Commerce and economic development
Commerce
Minimum markup for motor vehicle fuel
Under current law, the Unfair Sales Act a) prohibits below-cost sales of any
merchandise if the sale is intended to induce the purchase of other merchandise or
divert trade unfairly from a competitor; and b) requires a “minimum markup” (a
specified amount over the cost of the merchandise to the seller) to be added to sales
of motor vehicle fuel, tobacco products, fermented malt beverages, liquor, or wine.
The required minimum markup for motor vehicle fuel is 3, 6, or 9.18 percent of the
cost of the fuel to the seller, depending on whether the fuel is sold by a retailer or a
wholesaler and whether the fuel is sold from a retail station. This bill exempts sales
of motor vehicle fuel from the minimum markup requirement under the Unfair Sales
Act.
Economic development
Cap on enterprise zones
This bill provides that WEDC may designate up to 35 enterprise zones under
the enterprise zone tax credit program. The bill also repeals the requirement that
WEDC receive approval from JCF prior to designating an enterprise zone. Under
current law, WEDC may designate an unlimited number of enterprise zones, with
each designation subject to approval by JCF under passive review.
2. WEDC grants to regional economic development organizations
This bill requires that WEDC annually award at least $1,000,000 in grants to
regional economic development organizations to be spent on economic development
activities, including marketing activities. Under current law, WEDC is required to
provide grants to these organizations, but there is no minimum level of grants that
must be awarded and the grants may be used only to fund marketing activities.
3. Energy efficiency and use of renewable resources in certain building
projects
Subject to certain limitations, current law authorizes WEDC to award tax
credits to a person making an investment in a building project in this state. The
award may equal up to 5 percent of the investment. Under this bill, WEDC may
award additional tax credits to such a person if the project satisfies certain
requirements under current law and the investment is made for purposes of energy
efficiency or the generation of energy from renewable resources.
4. WEDC board membership
Under the law prior to
2017 Wisconsin Act 369, the board of directors of WEDC
consisted of 12 voting members as follows:
a. Six members appointed by the governor, subject to senate confirmation, to
serve at the pleasure of the governor.
b. Three members appointed by the speaker of the assembly, consisting of one
majority and one minority party representative to the assembly and one person
employed in the private sector, all of whom serve at the speaker's pleasure.
c. Three members appointed by the senate majority leader, consisting of one
majority and one minority party senator and one person employed in the private
sector, all of whom serve at the majority leader's pleasure.
Act 369 provides for two compositions of the WEDC board, one to be in effect
until September 1, 2019, and the second to be in effect after that date. After
September 1, 2019, the act provides for a 16-voting member board, consisting of six
members nominated by the governor; four members appointed by the assembly
speaker; four members appointed by the senate majority leader; one member
appointed by the assembly minority leader; and one member appointed by the senate
minority leader. All of the members appointed by legislators serve four-year terms.
Before September 1, 2019, the act authorizes the assembly speaker and the
senate majority leader to each appoint one additional board member, resulting in a
board with 18 voting members until that date.
This bill restores prior law with respect to the membership of the WEDC board.
5. WEDC CEO
Under the law prior to
2017 Wisconsin Act 369, the chief executive officer of
WEDC was nominated by the governor, and with the advice and consent of the senate
appointed, to serve at the pleasure of the governor. Under Act 369, the chief
executive officer of WEDC is appointed by the board of directors of WEDC until
September 1, 2019, at which point the governor again nominates the chief executive
officer. This bill repeals that provision in Act 369.
6. WEDC contracting requirements
This bill creates certain requirements for contracts between WEDC and
recipients of grants, loans, or tax credits awarded by WEDC. Under the bill, WEDC
may not enter into a contract for a grant, loan, or tax credit before all of the following
occur:
a. WEDC verifies the applicant's number of full-time employees through
payroll or other business records.
b. WEDC's underwriting staff completes a review of the application for the
grant, loan, or tax credit, including an evaluation of all statutory requirements and
all requirements under WEDC's policies and procedures that apply to the grant,
loan, or tax credit.
The bill also requires that all terms of each contract WEDC executes must, at
the time the contract is executed, be in compliance with all applicable state laws and
all applicable WEDC policies and procedures.
Finally, the bill specifies that each contract WEDC executes must require the
award recipient to submit payroll records, or other business records WEDC deems
sufficient, to WEDC for the purpose of accounting for jobs created or retained.
