Reporting a lost or stolen firearm
Under the bill, a person who owns a firearm that is stolen or missing must report the theft or loss to a law enforcement agency within 24 hours of discovering the theft or loss. A person who violates this requirement is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and guilty of a Class I felony for a subsequent offense. A person who falsely reports a stolen or lost firearm is guilty of the current-law crime of obstructing an officer and is subject to a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to nine months, or both.
The bill also requires a person who commercially sells or transfers a firearm to provide the purchaser or transferee a written notice of the requirement, created in the bill, to report a theft or loss of a firearm within 24 hours of discovering it. A seller or transferor who violates this requirement is subject to a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both.
Containers and trigger locks at sale
The bill requires a person who commercially sells or transfers a firearm to provide the purchaser or transferee with either a secure, lockable container that is designed to store a firearm or a trigger lock for the firearm. A seller or transferor who violates this requirement is subject to a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both.
Firearms in unattended retail facilities
The bill requires that a retail business that sells firearms must secure all firearms when the business is unattended. Under the bill, the firearms must be secured in one of the following ways: in a locked fireproof safe, locked steel gun cabinet, or vault; in a steel-framed display case with specified reinforcements; with a hardened steel rod or cable; in a windowless, internal room that is equipped with a steel security door; or behind a steel roll-down door or security gate.
Storing a firearm when a child is present
The bill prohibits a person from storing or leaving a firearm at his or her residence if the person resides with a child who is under the age of 18, or knows a child who is under the age of 18 will be present in the residence, unless the firearm is in a securely locked box or container or other secure locked location or has a trigger lock engaged. A person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class I felony for a subsequent offense. This prohibition replaces the current law that penalizes a person who recklessly stores or leaves a loaded firearm within reach of a child who is under 14 if the child obtains it and does one of the following: 1) discharges the firearm and causes bodily harm or death (Class A misdemeanor); or 2) possesses or exhibits the firearm in a public place or endangers public safety (Class C misdemeanor).
Storing a firearm in a residence at which a prohibited person resides
The bill requires a person to store any firearm he or she possesses in a securely locked box or container or other secure locked location or with a trigger lock engaged if the person resides with a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm under state law. A person who violates this requirement is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class I felony for a repeat offense. State law currently prohibits the following persons from possessing a firearm: persons who have been convicted of a felony; persons found not guilty of a felony by reason of mental disease or defect; persons who are subject to certain injunctions such as a domestic abuse or child abuse injunction or, in certain cases, a harassment or an individuals-at-risk injunction; and persons who have been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment and ordered not to possess a firearm.
GAMBLING
Bingo and raffle fees
Under current law, an organization that conducts bingo and raffles must obtain a license from the Division of Gaming within DOA and pay all related license fees. Bingo licensees, generally, must pay a $10 license fee for each bingo occasion, meaning a single gathering or session at which a series of successive bingo games is played, and a $5 license fee for an annual license for the designated member of the organization responsible for the proper utilization of gross receipts. A bingo licensee that is a community-based residential facility, a senior citizen community center, or an adult family home that conducts bingo as a recreational or social activity must pay a $5 license fee. Raffle licensees must pay a $25 license fee. The bill doubles all bingo and raffle license fees.
Also, under current law, a 1 percent occupational tax is imposed on the first $30,000 in gross receipts derived from the conduct of bingo by a licensed organization in a year. In gross receipts during a year that exceed $30,000, a 2 percent occupational tax is imposed. Under the bill, a 2 percent occupational tax is imposed on all gross receipts derived from the conduct of bingo by a licensed organization.
Gaming regulation and enforcement
Under current law and tribal gaming compacts, tribes make payments to the state to reimburse the state for costs relating to the regulation of certain gaming activities. This revenue, called Indian gaming receipts, may be expended for various purposes. The bill requires DOA to transfer portions of Indian gaming receipts to DOR to support DOR’s gaming regulation and enforcement activities.
GENDER NEUTRAL TERMINOLOGY
Making references in the statutes gender neutral
The bill recognizes same-sex marriage by making references in the statutes to spouses gender-neutral, with the intent of harmonizing the Wisconsin Statutes with the holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015), which recognizes that same-sex couples have a fundamental constitutional right to marriage. The bill also recognizes legal parentage for same-sex couples under certain circumstances and adopts gender-neutral parentage terminology.
