SB394: Bill Text

SB394,22,20 (a) Establishes a Wisconsin world geography fund to be managed by the National Geographic Society Education Foundation.

SB394,22,23 (b) Requires the state superintendent to award a grant of $500,000 from the appropriation under s. 20.255 (3) (er) to the fund if the award is matched by a grant from the National Geographic Society.

SB394,22,25 (c) Requires the income and appreciation of the fund to be used to fund grants to educational programs that improve the geographic literacy of pupils and teachers.

SB394,23,4 (d) Requires that, annually, the National Geographic Society Education Foundation submit to the state superintendent a financial statement of the Wisconsin world geography fund account prepared by an independent auditor and a report on the recipients in the state who received a grant from the fund.

SB394,23,8 (e) Requires that if the state ceases to participate in the fund, or the National Geographic Society Education Foundation ceases to offer the fund, the state's contribution to the fund, along with any unexpended income or appreciation of the fund attributable to the state's contribution, be returned to the state.

SB394, s. 33 Section 33 . 115.455 of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,23,16 115.455 Foreign language immersion grants. Beginning in the 1999-2000 school year, the state superintendent shall award from the appropriation under s. 20.255 (2) (dr) at least one grant in each school year, on a competitive basis, to an educational organization, as defined by the state superintendent by rule, or consortium of educational organizations for the development and implementation of a foreign language immersion program in a public or private school in grades kindergarten to 6.

SB394, s. 34 Section 34 . 281.60 (2r) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act 9, is amended to read:

SB394,23,20 281.60 (2r) (a) Making loans for projects described in sub. (2), but not for the purpose of refinancing obligations incurred to conduct site investigations.

SB394, s. 35 Section 35 . 292.11 (14) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,24,4 292.11 (14) Groundwater contaminations; institutional controls. In specifying the criteria for determining whether any further action is required under sub. (3) in a case involving groundwater contamination exceeding enforcement standards or preventive action limits established by the department under s. 160.07, 160.09 or 160.15, the department shall consider institutional controls, including municipal ordinances, that provide adequate notice to the public of groundwater contamination in the area affected by the groundwater contamination to be equivalent to recorded groundwater use restrictions.

SB394, s. 36 Section 36 . 292.15 (2) (at) (intro.) and 6. of the statutes, as created by 1999 Wisconsin Act 9, are amended to read:

SB394,24,14 292.15 (2) (at) Discharges discovered after environmental investigations. (intro.) Except as provided in sub. (6) or (7), a voluntary party is exempt from ss. 289.05 (1), (2), (3) and (4), 289.42 (1), 289.67, 291.25 (1) to (5), 291.29, 291.37, 292.11 (3), (4) and (7) (b) and (c) and 292.31 (8), and rules promulgated under those provisions, with respect to a discharge of a hazardous substance on or originating from a property if the discharge occurred before the environmental investigation under subd. 1. is completed and is discovered after the environmental investigation under subd. 5. is approved and if all of the following apply:

SB394,24,19 6. The voluntary party has not obtained approval of the investigation under subd. 1. or 5. or the agreement under subd. 2. by fraud or misrepresentation, by the knowing failure to disclose material information or under circumstances in which the voluntary party knew or should have known about more discharges of hazardous substances than were revealed by the investigation conducted under subd. 1. or 5.

SB394, s. 37 Section 37 . 292.15 (2) (at) 5. of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,24,23 292.15 (2) (at) 5. After the discharge under subd. 4. is discovered, a 2nd environmental investigation of the property is conducted and is approved by the department.

SB394, s. 38 Section 38 . 292.15 (8) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,25,7 292.15 (8) Groundwater contamination; institutional controls. In determining the criteria for issuing a certificate of completion in a case involving groundwater contamination exceeding enforcement standards or preventive action limits adopted by the department, the department shall consider institutional controls, including municipal ordinances, that provide adequate notice to the public of groundwater contamination in the area affected by the groundwater contamination to be equivalent to recorded groundwater use restrictions.

SB394, s. 39 Section 39 . 292.24 (title), (2) (intro.), (a), (b), (c), (f), (g) and (3) (a) to (c) of the statutes, as created by 1999 Wisconsin Act 9, are amended to read:

SB394,25,11 292.24 (title) Responsibility of local governmental units; hazardous waste or solid waste.

SB394,25,17 (2) Exemption from liability. (intro.) Except as provided in sub. (3), a local governmental unit is exempt from ss. 291.25 (1) to (5), 291.29 and 291.37, and rules promulgated under those provisions, with respect to the existence of a hazardous waste or solid waste discharge on property acquired in a way or for a purpose described in s. 292.11 (9) (e) 1m., if all of the following occur at any time before or after the date of acquisition:

SB394,25,20 (a) An environmental investigation of the property is conducted that is approved by the department and that identifies any hazardous waste or solid waste discharges that occurred on the property.