7. Disclosure of WEDC contracts; material changes to contracts or projects
Under this bill, any WEDC contract under which a taxpayer may be eligible to
claim total tax benefits in excess of $5,000,000 must require the taxpayer to notify
WEDC of any material change to the project and the effect of the material change on
the contract's performance goals or requirements. The bill requires WEDC to notify
JCF of these material changes and any other material change to such a contract that
is due to an amendment to the contract. The bill also requires that WEDC's Internet
site contain a searchable database of all final contracts, including amendments, that
provide a grant, loan, or tax credit.
8. Reports to WEDC concerning job elimination or relocation
This bill requires that a recipient of a grant, loan, or tax credit from WEDC
report certain job losses or job relocations outside Wisconsin to WEDC within seven
business days after the jobs are eliminated or relocated. If the recipient shows that
extenuating circumstances prevent meeting the seven-day requirement, the
recipient may submit the report within 30 days. The bill further requires that no
grant, loan, or tax credit from WEDC may be used to relocate jobs outside Wisconsin
or to reduce net employment in Wisconsin.
9. WEDC reporting on job creation and retention
This bill requires that WEDC, when reporting on jobs created or retained in the
state as a result of an economic development program administered by WEDC,
include only those jobs that meet the criteria for receiving a grant, loan award, or tax
credit under the program.
10. Repayment of tax credits
Under this bill, no later than seven days after WEDC receives a repayment of
tax credits, WEDC must remit the full amount of the payment to the secretary of
administration for deposit in the general fund.
11. Information sharing between WEDC and DOR
This bill allows WEDC and DOR to enter into an agreement under which
WEDC may obtain copies of tax returns and related documents from DOR. The bill
requires that WEDC keep the records confidential. The bill also authorizes WEDC
to examine tax returns and related documents held by DOR to the extent necessary
to administer WEDC's economic development programs. Under current law,
WEDC's examination authority is limited to the development zone tax credit
program.
12. Modifications to WEDC reporting requirements
This bill modifies WEDC's reporting requirements to the legislature and DOR.
First, the bill alters the requirement that WEDC, prior to the beginning of each
calendar year, report to the legislature on the economic development projects it
intends to develop and implement during the year. Under the bill, the reporting
period is the fiscal year not the calendar year. Second, the bill repeals the
requirement that WEDC report to the legislature on the economic development tax
credit program. This program ended in 2015, and taxable year 2019 is the final year
for which taxpayers may claim the credit under contracts with WEDC. Third, the
bill modifies the requirement that WEDC's quarterly reports to DOR include the
amount of tax credits claimed by a person whose certification to claim credits has
been revoked. Under the bill, WEDC must report the amount of tax credits that
WEDC determined the person was eligible to claim, rather than the amount of
credits already claimed.
13. Economic development liaison project position
Under current law, WEDC has the authority to appoint and supervise an
economic development liaison project position in DOA. DOA had that authority
when the position was first created. This bill returns that authority to DOA.
14. WEDC appropriation adjustments
This bill adjusts the calculation used to determine the amount of WEDC's
general purpose revenue appropriation. The bill does not raise the cap on that
appropriation, which is $16,512,500 per fiscal year.
Tourism
Art in state buildings program
This bill establishes a program administered by the Arts Board for the
acquisition and display of works of art in and on the grounds of state buildings open
to the general public. Under the bill, for building projects costing at least $250,000,
at least two-tenths of 1 percent of the appropriation for the construction,
reconstruction, remodeling of, or addition to a state building must be used to acquire
one or more works of art to be incorporated into the building or displayed in or on the
grounds of the building. The Arts Board must appoint an advisory committee for
each building project and, after reviewing the committee's recommendations, must
select one or more works of art for the project. The bill contains specific contract
requirements for the Arts Board's acquisition of works of art, including vesting
ownership of the works of art in the state but reserving certain rights to the artists.
Under the bill, the Arts Board is required to ensure that selected works of art
represent a wide variety of art forms and artists, except that preference must be
given to Wisconsin artists, and that each work of art is maintained and displayed for
at least 25 years, unless earlier removal is in the public interest.
Housing
Housing quality standards grants
This bill requires DOA to award grants to owners of rental housing units in
Wisconsin for purposes of satisfying applicable housing quality standards.
