
the reduction from 75 percent to 20 percent of the grant amount for grants awarded
after the effective date of the bill.
Assistant secretary of state
2015 Wisconsin Act 55 eliminated the position of assistant secretary of state.
The bill restores that position. The secretary of state may delegate any duty or power
to the assistant secretary of state, except duties and powers the secretary of state
performs as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.
Under current law, DFI's general program operations are funded from an
annual program revenue appropriation. From this appropriation, $150,000 is
transferred annually to an appropriation to the secretary of state for general
program operations. The bill increases the amount of the transfer to $260,000
annually.
Justice information systems funding
Under current law, DOA, in conjunction with the Public Defender Board, the
director of state courts, DOC, DOJ, and district attorneys, is tasked with
maintaining, promoting, and coordinating automated justice information systems
that are compatible among counties and those officers and state agencies. Funding
for the automated justice information systems comes from justice information fee
receipts and penalty surcharge receipts. The bill creates a new GPR appropriation
that will also fund the automated justice information systems.
Civil legal services for the indigent
The bill requires DOA to make annual payments to the Wisconsin Trust
Account Foundation, Inc., for the purpose of providing civil legal services to indigent
persons.
Public records location fee
Current law allows an authority to impose a fee on any person requesting a
public record to cover the cost of locating that record, if the cost is $50 or more. The
location fee may not exceed the actual, necessary, and direct cost of locating the
record. Current law defines an “authority” to include any elective official or state or
local government agency that has custody of a public record.
Under the bill, the cost of locating a public record must be $100 or more before
an authority may impose a fee to cover the actual, necessary, and direct cost of
locating the record.
TEACH program; GPR funding
Under current law, DOA administers the Technology for Educational
Achievement program, known as TEACH. The TEACH program offers
telecommunications access to school districts, private schools, cooperative
educational service agencies, technical college districts, independent charter school
authorizers, juvenile correctional facilities, private and tribal colleges, and public
library boards at discounted rates. Currently, the TEACH program is funded from
the universal service fund. The bill provides additional GPR for the TEACH
program.
Online customer service hub
The bill makes a new appropriation to DOA to develop and maintain an online
customer service hub.
Information technology infrastructure grant program
The bill repeals the obsolete information technology infrastructure grant
program. DOA administered the grant program beginning in the 2017-18 fiscal year
and ending in the 2020-21 fiscal year. Under the grant program, DOA awarded
grants on a competitive basis to eligible school districts and to eligible public libraries
for the purpose of improving information technology infrastructure. Current law
prohibits DOA from awarding these grants after June 30, 2021.
State finance
Transfer to the capital improvement fund
The bill transfers $1,955,000,000 from the general fund to the capital
improvement fund. The transferred moneys must be used in lieu of bonding to fund
building projects authorized in the 2023-25 Authorized State Building Program.
Transfer to the budget stabilization fund
The bill transfers $500,000,000 from the general fund to the budget
stabilization fund in fiscal year 2023-24.
Transfer to the artistic endowment fund
The bill transfers $100,000,000 in general purpose revenues from the general
fund to the artistic endowment fund.
Transfer from capital planning and building construction services
appropriation to the building trust fund
The bill transfers $18,000,000 from the capital planning and building
construction services appropriation to the building trust fund in fiscal year 2023-24.
Required general fund statutory balance
Current statutes contain a rule of proceeding governing legislative action on
certain bills. Generally, the rule provides that no bill directly or indirectly affecting
general purpose revenues may be adopted if the bill would cause the estimated
general fund balance on June 30 of any fiscal year to be less than a certain amount
of the total GPR appropriations for that fiscal year. Beginning in fiscal year 2017-18,
that amount has been equal to the prior fiscal year's required statutory balance plus
$5,000,000, but not to exceed 2 percent of total GPR appropriations for the fiscal year.
The bill provides that for fiscal year 2023-24 and each fiscal year thereafter, the
amount is $600,000,000.
Refunding certain general obligation debt
The bill increases from $9,510,000,000 to $11,235,000,000 the amount of state
public debt that may be contracted to refund any unpaid indebtedness used to
finance tax-supported or self-amortizing facilities. The unpaid indebtedness
includes unpaid premium and interest amounts. Under current law, the Building
Commission may not incur public debt for refunding purposes unless the true
interest costs to the state can be reduced.
National and community service board appropriation
Current law appropriates moneys received from the federal Corporation for
National and Community Service to administer the national and community service
program. The bill changes this continuing appropriation from one that is limited to
the amounts in the schedule to one that is composed of all moneys received.
State employment
Additional biweekly payroll appropriations
Under current law, there are supplemental appropriations from general
purpose revenue, program revenue, and segregated revenue to pay for salary and
fringe benefits for permanent state employees, including permanent project
employees, on the state's biweekly payroll system in any fiscal year in which a 27th
pay period occurs. The bill clarifies that the supplemental appropriations for salary
and fringe benefits include permanent UW System employees, including permanent
project employees, on the UW System biweekly payroll system.
Removal of salary caps for WHEDA employees
Current law allows WHEDA to employ an executive director and limits the
compensation of the executive director and employees of WHEDA to the maximum
of the salary range established for positions assigned to executive salary group six.
The bill removes this limit on compensation of the executive director and staff of
WHEDA.
Removal of salary caps for WHEFA employees
Current law allows WHEFA to employ an executive director and limits the
compensation of the executive director to the maximum of the salary range
established for positions assigned to executive salary group six. Current law also
limits the compensation of each other employee of WHEFA to the maximum of the
salary range established for positions assigned to executive salary group three. The
bill removes these limits on compensation of the executive director and staff of
WHEFA.
Paid family and medical leave
The bill requires the administrator of the Division of Personnel Management
in DOA to develop a program for paid family and medical leave of 12 weeks annually
for most state employees. The bill requires the administrator to submit the plan for
approval as a change to the state compensation plan to the Joint Committee on
Employment Relations. If JCOER approves the plan, the plan becomes effective
immediately.
Paid sick leave for limited term employees
Under current law, permanent and project state employees receive the
following paid leave: vacation, personal holidays, sick leave, and legal holidays. The
bill requires the state to provide paid sick leave to limited term employees of the state
at the same rate as to permanent and project state employees.
Vacation hours for state employees
The bill provides additional annual leave hours to state employees during their
third, fourth, and fifth years of service.
