The bill defines “workforce housing” to mean both of the following, subject to the five-year average median costs as determined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census:
1. Housing that costs a household no more than 30 percent of the household’s gross median income.
2. Housing that is comprised of residential units for initial occupancy by individuals whose household median income is no more than 120 percent of the county’s gross median income.
Under current law, a mixed-use development TID contains a combination of industrial, commercial, or residential uses, although newly platted residential areas may not exceed more than 35 percent of the real property within the TID. Under the bill, newly platted residential areas may not exceed either the 35 percent limit or 60 percent of the real property within the TID if the newly platted residential use that exceeds 35 percent is used solely for workforce housing.
The bill also requires a TID’s project plan to include alternative projections of the TID’s finances and feasibility under different economic situations, including a slower pace of development and lower rate of property value growth than expected in the TID.
Currently, a city or village may extend the life of a TID for up to one year for housing stock improvement if all of the following occurs:
1. The city or village pays off all of the TID’s project costs.
2. The city or village adopts a resolution stating that it intends to extend the life of the TID, the number of months it intends to do so, and how it intends to improve housing stock.
3. The city or village notifies DOR.
Current law requires the city or village to use 75 percent of the tax increments received during the period specified in the resolution to benefit affordable housing in the city or village and 25 percent to improve the city’s or village’s housing stock.
Under the bill, a city or village may extend the life of a TID to improve its housing stock or to increase the number of affordable and workforce housing improvements, with at least 50 percent of the funds supporting units for families with incomes of up to 60 percent of the county’s median income. Also under the bill, this extension may be for up to three years. However, for any extension of more than one year, the other taxing jurisdictions must approve of the extension.
Under current law, if a city, village, or town imposes an impact fee on a developer to pay for certain capital costs to accommodate land development, the city, village, or town may provide in the ordinance an exemption from, or a reduction in the amount of, impact fees on land development that provides low-cost housing. Under the bill, the impact fee exemption or reduction provisions also apply to workforce housing. Current law prevents the shifting of an exemption from or reduction in impact fees to any other development in the land development in which the low-cost housing is located. The bill applies this provision to workforce housing as well.
Reclassification of TID to mixed-use TID
When a TID is created, the city or village must designate the TID as one of several sorts of TID: blighted area, rehabilitation or conservation, industrial, or mixed-use. The application of certain rules vary depending on the classification of the TID. For example, blighted area TIDs have a longer potential lifespan than industrial or mixed-use TIDs.
Under the bill, a city or village may change the classification of a TID to a mixed-use TID after the creation of the TID. The TID would retain the lifespan and tax collection features of the original classification but would gain the features of a mixed-use TID. The principal difference between mixed-use TIDs and other TIDs is the ability within certain limits to spend tax increments on newly platted residential development.
TIF 12 percent rule exception
Under current law, when creating a new TID or amending a TID, a city or village must make a finding that the equalized value of taxable property of the new or amended TID plus the value increment of all existing TIDs in the city or village does not exceed 12 percent of the total equalized value of taxable property in the city or village. Under the bill, in lieu of making the 12 percent finding, a city or village may certify to DOR that 1) TIDs with sufficient value increments will close within one year after certification so that the city or village will no longer exceed the 12 percent limit and 2) the city or village will not take any actions that would extend the life of any TID under item 1.
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION
Under the bill, a person who is at least 21 years old may legally possess marijuana. A person who is at least 18 may possess marijuana if the person has certain medical conditions. Under the bill, a person may produce, process, or sell marijuana if the person has a permit. The bill creates an excise tax for the privilege of producing, processing, distributing, or selling marijuana in this state. All of the revenue collected from the tax is deposited into the general fund. Under the bill, a person who may possess medical marijuana is not subject to sales or excise taxes on the purchase or use of the marijuana. The bill also regulates delta-8 THC and delta-10 THC as marijuana. The bill does not affect federal law, which generally prohibits persons from manufacturing, delivering, or possessing marijuana and applies to both intrastate and interstate violations.