2. Increased bonding authorization
This bill increases from $600,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 WHEDA's bonding
limit for most of its programs, including housing programs for individuals and
families of low or moderate income.
correctional system
Age of juvenile court jurisdiction
Under current law, a person 17 years of age or older who is alleged to have
violated a criminal law is subject to the procedures specified in the Criminal
Procedure Code and, on conviction, is subject to sentencing under the Criminal Code,
which may include a sentence of imprisonment in the Wisconsin state prisons.
Currently, subject to certain exceptions, a person under 17 years of age who is alleged
to have violated a criminal law is subject to the procedures specified in the Juvenile
Justice Code and, on being adjudicated delinquent, is subject to an array of
dispositions under that code including placement in a juvenile correctional facility.
This bill raises from 17 to 18 the age at which a person who is alleged to have violated
a criminal law is subject to the procedures specified in the Criminal Procedure Code
and, on conviction, to sentencing under the Criminal Code.
Similarly, under current law, a person 17 years of age or older who is alleged to
have violated a civil law or municipal ordinance is subject to the jurisdiction and
procedures of the circuit court or, if applicable, the municipal court, while a person
under 17 years of age who is alleged to have violated a civil law or municipal
ordinance, subject to certain exceptions, is subject to the jurisdiction and procedures
of the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Juvenile Justice Code. This
bill raises from 17 to 18 the age at which a person who is alleged to have violated a
civil law or municipal ordinance is subject to the jurisdiction and procedures of the
circuit court or, if applicable, the municipal court.
2. Closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools
This bill makes certain changes to the grant program for the design and
construction of new secured residential care centers for children and youth
(SRCCCYs) under
2017 Wisconsin Act 185. Act 185 created a grant program for
counties to construct new SRCCCYs for the purpose of holding in secure custody
juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent and given a correctional placement under
the Juvenile Justice Code. Act 185 formed a juvenile corrections grant committee for
the purpose of awarding the grants, including three members appointed from each
house of the legislature. This bill requires that one member appointed from each
house is appointed by the appropriate minority party leader. Under Act 185, grant
applications are due by March 31, 2019, and plan recommendations must be
submitted by the grant committee to JCF by July 1, 2019. This bill extends the grant
program deadlines by three months, so that applications are due by June 30, 2019,
and plan recommendations are due to JCF by October 1, 2019.
Act 185 also required the current juvenile correctional facility owned and
operated by DOC (Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools) to be closed no later than
January 1, 2021, or when all of the juveniles that are held there are transferred to
the new county-run SRCCCYs or a new state-run juvenile correctional facility, also
funded by and required under Act 185. This bill removes the deadline for closing
Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools and for constructing the new SRCCCYs and
new state-run juvenile correctional facility.
3. Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center
Under Act 185, a juvenile under the supervision of a county at an SRCCCY may
be transferred to the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center (MJTC), which is a Type
1 juvenile correctional facility (Type 1 facility) operated by DHS, on the
recommendation of DHS and after a court hearing. Under this bill, a court may place
such a juvenile at MJTC only if DHS approves. In addition, only the Mendota Mental
Health Institute director or his or her designee may make decisions regarding the
admission of juveniles to and the treatment of juveniles at MJTC and the release and
return of juveniles to the appropriate state or county facility.
Under current law, a county pays DOC a daily rate for each juvenile from that
county placed at a Type 1 facility under DOC supervision. DOC may transfer
juveniles from a Type 1 facility to MJTC, and DOC is required to transfer an amount
specified by statute each fiscal year to DHS for services DHS provides for those
juveniles. Under Act 185, if a juvenile is transferred from an SRCCCY to MJTC, the
juvenile is under DOC supervision just as if the juvenile were at a DOC-operated
Type 1 facility, and the county pays DOC a daily rate for that juvenile. Similarly,
DOC reimburses DHS for the juvenile's care at MJTC the same way it pays for other
juveniles under its supervision at MJTC. Under this bill, such a juvenile remains
under the supervision of the county, and DHS may directly charge the county a rate
that DHS sets for care provided to such juveniles at MJTC.
Act 185 requires DHS to construct an expansion of MJTC to accommodate no
fewer than 29 additional juveniles, subject to the approval of JCF. This bill
eliminates the requirement that DHS obtain approval of JCF before constructing the
expansion.