The bill provides that marriage may be contracted between persons of the same sex and confers the same rights and responsibilities on married persons of the same sex that married persons of different sexes have under current law. The bill defines “spouse” as a person who is legally married to another person of the same sex or a different sex and replaces every reference to “husband” or “wife” in current law with “spouse.” The bill makes applicable to married persons of the same sex all provisions under current law that apply to married persons of different sexes. These provisions relate to such diverse areas of the law as income tax, marital property, inheritance rights, divorce, child and spousal support, insurance coverage, family and spousal recreational licenses, consent to conduct an autopsy, domestic abuse, and eligibility for various types of benefits, such as retirement or death benefits and medical assistance.
In addition to making statutory references to spouses gender-neutral, the bill specifies ways in which married couples of the same sex may be the legal parents of a child and, with some exceptions, makes current references in the statutes to “mother” and “father,” and related terms, gender-neutral.
Under current law, all of the following may adopt a child: a husband and wife jointly, a husband or wife whose spouse is the parent of the child, and an unmarried adult. Because the bill makes references in the statutes to spouses gender-neutral, same-sex spouses jointly may adopt a child and become the legal parents of the child, and a same-sex spouse of a person who is the parent of a minor child may adopt the child and become the legal parent of his or her spouse’s child.
Under current law, if a woman is artificially inseminated under the supervision of a physician with semen donated by a man who is not her husband and the husband consents in writing to the artificial insemination of his wife, the husband is the natural father of any child conceived. Under the bill, one spouse may also consent to the artificial insemination of his or her spouse and is the natural parent of the child conceived. The artificial insemination is not required to take place under the supervision of a physician, but, if it does not, the semen used for the insemination must have been obtained from a sperm bank.
Under current law, a man is presumed to be the father of a child if he and the child’s natural mother 1) were married to each other when the child was conceived or born or 2) married each other after the child was born but had a relationship with each other when the child was conceived and no other man has been adjudicated to be the father or is presumed to be the father because the man was married to the mother when the child was conceived or born. The paternity presumption may be rebutted in a legal action or proceeding by the results of a genetic test showing that the statistical probability of another man’s parentage is 99.0 percent or higher. The bill expands this presumption into a parentage presumption, so that a person is presumed to be the natural parent of a child if he or she 1) was married to the child’s established natural parent when the child was conceived or born or 2) married the child’s established natural parent after the child was born but had a relationship with the established natural parent when the child was conceived and no person has been adjudicated to be the father and no other person is presumed to be the child’s parent because he or she was married to the mother when the child was conceived or born. The parentage presumption may still be rebutted by the results of a genetic test showing that the statistical probability of another person’s parentage is 99.0 percent or higher. Expanding on current law, the bill allows for a paternity action to be brought for the purpose of rebutting the parentage presumption, regardless of whether that presumption applies to a male or female spouse.
Current law provides that a mother and a man may sign a statement acknowledging paternity and file it with the state registrar. If the state registrar has received such a statement, the man is presumed to be the father of the child. Under current law, either person who has signed a statement acknowledging paternity may rescind the statement before an order is filed in an action affecting the family concerning the child or within 60 days after the statement is filed, whichever occurs first. Under current law, a man who has filed a statement acknowledging paternity that is not rescinded within the time period is conclusively determined to be the father of the child. The bill provides that two people may sign a statement acknowledging parentage and file it with the state registrar. If the state registrar has received such a statement, the people who have signed the statement are presumed to be the parents of the child. Under the bill, a statement acknowledging parentage that is not rescinded conclusively establishes parentage with regard to the person who did not give birth to the child and who signed the statement.
The bill defines “natural parent” as a parent of a child who is not an adoptive parent, whether the parent is biologically related to the child or not. Thus, a person who is a biological parent, a parent by consenting to the artificial insemination of his or her spouse, or a parent under the parentage presumption is a natural parent of a child. The definition applies throughout the statutes wherever the term “natural parent” is used. In addition, the bill expands some references in the statutes to “biological parent” by changing the reference to “natural parent.”
