2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE

2021 Assembly BILL 777

December 9, 2021 - Introduced by Representatives Cabral-Guevara, Armstrong, Brandtjen, Edming, Moses, Murphy and Wichgers, cosponsored by Senator Jacque. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

AB777,1,6 An Act to repeal 165.986 (6); to renumber and amend 165.986 (1), 165.986 (2) and 165.986 (4); to amend 20.455 (2) (bm), 20.455 (2) (kb), 165.986 (title), 165.986 (3) and 165.986 (5); and to create 16.20, 165.986 (1c), 165.986 (2) (a) and (c) and 165.986 (4m) of the statutes; relating to: grants to political subdivisions for additional policing and strategic planning to combat crime and grants for beat patrol and specialized officers.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Grants for additional policing

This bill authorizes the Department of Administration to award one or more grants to a city, village, town, or county for costs associated with additional policing to address automobile theft and carjacking. DOA must give priority to cities, villages, towns, or counties having a higher incidence of automobile theft or carjacking. Grants may be used to cover up to four years of additional policing costs but may not be used to supplant funding that is available from other sources.

The bill requires the governor to allocate at least $5,000,000 of the moneys received under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the additional policing grant program. Before DOA may award grants using the allocated money, DOA must submit a plan for the program to the Joint Committee on Finance for approval. The plan must ensure that the grants will be distributed throughout all geographic areas of Wisconsin and in both urban and rural communities.

The bill also includes a requirement that grant recipients submit reports to DOA describing in detail how grant moneys were expended and the results of the expenditures, including any impact on the number of persons arrested and charged for automobile theft or carjacking.

Grants for strategic planning

The bill further authorizes DOA to award one or more grants to a city, village, town, or county for costs associated with strategic planning to combat crime. Grants may be used to cover up to two years of strategic planning costs but may not be used to supplant funding that is available from other sources.

The bill requires the governor to allocate at least $5,000,000 of the moneys received under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the strategic planning grant program. Before DOA may award grants using the allocated money, DOA must submit a plan for the grant program to the Joint Committee on Finance for approval. The plan must ensure that the grants will be distributed throughout all geographic areas of Wisconsin and in both urban and rural communities.

The bill also includes a requirement that grant recipients submit a report to DOA describing in detail how grant moneys were expended and the results of such expenditures.

Grants for uniformed beat patrol and public safety goals

Under current law, the Department of Justice awards grants to cities to pay for uniformed beat patrol law enforcement officers. The bill expands the grant program to allow villages, town, and counties, in addition to cities, to apply for such grants and to allow grant recipients to use grant funds to pay for law enforcement officers whose primary duties relate to achieving a law enforcement or public safety goal. The bill also eliminates the current-law cap of $150,000 per grant and eliminates the requirement that DOJ award the grant to the applicants with the highest rates of violent crime. The bill eliminates the current law that allows for grants to be awarded for three consecutive years and instead requires annual applications. Also, under the bill, a grant recipient that applies for an additional grant must provide a statement to DOJ regarding its progress in achieving the goals for which the previous grant was awarded.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB777,1 Section 1 . 16.20 of the statutes is created to read:

AB777,3,3 16.20 Grants for additional policing and strategic planning. (1) Definition. In this section, “political subdivision” means a city, village, town, or county.

AB777,3,9 (2) Additional policing. (a) From the moneys allocated under 2021 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 14 (1) (a ), the department shall award one or more grants to a political subdivision for costs associated with additional policing to address automobile theft and carjacking within the political subdivision. In awarding the grants, the department shall give priority to the political subdivisions having a higher incidence of automobile theft or carjacking.

AB777,3,11 (b) No political subdivision may have more than a total of 4 years of additional policing costs funded by grants under par. (a).

AB777,3,13 (c) The department shall ensure that no grant awarded under par. (a) is used to supplant funding available to the political subdivision from other sources.