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LRB-3634/1
ALL:skw&wlj
2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
June 24, 2021 - Introduced by Senators Erpenbach, Smith, Bewley, Carpenter,
Agard, Larson, Pfaff, Johnson, Ringhand, Roys, L. Taylor and Wirch,
cosponsored by Representatives Riemer, S. Rodriguez, Hintz, Vining, Goyke,
Neubauer, Sinicki, Drake, Billings, Vruwink, Conley, Doyle, Hebl,
Spreitzer, Shelton, Hesselbein, Shankland, Hong, Andraca, Subeck,
Cabrera, Stubbs, Pope, Considine, Baldeh, Bowen, Emerson, B. Meyers,
Milroy, Ohnstad, Snodgrass, Brostoff, McGuire, Moore Omokunde,
Anderson and Ortiz-Velez. Referred to Committee on Government
Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection.
SB439,2,5 1An Act to repeal 20.192 (1) (d), 20.380 (1) (c), 20.505 (1) (am), 49.45 (2p), 49.45
2(23) and 86.31 (3s); to amend 20.395 (2) (fc), 20.435 (1) (cr), 20.435 (1) (fh),
320.435 (4) (jw), 36.11 (3) (d) (intro.), 36.11 (47m) (title), 49.45 (23b) (title), 49.45
4(23b) (b), 49.45 (23b) (c), 49.45 (23b) (e), 49.471 (4) (a) 4. b., 49.686 (3) (d) and
5196.504 (2) (a); to create 13.48 (26m), 20.155 (3) (a), 20.165 (2) (d), 20.192 (1)
6(c), 20.192 (1) (d), 20.255 (3) (fs), 20.285 (1) (bm), 20.292 (1) (fm), 20.320 (2) (a),
720.370 (6) (ed), 20.380 (1) (c), 20.435 (5) (ef), 20.455 (5) (ec), 20.505 (1) (am),
820.505 (1) (bg), 36.11 (47m) (c), 36.25 (40), 38.274, 49.471 (1) (cr), 49.471 (4) (a)
98., 49.471 (4g), 51.72, 51.73, 85.0215, 115.28 (66), subchapter III of chapter 153
10[precedes 153.85], 165.932, 250.15 (2) (d), 250.16, 250.20 (7), 250.20 (8), 281.61
11(8) (b) and 292.66 of the statutes; and to affect 2017 Wisconsin Act 59, sections
12202e, 202g, 1646t to 1646y, 1655g to 1655j, 1806f and 9439 (4t); relating to:
13expanding eligibility under the Medical Assistance program; funding
14infrastructure, land acquisition, and building projects; providing assistance

1and local government grants; maintaining an opioid and methamphetamine
2data system; transferring moneys to the budget stabilization fund; creating a
3University of Wisconsin System partnership program and admissions
4application fees; providing an exemption from rule-making procedures; and
5making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Medicaid expansion
BadgerCare Plus and BadgerCare Plus Core are programs under the state's
Medical Assistance program, which provides health services to individuals who have
limited financial resources. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
allows a state to receive an enhanced federal medical assistance percentage payment
for providing benefits to certain individuals through a state's Medical Assistance
program. This bill changes the family income eligibility level to up to 133 percent
of the federal poverty line for parents and caretaker relatives under BadgerCare Plus
and for childless adults currently covered under BadgerCare Plus Core and who are
incorporated into BadgerCare Plus in this bill. The bill requires the Department of
Health Services to comply with all federal requirements and to request any
amendment to the state Medical Assistance plan, waiver of Medicaid law, or other
federal approval necessary to qualify for the highest available enhanced federal
medical assistance percentage for childless adults under the BadgerCare Plus
program.
Under current law, certain parents and caretaker relatives with incomes of not
more than 100 percent of the federal poverty line, before a 5 percent income disregard
is applied, are eligible for BadgerCare Plus benefits. Under current law, childless
adults who 1) are under age 65; 2) have family incomes that do not exceed 100 percent
of the federal poverty line, before the 5 percent income disregard is applied; and 3)
are not otherwise eligible for Medical Assistance, including BadgerCare Plus, are
eligible for benefits under BadgerCare Plus Core. The bill eliminates the childless
adults demonstration project, known as BadgerCare Plus Core, as a separate
program.
Transfer to the budget stabilization fund
This bill transfers $151,565,605 from the general fund to the budget
stabilization fund in fiscal year 2021-22.
Miscellaneous project grants
This bill requires the Department of Administration to award grants to eligible
recipients, as determined by DOA, in the following amounts for the following
projects:
1. $2,000,000 for a visitor center in the city of Green Bay.
2. $2,000,000 for a Hmong cultural center.

