Under current law, HEAB administers programs to award grants to
postsecondary students with visual or hearing impairments and to award talent
incentive grants.
The bill makes clarifying changes relating to these grants that do not
substantively affect HEAB's administration of these grant programs.
Other educational and cultural agencies
Library intern stipend payments
The bill requires the Division for Libraries and Technology in DPI to provide
stipend payments to students who are pursuing a degree in library science and are
placed as an intern in a public library. The stipend payments are $2,500 per student
per semester, and begin in the 2024-25 school year.
elections
Automatic voter registration
The bill requires the Elections Commission to use all feasible means to facilitate
the registration of all individuals eligible to vote in this state and to maintain the
registration of all eligible voters for so long as they remain eligible. Under the bill,
the Elections Commission must attempt to facilitate the initial registration of all
eligible voters as soon as practicable. To facilitate that initial registration, the bill
directs the commission and DOT to enter into an agreement so that DOT may
transfer specified personally identifying information in DOT's records to the
commission. The bill requires the commission to maintain the confidentiality of any
information it obtains under the agreement and allows a driver's license or
identification card applicant to “opt out" of DOT's transfer of this information to the
commission.
Once the commission obtains all the information required under current law to
complete an eligible voter's registration, the commission adds the voter's name to the
statewide registration list. The bill also permits an individual whose name is added
to the registration list or who wishes to permanently exclude his or her name from
the list to file a request to have his or her name deleted or excluded from the list or
to revoke a deletion or exclusion request previously made. In addition, the bill directs
the commission to notify an individual by first class postcard whenever the
commission removes his or her name from the registration list or changes his or her
status on the list from eligible to ineligible.
The bill also directs the commission to report to the legislature and the
governor, no later than July 1, 2025, its progress in initially registering eligible
voters under the bill. The report must contain an assessment of the feasibility and
desirability of integration of registration information with information maintained
by DHS, DCF, DWD, DOR, DSPS, and DNR; the UW System; and the TCS Board,
as well as with the technical colleges in each technical college district.
Under current law, a qualified voter with a current and valid driver's license
or identification card issued by DOT may register to vote electronically on a secure
website maintained by the commission. To register electronically under current law,
a qualified voter must also authorize DOT to forward a copy of his or her electronic
signature to the commission. The authorization affirms that all information
provided by the voter is correct and has the same effect as a written signature on a
paper copy of the registration form. Finally, current law requires the commission and
DOT to enter into an agreement that permits the commission to verify the necessary
registration information instantly by accessing DOT's electronic files.
Early canvassing of absentee ballots
Under current law, absentee ballots may not be canvassed until election day.
The bill authorizes a municipal clerk or municipal board of election commissioners
to begin the canvassing of absentee ballots on the day before an election, subject to
the following requirements:
1. The municipality must use automatic tabulating equipment to process
absentee ballots.
2. Prior to the early canvassing of absentee ballots, the municipal clerk or
municipal board of election commissioners must notify the Elections Commission in
writing and must consult with the Elections Commission concerning administration
of early canvassing of absentee ballots.
3. Early canvassing of absentee ballots under the bill may be conducted only
between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day before the election, and ballots may not be
tallied until after polls close on election day.
4. Members of the public must have the same right of access to a place where
absentee ballots are being canvassed as early as is provided under current law for
canvassing absentee ballots on election day.
5. When not in use, automatic tabulating equipment used for canvassing
absentee ballots and the areas where the programmed media and the absentee
ballots are housed must be secured with tamper-evident security seals in a
double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office.
6. Subject to criminal penalty, no person may act in any manner that would give
him or her the ability to know or to provide information on the accumulating or final
results from the ballots canvassed early under the bill before the close of the polls on
election day.
7. Certain notices must be provided before each election at which the
municipality intends to canvass absentee ballots on the day before the election.
Residency requirement for voting
Under current law, with limited exceptions, an otherwise eligible voter must be
a resident of this state and of the municipality and ward, if any, where the voter is
voting for 28 days before an election in order to vote in the election in that
municipality and ward. The bill shortens that residency requirement from 28 days
to 10 days.
Voting absentee in person
Current law allows an individual to complete an absentee ballot in person no
earlier than 14 days preceding the election and no later than the Sunday preceding
the election. The bill eliminates the 14-day restriction on how soon a person may
complete an absentee ballot in person.