Legalizing the possession of marijuana
Current law prohibits a person from manufacturing, distributing, or delivering marijuana; possessing marijuana with the intent to manufacture, distribute, or deliver it; possessing or attempting to possess marijuana; using drug paraphernalia; or possessing drug paraphernalia with the intent to produce, distribute, or use a controlled substance. The bill changes state law to allow a Wisconsin resident who is at least 21 to possess no more than two ounces of marijuana and to allow a nonresident of Wisconsin who is at least 21 to possess no more than one-quarter ounce of marijuana. The bill also allows a qualifying patient to possess marijuana for medical purposes. Under the bill, generally, a qualifying patient is an individual who has been diagnosed by a physician as having or undergoing a debilitating medical condition or treatment and who is at least 18 years old. The bill also eliminates the prohibition on possessing or using drug paraphernalia that relates to marijuana consumption.
Under the bill, a person who possesses more marijuana than the maximum amount the person is allowed is subject to a penalty, which varies depending on the amount of overage. A person who exceeds the amount by not more than one ounce is subject to a civil forfeiture not to exceed $1,000. A person who exceeds the maximum amount by more than one ounce is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days or both. The person is guilty of a Class I felony if the person also takes action to hide the amount of marijuana they have and has in place a security system to alert them to the presence of law enforcement or a method to intimidate, or a system that could injure or kill, a person approaching the area containing the marijuana.
Regulating the production, processing, and selling marijuana
Under the bill, no person may sell, distribute, or transfer marijuana unless the person has a permit from DOR. A person that violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class I felony if the intended recipient is an adult and is guilty of a Class H felony if the intended recipient is a minor and the person is at least three years older than the minor.
The bill requires a person to obtain separate permits from DOR to produce, process, distribute, or sell marijuana, and requires marijuana producers and processors to obtain additional permits from DATCP. The requirements for obtaining these permits differ based on whether the permit is issued by DOR or DATCP but, in general, a person may not obtain such a permit if they are not a state resident, are under the age of 21, or have been convicted of certain crimes or committed certain offenses. In addition, a person may not operate under a DOR or DATCP permit within 500 feet of a school, playground, recreation facility, child care facility, public park, public transit facility, or library. A person that holds a permit from DOR must also comply with certain operational requirements.
Under the bill, a permit applicant with 20 or more employees may not receive a permit from DATCP or DOR unless the the applicant certifies that the applicant has entered into a labor peace agreement with a labor organization. The labor peace agreement must prohibit the labor organization and its members from engaging in any economic interference with persons doing business in this state, must prohibit the applicant from disrupting the efforts of the labor organization to communicate with and to organize and represent the applicant’s employees, and must provide the labor organization access to areas in which the employees work to discuss employment rights and the terms and conditions of employment. Current law prohibits the state and any local unit of government from requiring a labor peace agreement as a condition for any regulatory approval. The permit requirements under the bill are not subject to that prohibition.
The bill also requires DATCP and DOR to use a competitive scoring system to determine which applicants are eligible to receive permits. Each department must issue permits to the highest scoring applicants that it determines will best protect the environment; provide stable, family-supporting jobs to local residents; ensure worker and consumer safety; operate secure facilities; and uphold the laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate. Each department may deny a permit to an applicant with a low score.
The bill prohibits a DOR permittee from selling, distributing, or transferring marijuana to a person who is under the age of 21 (a minor) and from allowing a minor to be on premises for which a permit is issued. If a permittee violates one of those prohibitions, the permittee may be subject to a civil forfeiture of not more than $500 and the permit may be suspended for up to 30 days.
Under the bill, a minor who does any of the following is subject to a forfeiture of not less than $250 nor more than $500: procures or attempts to procure marijuana from a permittee; falsely represents their age to receive marijuana from a permittee; knowingly possesses marijuana; or knowingly enters any premises for which a permit has been issued without being accompanied by their parent, guardian, or spouse who is at least 21 years of age or at least 18 years of age if a qualifying patient.
Under the bill, an individual may cultivate as many as six marijuana plants. Only a person that has a permit from DATCP may produce or process more marijuana plants. A person without a permit who possesses more than six but not more than 12 marijuana plants that have reached the flowering stage is subject to a civil forfeiture not to exceed twice the permitting fee, which is $250 under the bill. If the person possesses more than 12 plants that have reached the flowering stage, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days or both. The person is guilty of a Class I felony if the person also takes action to hide the number of plants they have and the person also has in place a security system to alert him or her to the presence of law enforcement or a method to intimidate, or a system that could injure or kill, a person approaching the area containing the plants.
The bill requires DOR to create and maintain a medical marijuana registry program whereby a person who is a qualifying patient may obtain a registry identification card and purchase marijuana from a retail establishment without having to pay the sales or excise taxes imposed on that sale. A “qualifying patient” is a person who is at least 18 and has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, or another specified condition or is undergoing a debilitating medical treatment.