3. $5,000,000 for historic renovation and accessible access to the Potawatomi
State Park observation tower in Door County.
4. $5,000,000 for a Food + Farm Exploration Center in Portage County.
5. $30,000,000 for a genomic sequencing wing at the State Laboratory of
Hygiene.
6. $15,000,000 for the Blood Research Institute.
7. $4,000,000 for a western Wisconsin forensic center.
8. $400,000 for new laboratory equipment for the Children's Research
Institute.
9. $220,000 for improvements to the city of Reedsburg community center.
10. $5,000,000 for the relocation of coal piles currently located near the mouth
of the Fox River in Green Bay and for the revitalization of the neighborhood from
which the coal piles are to be relocated.
11. $400,000 to construct a machine shed and shop at the Wisconsin Cranberry
Research Station.
12. $530,000 for a new water supply control system in the city of Waukesha.
13. $50,000,000 for veterans housing statewide.
14. $2,000,000 to assist in completion of the United Community Center's
Ricardo Diaz Early Learning Academy in the city of Milwaukee.
Grant for psychiatric bed capacity expansion in Eau Claire and Chippewa
Counties
This bill requires DHS to award a grant to a hospital in Eau Claire County, as
specified in the bill, in the amount of $15,000,000 for the purpose of expanding
capacity by 22 psychiatric beds between the hospital in Eau Claire County and a
hospital in Chippewa County.
Emergency detention is a current law procedure for temporary involuntary
commitment of individuals who are believed to be mentally ill, drug dependent, or
developmentally disabled and who demonstrate a substantial probability of causing
harm to themselves or others or an inability to satisfy certain basic needs due to a
mental illness. The hospital that is awarded the grant under the bill must do all of
the following: 1) give preference in admissions for the beds added under the bill to
individuals who meet the criteria for emergency detention and who are from one of
the counties specified in the bill; 2) identify measures it believes will serve the needs
of residents with mental health needs, especially in reducing the burden on the
Winnebago Mental Health Institute; and 3) report annually to the legislature on the
services provided with grant moneys. The grant recipient is liable to repay the grant
to the state if it fails to maintain continued expanded services and expanded
numbers of psychiatric beds. The bill specifies that the determination of whether the
hospital is meeting its requirement to provide expanded services must be based on
findings that at least half of the expanded psychiatric beds are available for
individuals admitted for emergency detention and that the hospital enters
agreements containing terms specified in the bill with at least two-thirds of the
specified counties.

Purchase of the Verso Paper Mill in Wisconsin Rapids
This bill authorizes the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to
award a loan of up to $50,000,000 to the Consolidated Cooperative for the purchase
of the Verso Paper Mill in the city of Wisconsin Rapids. The loan is to be for the term
and upon the conditions as may be agreed upon between WEDC and the cooperative.
Additionally, WEDC may not award the loan unless it determines that substantial
additional funding for the purchase of the paper mill has been secured from both
nonstate revenue sources and in the form of a loan issued by the Board of
Commissioners of Public Lands to an entity eligible for the loan.
Purchase of the Park Falls Pulp and Paper Mill in Park Falls
This bill authorizes the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to
award a loan of up to $15,000,000 to the Park Falls Mill Multi-Stakeholder
Cooperative for the purchase of the Park Falls Pulp and Paper Mill in the city of Park
Falls. The loan is to be for the term and upon the conditions as may be agreed upon
between WEDC and the cooperative. Additionally, WEDC may not award the loan
unless it determines that substantial additional funding for the purchase of the pulp
and paper mill has been secured from both nonstate revenue sources and in the form
of a loan issued by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands to an entity eligible
for the loan.
River North housing development grant
This bill requires that WEDC provide a grant of $500,000 to the River North
housing development project in the city of Manitowoc.
Opioid and methamphetamine data system
This bill requires DOA to issue a request for proposals, subject to approval by
the Joint Committee on Finance under its passive review process, to establish and
maintain an opioid and methamphetamine data system to collect, format, analyze,
and disseminate information on opioid and methamphetamine use as specified in the
bill. DOA must collaborate with and collect data from DHS, the Department of
Corrections, the Department of Justice, the Department of Safety and Professional
Services, and the Department of Children and Families and any other applicable
agencies for the opioid and methamphetamine data system. Under the bill, DOA
administers the contract with a vendor to operate the opioid and methamphetamine
data system, has access to the data contained in the opioid and methamphetamine
data system, and works with the vendor to disseminate information and advanced
analytics from the opioid and methamphetamine data system in as close to real time
as possible. The opioid and methamphetamine data system must allow the state
agencies that submit data to the opioid and methamphetamine data system access
to the data in the opioid and methamphetamine data system as appropriate for the
agency to fulfill its functions and as allowed by state and federal confidentiality laws.
The bill requires DOA to submit a report to JCF summarizing the information from
the opioid and methamphetamine data system and analyzing trends in that
information across years of data collection.