Gender neutral references on birth certificates
Generally, the bill substitutes the term “spouse” for “husband” in the birth certificate statutes and enters the spouse, instead of the husband, of the person who has given birth on the birth certificate at times when a husband would currently be entered on a birth certificate. The name of the person who has given birth is entered on a birth certificate when the person gives birth to a child, and current law specifies when another name should be entered on the birth certificate. Current law requires that if a birth mother is married at any time from the conception to the birth of a child, then her husband’s name is entered on the birth certificate as the legal father of the child. Under the bill, if a person who gives birth is married at any time from the conception to the birth of the child, then that person’s spouse’s name is entered as a legal parent of the child. The bill also specifies that, in the instance that a second parent’s name is initially omitted from the birth certificate, if the state registrar receives a signed acknowledgement of parentage by people presumed to be parents because the two people married after the birth of the child, the two people had a relationship during the time the child was conceived, no person is adjudicated to be the father, and no other person is presumed to be the parent, then the state registrar must enter the name of the spouse of the person who gave birth as a parent on the birth certificate.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public assistance
Presumptive eligibility for Wisconsin Shares
Under current law, an individual is eligible to receive a child care subsidy under the Wisconsin Shares program if DCF determines that the individual meets certain requirements, including requirements related to age of the child, income of the individual, and the individual’s participation in certain eligible activities.
Under the bill, DCF may find an individual presumptively eligible for a child care subsidy while DCF verifies the individual’s actual eligibility. If DCF finds an individual presumptively eligible for the child care subsidy, DCF must immediately begin issuing benefits to the individual. If DCF determines that the individual is actually ineligible, DCF must discontinue issuing benefits. To be found presumptively eligible for the subsidies, an individual must submit a report to DCF that includes information establishing the individual’s actual eligibility and, based on the report, DCF must be able to plausibly assume that the individual is actually eligible for the subsidies.
Wisconsin Shares copayment increase structure
Under current law, if an individual is already receiving a Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy and the individual’s family income exceeds the maximum eligible income of 200 percent of the poverty line, the individual will continue to be eligible for the subsidy until or unless the individual’s family income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income. Until that time when the individual’s income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income, the individual’s copayment minimum for the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy will increase on a sliding scale based on the amount that the individual’s family income increases.
The bill eliminates this copayment increase structure in order to comply with federal rule 89 FR 15366, effective April 30, 2024, which establishes that copayments for individuals receiving a child care subsidy from the federal Child Care and Development Fund may not exceed 7 percent of family income. Under the bill, in general, if an individual is already receiving a Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy and the individual’s family income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income, the individual is no longer eligible for the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy.
Wisconsin Shares like-kin update
2023 Wisconsin Act 119 extended kinship care eligibility to like-kin, in addition to relatives of a child. “Like-kin” is defined under current law as an individual who has a significant emotional relationship with a child or the child’s family that is similar to a familial relationship and who is not and has not previously been the child’s licensed foster parent and, for an Indian child, includes individuals identified by the child’s tribe according to tribal tradition, custom or resolution, code, or law. The bill conforms language under the child care subsidy program, Wisconsin Shares, to this change so that references to kinship care are not limited to relatives. Child care quality improvement program
The bill authorizes DCF to establish a program for making monthly payments and monthly per-child payments to certified child care providers, licensed child care centers, and child care programs established or contracted for by a school board. This new payment program is in addition to the current law system for providing child care payments under Wisconsin Shares. The bill requires DCF to promulgate rules to implement the program, including establishing eligibility requirements and payment amounts and setting requirements for how recipients may use the payments, and authorizes DCF to promulgate these rules as emergency rules. The bill funds the program through a new appropriation and by allocating federal moneys, including child care development funds and moneys received under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program.
The bill eliminates the current law method by which DCF may modify maximum payment rates for child care providers under Wisconsin Shares based on a child care provider’s rating under the quality rating system known as YoungStar.
