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.
Under current law, state employees who are in nonexempt status under the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act earn annual leave at the rate of 104 hours per year
of continuous service during the first five years of service and, on an employee's fifth
anniversary of continuous service, the rate increases to 144 hours of annual leave per
year of continuous service. Under the bill, beginning on the employee's second
anniversary, a state employee in nonexempt status begins earning vacation hours at
the rate of 120 hours per year of service.
Under current law, state employees who are in exempt status under the federal
Fair Labor Standards Act earn annual vacation at the rate of 120 hours per year of
continuous service during the first five years of service and, on the fifth anniversary
of continuous service, the rate increases to 160 hours of annual leave per year of
continuous service. Under the bill, beginning on the employee's second anniversary,
a state employee in exempt status begins earning vacation hours at the rate of 136
hours per year of service.
Pay progression caps; deputy and assistant district attorneys, assistant
state public defenders, and assistant attorneys general
Under current law, there are pay progression plans for deputy and assistant
district attorneys, assistant state public defenders, and assistant attorneys general.
These pay progression plans consist of 17 hourly salary steps, with each step equal
to one-seventeenth of the difference between the lowest hourly salary and the
highest hourly salary for the salary range, and are based entirely on merit. However,
current law caps the annual salary adjustment that a deputy or assistant district
attorney, assistant state public defender, or assistant attorney general may receive
under the respective pay progression plans to no more than 10 percent of the
individual's base pay.
Under the bill, the 10 percent cap on annual salary adjustments for deputy and
assistant district attorneys, assistant state public defenders, and assistant
attorneys general does not apply during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years.
Juneteenth state holiday
The bill designates June 19, the day on which Juneteenth is celebrated, as a
state holiday on which state offices are closed. Under current law, the offices of the
agencies of state government are generally closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and a total
of nine state holidays. The bill also requires the administrator of the Division of
Personnel Management in DOA to include June 19 as a paid holiday for UW System
employees in the proposal it submits to JCOER for compensation plan changes for
the 2023-25 biennium.
Veterans Day state holiday
The bill designates November 11, the day on which Veterans Day is
traditionally celebrated, as a state holiday on which state offices are closed. Under
current law, the offices of the agencies of state government are generally closed on
Saturdays, Sundays, and a total of nine state holidays. Additionally, under current
law, state employees receive annually a total of 4.5 paid personal holidays, one of
which is provided specifically in recognition of Veterans Day. Under the bill, state
employees continue to receive 4.5 paid personal holidays. However, the bill removes
the specification that one of the paid personal holidays is provided in recognition of
Veterans Day.
In total, the bill increases the number of regular paid holidays state employees
receive annually from nine days to 11 days.
Legislature
Legislative intervention in certain court proceedings
Current law provides that the legislature may intervene as a matter of right in
an action in state or federal court when a party to the action does any of the following:
1. Challenges the constitutionality of a statute.
2. Challenges a statute as violating or being preempted by federal law.
3. Otherwise challenges the construction or validity of a statute.
Current law further provides that the legislature must be served with a copy
of the proceedings in all such actions, regardless of whether the legislature
intervenes in the action.
The bill repeals all of those provisions.
Retention of legal counsel by the legislature
Current law allows representatives to the assembly and senators, as well as
legislative employees, to receive legal representation from DOJ in most legal
proceedings. However, current law also provides all of the following:
1. With respect to the assembly, that the speaker of the assembly may authorize
a representative to the assembly or assembly employee who requires legal
representation to obtain outside legal counsel if the acts or allegations underlying
the action are arguably within the scope of the representative's or employee's
legislative duties, and the speaker may obtain outside legal counsel in any action in
which the assembly is a party or in which the interests of the assembly are affected,
as determined by the speaker.
2. With respect to the senate, that the senate majority leader may authorize
a senator or senate employee who requires legal representation to obtain outside
legal counsel if the acts or allegations underlying the action are arguably within the
scope of the senator's or employee's legislative duties, and the majority leader may
obtain outside legal counsel in any action in which the senate is a party or in which
the interests of the senate are affected, as determined by the majority leader.
3. That the cochairpersons of the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization
(JCLO) may authorize a legislative service agency employee who requires legal
representation to obtain outside legal counsel if the acts or allegations underlying
the action are arguably within the scope of the employee's legislative duties, and the
cochairpersons may obtain outside legal counsel in any action in which the
legislature is a party or in which the interests of the legislature are affected, as
determined by the cochairpersons.
The bill eliminates these provisions. Under the bill, representatives to the
assembly and senators, as well as legislative employees, may continue to receive
legal representation from DOJ in most legal proceedings.
Advice and consent of the senate
Under current law, any individual nominated by the governor or another state
officer or agency subject to the advice and consent of the senate, whose confirmation
for the office or position is rejected by the senate, may not do any of the following
during the legislative session biennium in which his or her nomination is rejected:
1. Hold the office or position for which he or she was rejected.
2. Be nominated again for that office or position.
3. Perform any duties of that office or position.