Voter bill of rights
The bill creates a voter bill of rights that municipal clerks and boards of election
commissioners must post at each polling place. The bill of rights informs voters that
they have the right to do all of the following:
1. Vote if registered and eligible to vote.
2. Inspect a sample ballot before voting.
3. Cast a ballot if in line when the polling place closes or, if voting by in-person
absentee ballot on the last day for which such voting is allowed, when the municipal
clerk's office closes.
4. Cast a secret ballot.
5. Get help casting a ballot if disabled.
6. Get help voting in a language other than English as provided by law.
7. Get a new ballot, up to three ballots in all, if the voter makes a mistake on
the ballot.
8. Cast a provisional ballot as provided by law.
9. Have the voter's ballot counted accurately.
10. Vote free from coercion or intimidation.
11. Report any illegal or fraudulent election activity.
Office of Election Transparency and Compliance
The bill creates under the Elections Commission the Office of Election
Transparency and Compliance. The office is under the direction and supervision of
a director appointed in the classified service by the commission administrator.
The bill requires the office, as directed by the commission by resolution, to
provide assistance and research to the commission concerning sworn complaints of
election law violations, including violations by election officials. The bill further
requires the office to provide assistance and research to the commission with respect
to the following, as directed by the commission administrator:
1. Procedures at polling places.
2. Election processes.
3. Audits of election systems and equipment, including with respect to
accessibility requirements for individuals with disabilities.
4. Responding to public records requests.
5. Responding to legislative inquiries and requests for assistance.
6. Responding to inquiries from the public.
Voter registration in high schools
Prior to
2011 Wisconsin Act 240, state law required that all public high schools
be used for voter registration for enrolled students and members of the high school
staff. Prior law also authorized voter registration to take place at a private high
school or a tribal school that operates high school grades if requested by the principal.
The bill reinstates those provisions.
Under the bill, the municipal clerk must notify the school board of each school
district in which the municipality is located that high schools will be used for voter
registration. The school board and the clerk then appoint at least one qualified voter
at each high school to be a special school registration deputy. The bill allows students
and staff to register at the school on any day that classes are regularly held. The
deputies promptly forward the registration forms to the clerk and the clerk adds
qualified voters to the registration list. The clerk may reject a registration form, but
the clerk must notify the registrant and inform the registrant of the reason for being
rejected. Under the bill, a form completed by an individual who will be 18 years of
age before the next election and who is otherwise qualified to vote must be filed in
such a way so that the individual is automatically registered to vote when the
individual is 18.
Finally, the bill allows a principal of a private high school or tribal school that
operates high school grades to request that the municipal clerk appoint a qualified
voter at the school to be a special school registration deputy. Under the bill, the clerk
must appoint a special school registration deputy if the clerk determines that the
private high school or tribal school has a substantial number of students residing in
the municipality.
Proof of identification for voting
Current law allows an individual to use as voter identification an unexpired
identification card issued by a technical college, college, or university in this state if
the card meets certain criteria. The card must have an expiration date that is no later
than two years after the date it was issued, and the individual must establish proof
of enrollment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held that the
requirement to present both an unexpired identification card and proof of enrollment
had no rational basis and was therefore unconstitutional. See, Luft v. Evers, 963 F.3d
665 (2020). The bill allows a student to use an expired student identification card
under certain circumstances. Under the bill, a student does not need to present proof
of enrollment if using an unexpired identification card, but must provide proof of
enrollment if using an expired identification card. In addition, the bill requires each
technical college in this state and each UW System institution to issue student
identification cards that meet the criteria to be used as voter identification no later
than August 1, 2023.
Current law also allows an individual to use as voter identification an
identification card issued by DOT. DOT may issue a receipt as a temporary
identification card to use for voting and other purposes to an individual who is
waiting for the permanent card. The receipt expires in 60 days. The bill extends the
expiration date to 180 days.
Special elections to fill vacancies in the office of U.S. senator and
representative in congress
Under current law, a vacancy in the office of U.S. senator or representative in
Congress occurring prior to the second Tuesday in April in the year of the general
election must be filled at a special primary and special election. A vacancy occurring
in one of these offices between the second Tuesday in April and the second Tuesday
in May in the year of the general election is filled at the partisan primary and general
election.
Current law provides that a special primary be held four weeks before the day
of the special election. However, if the election is held on the same day as the spring
election, the special primary is held concurrently with the spring primary. Under
current law, with regard to an election for a national office, the period between a
special primary and special election or between the spring primary and spring
election does not provide sufficient time to canvass and certify the primary results
and prepare ballots to send to overseas voters as required by federal law.