Wisconsin Shares is a part of the Wisconsin Works program under current law, which DCF administers and which provides work experience and benefits for low-income custodial parents who are at least 18 years old. Under current law, an individual who is the parent of a child under the age of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the age of 19, who needs child care services to participate in various education or work activities, and who satisfies other eligibility criteria may receive a child care subsidy for child care services under Wisconsin Shares.
Expanded Transform Milwaukee Jobs and Transitional Jobs programs
Under current law, DCF administers a temporary wage subsidy program for individuals who meet all of the following qualifications: 1) are at least 18 years old and, if over 25 years old, are the parent or primary relative caregiver of a child; 2) have a household income below 150 percent of the federal poverty line; 3) have been unemployed for at least four weeks; 4) are ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits; 5) are not participating in a Wisconsin Works employment position; and 6) satisfy applicable substance abuse screening, testing, and treatment requirements. Under current law, funding is directed first to the program as established in Milwaukee County, called the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program, and next, if funding is available, to the program as established outside of Milwaukee County, called the Transitional Jobs program.
The bill provides funding for and requires DCF to establish the Expanded Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and Transitional Jobs program, which under the bill must be identical to the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and Transitional Jobs program except that, to be eligible, an individual is not required to have an annual household income below 150 percent of the federal poverty line and, if over 25 years of age, is not required to be a parent or primary relative caregiver of a child.
Transform Milwaukee Jobs and Transitional Jobs programs
The bill modifies the qualifications for participating in the Transform Milwaukee Jobs and Transitional Jobs programs by removing the requirement that the individual has been unemployed for at least four weeks, and by specifying that anyone who is not receiving unemployment insurance benefits, regardless of their eligibility to receive those benefits, may participate.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Under current law, DCF allocates specific amounts of federal moneys, including child care development funds and moneys received under the TANF block grant program, for various public assistance programs. Under the bill, TANF funding allocations are changed in the following ways, as compared to the funding allocation in the 2023–25 fiscal biennium:
1. For homeless case management services grants, total funding is doubled.
2. For the administration of public assistance programs and collection of public assistance overpayments, total funding is increased by 33 percent.
3. For emergency assistance payments, total funding is increased by 71 percent.
4. For grants to Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., for distribution to programs that provide civil legal services to low-income families, funding is increased by 800 percent, from $500,000 per fiscal year to $4,500,000 per fiscal year.
5. For the Transform Milwaukee and Transitional Jobs programs, total funding is increased by 31 percent.
6. For the Jobs for America’s Graduates program, total funding is doubled.
7. For direct child care services, child care administration, and child care improvement programs, total funding is increased by 14 percent.
8. For the support of the dependent children of recipients of supplemental security income, funding is increased by 75 percent per fiscal year from the funding in fiscal year 2024–25.
9. For kinship care and long-term kinship care payments and kinship care administration, total funding is increased by 47 percent.
10. For grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, funding is increased by 239 percent, from $2,807,000 in each fiscal year to $9,507,000 in each fiscal year.
11. For the earned income tax credit supplement, total funding is increased by 60 percent.
12. For all other programs under TANF, funding is continued with a funding change of 6 percent or less.
The bill additionally allocates $3,472,000 in fiscal year 2025–26 and $6,944,000 in fiscal year 2026–27 for a child support debt reduction program and eliminates an allocation of $500,000 per fiscal year for skills enhancement grants.
Civil legal services grants
Under current law, DCF provides funding to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc. (the foundation), to provide civil legal services to TANF-eligible individuals in two ways:
1. DCF provides up to $100,000 in each fiscal year in matching funds to the foundation for the provision of civil legal services to eligible individuals. This grant does not specify what types of civil legal services may be provided.
2. DCF provides a $500,000 grant in each fiscal year to the foundation to provide grants to programs, up to $75,000 each, that provide certain legal services to eligible individuals. The legal services provided through this grant are limited to legal services in civil matters related to domestic abuse or sexual abuse or to restraining orders or injunctions for individuals at risk.
The bill removes the grant that requires matching funds and increases the grant to provide certain legal services to eligible individuals to $4,500,000 per fiscal year. Under the bill, the foundation may additionally use this funding to provide to eligible individuals civil legal services related to eviction. The bill removes the $75,000 cap on grants provided by the foundation to individual programs.