SB394,25,25 (b) The hazardous waste or solid waste discharges identified by the investigation under par. (a) are cleaned up by restoring the environment to the extent practicable with respect to the discharges and minimizing the harmful effects from the discharges in accordance with rules promulgated by the department and any contract entered into under those rules.

SB394,26,4 (c) The local governmental unit obtains an approval from the department stating that the property has been satisfactorily restored to the extent practicable with respect to the hazardous waste or solid waste discharges and that the harmful effects from the discharges have been minimized.

SB394,26,9 (f) The local governmental unit has not obtained the certification under par. (c) by fraud or misrepresentation, by the knowing failure to disclose material information or under circumstances in which the local governmental unit knew or should have known about more discharges of hazardous waste or solid waste than were revealed by the investigation conducted under par. (a).

SB394,26,11 (g) The local governmental unit did not cause the discharge of any hazardous waste or solid waste identified on the property.

SB394,26,14 (3) (a) A hazardous waste or solid waste treatment, storage or disposal facility that first begins operation after the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property.

SB394,26,18 (b) A licensed hazardous waste or solid waste treatment, storage or disposal facility operated on the property before the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property and that is operated after the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property.

SB394,26,21 (c) Any hazardous waste or solid waste disposal facility that has been issued a license under s. 144.441 (2), 1995 stats., or s. 289.41 (1m), or rules promulgated under those sections, for a period of long-term care following closure of the facility.

SB394, s. 40 Section 40 . 292.26 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB394,27,4 292.26 (2) (intro.) Except as provided in sub. (3), a local governmental unit is immune from civil liability related to the discharge of a hazardous substance on or from property owned or controlled by the local unit of government at the time that the discharge is discovered or on or from property formerly owned or controlled by the local governmental unit if the property that is no longer owned by the local governmental unit at the time that the discharge is discovered and if any of the following applies:

SB394, s. 41 Section 41 . 292.31 (11) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,27,12 292.31 (11) Consideration of institutional controls. In specifying the criteria for determining whether any further action is necessary under sub. (3) in a case involving groundwater contamination exceeding enforcement standards or preventive action limits adopted by the department, the department shall consider institutional controls, including municipal ordinances, that provide adequate notice to the public of groundwater contamination in the area affected by the groundwater contamination to be equivalent to recorded groundwater use restrictions.

SB394, s. 42 Section 42 . 560.14 (4m) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB394,27,18 560.14 (4m) (a) (intro.) Subject to par. (b), the department may make a grant under this subsection from the appropriation under s. 20.143 (1) (fg) to a community-based organization or private nonprofit organization for a local, statewide or multistate venture capital development conference if all of the following apply:

SB394, s. 43 Section 43 . 560.14 (4m) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,27,22 560.14 (4m) (c) The department shall encourage the organizing of venture capital development conferences in the upper midwest region of the United States that satisfy the requirements under par. (a) 1. and 2.

SB394, s. 44 Section 44 . 560.27 of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,28,5 560.27 Productivity enhancement training expense certification. (1) Definition. In this section, "productivity enhancement training expenses" means expenses incurred by a business in providing training designed to increase the productivity of the business's employes and to promote or create jobs that require high degrees of skill to perform and that pay high wages. "Productivity enhancement training expenses" includes up to $2,000 in expenses incurred for needs assessment and consultation under sub. (4) (b).

SB394,28,10 (2) Program. The department shall develop, implement and administer a productivity enhancement training expense certification program to assist businesses in providing training to their employes that is designed to improve the employes' productivity and to promote, and provide workers for, jobs within the businesses that require high degrees of skill to perform and that pay high wages.

SB394,28,13 (3) Certification. The department shall certify as eligible for the tax credit under s. 71.07 (5r), 71.28 (5r) or 71.47 (5r) any business that meets the eligibility requirements under sub. (4).

SB394,28,15 (4) Eligibility. A business is eligible to have its productivity enhancement training expenses certified if all of the following apply:

SB394,28,17 (a) The business submits to the department a productivity enhancement training plan that the department finds does all of the following:

SB394,28,20 1. Provides for training of the business's employes that will increase the employes' productivity to achieve specific goals established as a result of the assessment and consultation under par. (b).

SB394,28,24 2. Provides for training of the business's employes that will result in the employes holding jobs within the business that require higher degrees of skill and that pay higher wages than their current jobs, as determined by the assessment and consultation under par. (b).

SB394,29,4 (b) Prior to providing any productivity enhancement training, the business receives needs assessment and consultation from an entity that is experienced in providing productivity assessment or business planning and that is approved by the department.

SB394,29,7 (c) Through the needs assessment and consultation under par. (b), the business and the entity agree on a training plan that is appropriate for the purposes specified under par. (a).

SB394,29,10 (d) The business submits to the department an accounting of the productivity enhancement training expenses incurred by the business under the plan under par. (a) and the department determines that the expenses were incurred under the plan.

SB394,29,16 (5) Reporting. (a) Each business certified under this section that claims the tax credit under s. 71.07 (5r), 71.28 (5r) or 71.47 (5r) shall report to the department, no later March 1 of the year after it received the certification, on the results of its productivity enhancement training and on its success in meeting the goals established in its productivity enhancement training plan. The report shall be on a form prescribed by the department.