Under the bill, a vacancy in the office of U.S. senator or representative in
Congress is filled in one of the following manners:
1. At a special election to be held on the third Tuesday in May following the first
day of the vacancy with a special primary to be held concurrently with the spring
primary on the third Tuesday in February.
2. At a special election to be held on the second Tuesday in August following
the first day of the vacancy with a special primary to be held on the third Tuesday
in May.
3. At a special election to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November following the first day of the vacancy with a special primary to be held on
the second Tuesday in August.
However, under the bill, a November special election is not held in any year in
which the general election is held for that office; instead, the vacancy is filled at the
partisan primary and general election.
Reimbursement of counties and municipalities for certain election costs
The bill requires the Elections Commission to reimburse counties and
municipalities for certain costs incurred in the administration of special primaries
and special elections for state or national office. A cost is eligible for reimbursement
only if certain conditions are met, including that the commission determines the cost
is reasonable and the rate paid by the county or municipality for the cost does not
exceed the rate customarily paid for similar costs at a primary or election that is not
a special primary or election. Under the bill, only the following costs may be
reimbursed:
1. Rental payments for polling places.
2. Election day wages paid to election officials working at the polls.
3. Costs for the publication of required election notices.
4. Printing and postage costs for absentee ballots and envelopes.
5. Costs for the design and printing of ballots and poll books.
6. Purchase of ballot bags or containers, including ties or seals for chain of
custody purposes.
7. Costs to program electronic voting machines.
8. Purchase of memory devices for electronic voting machines.
9. Wages paid to conduct a county canvass.
10. Data entry costs for the statewide voter registration system.
Grants for the purchase of election supplies and equipment
The bill authorizes the Elections Commission to award grants to counties and
municipalities for the purchase of election supplies and equipment, including
electronic poll books.
Appropriation for clerk training
Current law appropriates money annually from the general fund to the
Elections Commission for training county and municipal clerks concerning voter
identification requirements. The bill expands this appropriation to authorize
expenditures for training county and municipal clerks for the administration of
elections generally.
Recount fees
Current law requires the Elections Commission to reimburse the counties for
the actual costs of conducting a recount. The reimbursement comes from the fees
that the commission collects from the person that filed the recount petition. The bill
changes the appropriation for reimbursing the counties from an annual
appropriation to a continuing appropriation.
EMINENT DOMAIN
Condemnation authority for nonmotorized paths
The bill allows certain entities, such as a county board, village board, or DOT,
to use the power of condemnation to acquire land or interests in land for the purpose
of establishing or extending recreational trails, bicycle ways or lanes, or pedestrian
ways. Current law prohibits the exercise of condemnation power to acquire land or
interests in land for those purposes.
employment
Employment regulation
Minimum wage increase
The bill annually raises the minimum wage to be paid to most employees, from
the effective date of the bill through January 1, 2027. After that date, the bill
requires DWD to determine the percentage difference between the consumer price
index for the preceding 12-month period and the consumer price index for the 12
months before the preceding 12-month period, adjust the minimum wages then in
effect by that percentage difference, and publish that amount in the Wisconsin
Administrative Register and on the DWD website.
The bill requires the secretary of workforce development to establish a
committee to study options to achieve a $15 per hour minimum wage and other
options to increase compensation for workers in this state. Under the bill, the
committee consists of nine members, with five appointed by the governor, and one
each appointed by the speaker of the assembly, the assembly minority leader, the
senate majority leader, and the senate minority leader. The committee is required
to submit a report containing its recommendations for options to achieve a $15 per
hour minimum wage and other options to increase compensation to the governor and
the appropriate standing committees of the legislature no later than October 1, 2024.
Collective bargaining for state and local employees; employee rights
Under current law, state and local governments are prohibited from collectively
bargaining with employees except as expressly provided in the statutes. Current law
allows certain protective occupation participants under the Wisconsin Retirement
System, known as public safety employees, and certain municipal transit employees
to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment. Under
current law, other state and municipal employees may collectively bargain only over
a percentage increase in base wages that does not exceed the percentage increase in
the consumer price index. In addition, under current law, the Employment Relations
Commission assigns employees to collective bargaining units, but current law
requires that public safety employees and municipal transit employees be placed in
separate collective bargaining units.