Child support debt reduction
The bill creates a program administered by DCF to provide debt reduction for child support. Under the bill, if a noncustodial parent completes an eligible employment program, as determined by DCF by rule, and the custodial parent agrees to a reduction, the noncustodial parent is eligible for child support debt reduction in an amount up to $1,500. Under the bill, a parent may not qualify for the debt reduction more than once in any 12-month period.
Child care water safety grant program
The bill requires DCF to award a grant each fiscal year to Community Water Services, Inc., to help child care providers access safe drinking water.
Grants for services for homeless and runaway youth
The bill increases the limit on the amount that DCF may award in each fiscal year to support programs that provide services for homeless and runaway youth from $400,000 to $2,872,800.
Tribal family services grants and funding for out-of-home-care placements by tribal courts
Current law uses Indian gaming receipts to fund tribal family service grants and unexpected or unusually high-cost placements of Indian children by tribal courts in foster homes, group homes, or residential care centers for children and youth, in the homes of a relative other than a parent, or in a supervised independent living arrangement (out-of-home care). The bill appropriates GPR moneys for those purposes as well.
Healthy eating incentive pilot program
The bill modifies certain provisions of the healthy eating incentive pilot program. The bill defines an eligible retailer, for purposes of the program, to be a retailer authorized to participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as the federal food stamp program. Under current law, DHS must select, through a competitive selection process, one or more nonprofit organizations to administer the program statewide. The bill modifies that requirement, instead requiring only that DHS select one or more third-party organizations through the competitive selection process. Current law requires DHS to seek any available federal matching moneys from the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program to fund the program. The bill specifies that DHS must require any organization chosen to administer the program to fulfill that requirement to seek federal matching funds. Under the bill, a third-party organization chosen to administer the program may retain for administrative purposes an amount not to exceed 33 percent of the total contracted amount or the applicable cap found in federal law or guidance, whichever is lower.
Electronic benefit transfer processing program
The bill requires DHS to provide electronic benefit transfer and credit and debit card processing equipment and services to farmers’ markets and farmers who sell directly to consumers as a payment processing program. The bill specifies that the electronic benefit transfer processing equipment and services must include equipment and services for the state food stamp program, which is known as FoodShare. Under the bill, the vendor that processes the electronic benefit transfer and credit and debit card transactions must also process any local purchasing incentives.
Eliminating FSET drug testing requirement
2015 Wisconsin Act 55 required DHS to promulgate rules to develop and implement a drug screening, testing, and treatment policy, which DHS promulgated as ch. DHS 38, Wis. Adm. Code. 2017 Wisconsin Act 370 incorporated into statutes ch. DHS 38, relating to drug screening, testing, and treatment for recipients of the FoodShare employment and training program (FSET). FoodShare provides financial assistance to purchase food items to individuals who have limited financial resources. The bill eliminates the requirement to implement a drug screening, testing, and treatment policy and removes from the statutes the language incorporated by Act 370. FSET work requirement
Current law requires DHS to require all able-bodied adults, with some limited exceptions, who seek benefits from the FoodShare program to participate in the FoodShare employment and training program, known as FSET, unless they are already employed. The bill eliminates that requirement for able-bodied adults with dependents while retaining the requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents.
Eliminating FSET pay-for-performance requirement
Current law requires DHS to create and implement a payment system based on performance for entities that perform administrative functions for the FoodShare employment and training program, known as FSET. DHS must base the pay-for-performance system on performance outcomes specified in current law. The bill eliminates the requirement for DHS to create a pay-for-performance system for FSET vendors.
Emergency services
Emergency medical services funding assistance
Under current law, DHS must annually distribute grants for vehicles, supplies, equipment, medication, or training to certain emergency medical responder departments and certain ambulance service providers under a funding formula consisting of an identical base amount plus a supplemental amount based upon the population of the primary service area or contract area. Under the bill, the funding formula must consist of a base amount based on provider type and a supplemental amount based upon the population or other relevant factors of the primary service area or contract area. Currently, grant recipients may not expend more than 15 percent of a grant on nondurable or disposable medical supplies or equipment and medications. The bill removes the limitation for equipment.