Previous convictions relating to marijuana
The bill creates a process to review convictions for acts that have been decriminalized under the bill. If the person is currently serving a sentence or on probation for such a conviction, the person may petition a court to dismiss the conviction and expunge the record. If the person has completed a sentence or period of probation for such a conviction, the person may petition a court to expunge the record or, if applicable, redesignate it to a lower crime. Any conviction that is expunged under the bill is not considered a conviction for any purpose under state or federal law.
Registration for THC testing labs
The bill requires DATCP to register entities as tetrahydrocannabinols (THC)-testing laboratories. The laboratories must test marijuana for contaminants; research findings on the use of medical marijuana; and provide training on safe and efficient cultivation, harvesting, packaging, labeling, and distribution of marijuana, security and inventory accountability, and research on medical marijuana.
Discrimination based on marijuana use
Under the fair employment law, no employer or other person may engage in any act of employment discrimination against any individual on the basis of the individual’s use or nonuse of lawful products off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours, subject to certain exceptions, one of which is if the use impairs the individual’s ability to undertake adequately the job-related responsibilities of that individual’s employment. The bill specifically defines marijuana as a lawful product for purposes of the fair employment law, such that no person may engage in any act of employment discrimination against an individual because of the individual’s use of marijuana off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours, subject to those exceptions.
Under current law, an individual may be disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits if they are terminated because of misconduct or substantial fault. The bill specifically provides that an employee’s use of marijuana off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours does not constitute misconduct or substantial fault unless termination for that use is permitted under one of the exceptions under the fair employment law.
Unless federal law requires otherwise, the bill prohibits a hospital, physician, organ procurement organization, or other person from determining the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift on the sole basis of a positive test for the use of marijuana by a potential recipient.
Drug screening and testing
The bill exempts THC, including marijuana, from drug testing for certain public assistance programs. Currently, a participant in a community service job or transitional placement under the Wisconsin Works program (W2) or a recipient of the FoodShare program, also known as the food stamp program, who is convicted of possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance must submit to a test for controlled substances as a condition of continued eligibility. DHS is currently required to request a waiver of federal Medicaid law to require drug screening and testing as a condition of eligibility for the childless adult demonstration project in the Medical Assistance program. Current law also requires DHS to promulgate rules to develop and implement a drug screening, testing, and treatment policy for able-bodied adults without dependents in the FoodShare employment and training program. The bill exempts THC from all of those drug-testing requirements and programs. In addition, because THC is not a controlled substance under state law under the bill, the requirement under current law that DCF promulgate rules to create a controlled substance abuse screening and testing requirement for applicants for the work experience program for noncustodial parents under W2 and the Transform Milwaukee Jobs and Transitional Jobs programs does not include THC.
Under current law, DWD must establish a program to test claimants who apply for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the presence of controlled substances, as defined under federal law. If a claimant tests positive for a controlled substance, the claimant may be denied UI benefits, subject to certain exceptions and limitations. The bill excludes THC for purposes of this testing requirement. As such, under the bill, an individual who tests positive for THC may not be denied UI benefits.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
Tuition grant program for national guard members
The bill makes changes to DMA’s tuition grant program relating to the grant amount awarded to national guard members for higher education as well as the name of the grants.
Under current law, DMA awards tuition grants to eligible national guard members enrolled in qualifying schools, which include public and private institutions of higher education. The amount of the tuition grant payment is equal to 100 percent of the actual tuition charged by the guard member’s school or 100 percent of the maximum resident undergraduate tuition charged by the UW-Madison for a comparable number of credits, whichever amount is less.
The bill specifies that, in calculating the amount of tuition charged by a qualifying school, the amount includes tuition and segregated fees if the school is a UW System institution and includes program fees and incidental fees if the school is a technical college. The bill also renames grants awarded under the program as “educational grants” rather than “tuition grants.” The bill further specifies that, subject to exceptions, if an eligible guard member receives an educational grant, no other award of financial aid to the guard member may be reduced because of the educational grant.
Incumbent local exchange carrier grants
Under current law, DMA operates a grant program to reimburse incumbent local exchange carriers operating as originating service providers for costs associated with Next Generation 911. Currently, no moneys may be encumbered from the appropriation that funds the grant program after June 30, 2027. The bill removes the June 30, 2027, end date for encumbering funds under the grant program.