SB394,29,18 (b) Annually, the department shall estimate the amount of foregone state revenue because of the tax credits claimed by persons certified under this section.

SB394,29,22 (c) Annually, by December 1, the department shall report to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) on the effectiveness of the productivity enhancement training certification program and the tax credits under ss. 71.07 (5r), 71.28 (5r) and 71.47 (5r) in meeting the purposes of the program as specified in sub. (2).

SB394,30,2 (6) Application. The department shall, by rule, develop application procedures for productivity enhancement training certification. The application for certification shall show that the applicant satisfies the requirements under sub. (4) and commits to reporting under sub. (5) (a).

SB394,30,4 (7) Notification. The department shall notify the department of revenue of all persons entitled to claim tax credits under ss. 71.07 (5r), 71.28 (5r) and 71.47 (5r).

SB394,30,6 (8) Transferability. The tax credits for which a person is certified as eligible under this section are not transferable to another person or business.

SB394,30,8 (9) Sunset. No business may be certified under this section after December 31, 2008, or for tax credits for any tax year beginning after December 31, 2008.

SB394, s. 45 Section 45 . 560.31 (2) (g) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,30,12 560.31 (2) (g) The person has an office in this state with at least one full-time professional employe actively engaged in the investment of cash in qualified businesses in Wisconsin.

SB394, s. 46 Section 46. 560.33 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB394,30,18 560.33 (1) (c) During its 2 most recent fiscal years, the business had, together with all of its consolidated affiliates, an average annual net income, after federal income taxes and excluding any carry-over losses, of not more than $2,000,000 $1,000,000, as determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

SB394, s. 47 Section 47 . 560.34 (1c) of the statutes is created to read:

SB394,30,22 560.34 (1c) Investments that are not qualified. Notwithstanding sub. (1), an investment is not a qualified investment if the investment is used in whole or in part by the qualified business to do any of the following:

SB394,30,24 (a) Retire outstanding long-term debt or obligations to the affiliates of the qualified business.

SB394,30,25 (b) Purchase outstanding equity of the qualified business.

SB394,31,2 (c) Purchase stock or other interests in a person other than the qualified business.

SB394,31,5 (d) Purchase, lease or license substantially all of the assets that are currently used by an existing business to produce net income after taxes to the holders of the assets.

SB394, s. 48 Section 48. 560.34 (2) (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB394,31,7 560.34 (2) (title) Nonqualified Other certified capital company investments.

SB394, s. 49 Section 49 . Appropriation changes.

SB394,31,17 (1) Advanced journeyworker credential pilot program. In the schedule under section 20.005 (3) of the statutes for the appropriation to the department of workforce development under section 20.445 (1) (a) of the statutes, as affected by the acts of 1999, the dollar amount is increased by $160,000 for fiscal year 1999-00 and the dollar amount is increased by $120,000 for fiscal year 2000-01 to increase the authorized FTE positions for the department by 1.0 GPR position for the implementation and program development of the advanced journey worker credential pilot program under section 106.01 (11) of the statutes, as created by this act.

SB394,31,18 (2) Job retention skills development programs.

SB394,31,23 (a) There is transferred from the appropriation to the department of workforce development under section 20.445 (3) (md) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Acts 9 and this act, to the appropriation to the technical system college board under section 20.292 (1) (kd) of the statutes, as created by this act, $200,000 in fiscal year 1999-00.

SB394,32,3 (b) In the schedule under section 20.005 (3) of the statutes for the appropriation to the department of workforce development under section 20.445 (3) (md) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act 9 and this act, the dollar amount for fiscal year 1999-00 is decreased by $200,000 to reflect the transfer of moneys under paragraph (a).

SB394, s. 50 Section 50 . Initial applicability.

SB394,32,9 (1) Environmental remediation tax incremental financing. The treatment of section 66.462 (1) (c) and (2) of the statutes first applies to an environmental remediation tax incremental financing district, the written remediation proposal for which is approved by the political subdivision's governing body on the effective date of this subsection.

SB394,32,12 (2) Productivity enhancement training tax credit. The treatment of sections 71.07 (5r), 71.28 (5r), 71.47 (5r) and 560.27 of the statutes first applies to taxable years beginning on January 1, 2000.

SB394,32,15 (3) Transfer of environmental remediation tax credits. The treatment of section 71.28 (1dx) (b) 1. and 1m. and (f) of the statutes first applies to taxable years beginning on January 1, 2000.

SB394, s. 51 Section 51 . Effective dates. This act takes effect on the day after publication, except as follows:

SB394,32,20 (1) Certified capital companies and venture capital development conferences. The treatment of sections 560.14 (4m) (a) (intro.) and (c), 560.31 (2) (g), 560.33 (1) (c) and 560.34 (1c) of the statutes takes effect on July 1, 2000.

SB394,32,21 (End)