Private on-site wastewater treatment systems grant program and study
2017 Wisconsin Act 59 repealed, effective June 30, 2021, a program DSPS
administers to provide grants to persons or businesses that are served by failing
private on-site wastewater treatment systems (POWTS), which are commonly
known as septic tanks. The bill eliminates the repeal of this program.
The bill also requires DSPS to fund a study that analyzes and makes
recommendations on practices that mitigate the risk of contaminating ground and
surface waters with septage. The Department of Soil and Waste Resources of the
College of Natural Resources of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point must
conduct the study and submit a report to the legislature by December 31, 2022.
PFAS municipal grant program
The bill creates a municipal grant program, administered by the Department
of Natural Resources, to address perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS), and provides $10,000,000 in general purpose revenue for this purpose.
Under the program, DNR must provide grants to cities, towns, villages, counties,
utility districts, lake protection districts, sewerage districts, and municipal airports.
DNR may award a grant only if the applicant tested or trained with a
PFAS-containing fire fighting foam in accordance with applicable state and federal
law, or if a third party tested or trained with PFAS-containing fire fighting foam
within the boundaries of the municipality; the applicant applied biosolids to land
under a water pollution permit issued by DNR; or PFAS are impacting the applicant's
drinking water supply or surface water or groundwater within the municipality and
the responsible party is unknown or is unwilling or unable to take the necessary
response actions.
Under the bill, grants provided under this program may be used to investigate
potential PFAS impacts in order to reduce or eliminate environmental
contamination; treat or dispose of PFAS-containing fire fighting foam containers;
sample a private water supply within three miles of a site or facility known to contain
PFAS or to have caused a PFAS discharge; provide a temporary emergency water
supply, a water treatment system, or bulk water to replace water contaminated with
PFAS; conduct emergency, interim, or remedial actions to mitigate, treat, dispose of,
or remove PFAS contamination; or remove or treat PFAS in public water systems in
areas where PFAS levels exceed the maximum contaminant level for PFAS in
drinking water or an enforcement standard for PFAS groundwater or in areas where
the state has issued a health advisory for PFAS.
An applicant that receives a grant under this program must contribute
matching funds equal to at least 20 percent of the amount of the grant. The applicant
must apply for a grant on a form prescribed by DNR and must include any
information that DNR finds is necessary to determine the eligibility of the project,
identify the funding requested, determine the priority of the project, and calculate
the amount of a grant. In awarding grants under this program, DNR must consider
the applicant's demonstrated commitment to performing and completing eligible
activities, including the applicant's financial commitment and ability to successfully
administer grants; the degree to which the project will have a positive impact on

public health and the environment; and any other criteria that DNR finds necessary
to prioritize the funds available for awarding grants.
DNR grants for land acquisition and redevelopment
This bill appropriates $5,394,395 from the general fund for DNR to finance
various land acquisition and redevelopment projects by DNR and certain local
governments and nonprofit conservation organizations for conservation and
recreational purposes.
Local supplement grant program
This bill creates a local supplement grant program under which the
Department of Transportation provides discretionary grants to political subdivisions
for projects related to bridge construction or reconstruction or local road
improvement or to local governments for projects related to transportation
alternatives, including construction of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and
environmental mitigation of highway construction. The bill also appropriates
$100,000,000 for grants under the program.
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