Costs eligible for disaster assistance payment grants
Under current law, DMA may make payments from state disaster assistance appropriation accounts to eligible local governmental units for costs that are a direct result of certain disasters, including eligible costs of debris removal; certain emergency protective measures for the protection of life, public health, and property; and certain damage to roads and bridges. The bill directs that the costs eligible for such payments include certain categories of work designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s public assistance program, including the program’s Category D, regarding water control facilities; Category E, regarding public buildings and contents; Category F, regarding public utilities; and Category G, regarding parks, recreation, and other facilities.
Under current law, DMA may also 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 1) the disaster is not eligible for other funding related to a presidentially declared “major disaster,” or 2) DMA determines the disaster does not meet a certain per capita impact indicator. Additionally, the local governmental unit receiving the payment must pay for 30 percent of the amount of damages and costs resulting from the disaster. The bill requires DMA to provide a $68,100 payment in fiscal year 2025–26 from the same state disaster assistance appropriation account to the Town of Westport, exempts the payment from the program’s eligibility requirement, and exempts the town from the 30 percent payment requirement.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Fish, game, and wildlife
Hunting, fishing, and trapping fees
Under current law, DNR issues hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses, permits, and other approvals and charges a fee to issue most approvals. The bill increases hunting, fishing, and trapping approval fees. The following table includes a sample of these fee increases (“NR” indicates nonresident):
Deer carcass disposal sites
The bill requires DNR to provide financial assistance to local governments, individuals, businesses, and nonprofit conservation organizations to purchase large metal containers for the disposal of deer carcasses.
Fish, wildlife, and parks program operations
The bill creates an appropriation, from moneys in the conservation fund that DNR receives from forestry activities, for the operation of fish, wildlife, and parks programs.
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 from the general fund to DNR an amount equal to the amount of gifts, grants, and bequests received for the program and any additional payments designated for the program by an individual filing an income tax return, not to exceed $500,000 in a fiscal year. The bill increases the limit to $950,000.
Forestry
Managed forest land fees
Under current law, DNR administers the managed forest land (MFL) program, under which the owner of a parcel of land designated as MFL makes an annual acreage share payment in lieu of property taxes. In exchange, the owner must comply with certain forestry practices and, subject to exceptions, must open the land to the public for recreational activities. Certain actions relating to a parcel designated as MFL must be recorded by the appropriate register of deeds and DNR must pay any required fee for the recording.
Under current law, MFL may be transferred from one owner to another with payment of a $100 fee, which is deposited in the conservation fund. Of that amount, $20 is credited to a DNR appropriation for the payment of register of deed fees. Land may also be withdrawn from the MFL program with payment of a $300 fee.
Under the bill, $100 transfer fees and $300 withdrawal fees are deposited in the conservation fund and credited to the DNR appropriation for the payment of fees to the registers of deeds.
Wildfire suppression reimbursement
Under current law, DNR administers the fire suppression aids program, which provides grants to counties, cities, villages, towns, and fire suppression organizations to assist with the cost of training and supplies for fire suppression. The bill appropriates to DNR, from the conservation fund, a sum sufficient to reimburse local fire departments under the program.
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, 2026.
Transfer from forestry account to transportation fund
The bill transfers $25,000,000 from the forestry account of the conservation fund to the transportation fund.
Transfer to forestry account
The bill modifies the amount of GPR to be transferred to the conservation fund for forestry purposes. Under current law, an amount equal to 0.1697 mills for each dollar of equalized property value in the state is transferred. The bill modifies the amount of the transfer to 0.1406 mills for each dollar of equalized property value in the state. Current law requires funds transferred in this manner to be used for acquiring, preserving, and developing the forests of the state and for various other purposes related to forestry.
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 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.
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 $15,000,000.
Recreation
Outdoor skills training program
The bill changes which appropriation from the conservation fund pays for an outdoor skills training program. Under current law, the UW System must enter into an agreement with an established national organization that provides training to persons who are interested in learning about the outdoor skills needed by women to hunt, fish, camp, canoe, and undertake other outdoor recreational activities in order to provide that type of training to interested persons.
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.
State park admission and camping fee waivers for tribal members
The bill requires DNR to waive the fee for an annual vehicle admission receipt issued to a member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band located in this state. Under current law generally, 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 also requires DNR to waive the camping fee for a member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band located in this state. Under current law generally, no person may camp in a state campground unless the applicable camping fee is paid.