4. Costs for the placement of juveniles in a Type 1 facility
This bill updates the daily rate paid by counties to DOC for services provided
to juveniles in a Type 1 facility, and increases the amount transferred from DOC to
DHS for the operation of MJTC. Under the bill, the daily rate for care in a Type 1
facility is $501 for fiscal year 2019-20, $513 for the first half of fiscal year 2020-21,
and $588 for the second half of fiscal year 2020-21. Under the bill, DOC is required
to transfer $3,224,100 to DHS for the operation of MJTC in fiscal year 2019-20, and
$5,878,100 in fiscal year 2020-21.
5. Community youth and family aids
Under current law relating to community youth and family aids, generally
referred to as “youth aids," DCF is required to allocate to counties various state and
federal moneys to pay for state-provided juvenile correctional services and local
delinquency-related and juvenile justice services. This bill sets the amounts of
youth aids that DCF must allocate to counties in the 2019-21 fiscal biennium.
The bill appropriates to DCF a sum sufficient for youth aids-related purposes
but only to reimburse counties, beginning on January 1, 2021, for costs associated
with juveniles who were alleged to have violated a state or federal criminal law or
any civil law or municipal ordinance at age 17. The bill also provides funding and
requires DCF to reimburse counties for one-time start-up costs incurred for youth
aids-related purposes in establishing, alone or jointly with one or more counties, a
secured residential care center for children and youth. The bill requires DCF to
consult with county representatives to determine those expenses that are eligible for
reimbursement and to evaluate modifications to the youth aids formula.
6. Eliminating report on reduced sentences
Current law requires DOC to submit a report to the legislature, upon request,
regarding individuals who, since the previous report or during a date range specified
in the request, were pardoned or released from imprisonment before completing
their sentences. The report must identify each individual by name, include the crime
for which he or she was convicted, and provide the name of the person who pardoned
the individual or authorized the early release. This bill eliminates this report.
Courts and procedure
Public defender
Public defender private attorney rate increase
This bill changes the rate at which the public defender must pay a private local
attorney to whom a case is assigned from $40 per hour for time spent related to a case,
excluding travel, to $70 per hour for time spent related to a case, excluding travel,
with certain exceptions. Under the bill, the rate must be adjusted biennially by a
percentage that correlates with the federal Department of Labor's consumer price
index.
Domestic relations
Elimination of birth cost recovery
This bill eliminates the requirement that a court include in a judgment or order
relating to paternity an order for a father to pay for a portion of pregnancy and birth
expenses. Under current law, a court is required to include in a paternity order an
order for the father to repay a portion of pregnancy and birth expenses, taking into
account the father's income and ability to pay. This bill eliminates orders relating
to pregnancy and birth expenses. The bill also expressly prohibits the state from
seeking recovery of birth expenses. Under current law, if the mother of a child was
enrolled in a health maintenance organization or other prepaid health care plan
under the Medical Assistance program at the time of the child's birth, the state could
seek to recover from the father the birth expenses incurred by the health
maintenance organization or other prepaid health care plan.
2. Child support custodial parent fee
This bill changes the annual fee collected from every individual receiving child
support or family support payments from $25 to $35 in order to conform to applicable
federal law, specifically changes enacted in the federal Bipartisan Budget Act of
2018.
General courts and procedure
Qui tam actions for false claims
This bill restores a private individual's authority to bring a qui tam claim
against a person who makes a false or fraudulent claim for medical assistance, which
was eliminated in
2015 Wisconsin Act 55, and further expands qui tam actions to
include any false or fraudulent claims to a state agency. A qui tam claim is a claim
initiated by a private individual on his or her own behalf and on behalf of the state
against a person who makes a false claim relating to medical assistance or other
moneys from a state agency. The bill provides that, of moneys recovered as a result
of a qui tam claim, a private individual may be awarded up to 30 percent of the
amount recovered, depending upon the extent of the individual's contribution to the
prosecution of the action. The individual may also be entitled to reasonable expenses
incurred in bringing the action, as well as attorney fees. The bill also includes
additional changes not included in the prior law to incorporate provisions enacted
in the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and conform state law to the federal False
Claims Act, including expanding provisions to facilitate qui tam actions and
modifying the bases for liability to parallel the liability provisions under the federal
False Claims Act. In addition to qui tam claims, DOJ has independent authority to
bring a claim against a person for making a false claim for medical assistance. The
bill modifies provisions relating to DOJ's authority to parallel the liability and
penalty standards relating to qui tam claims and to parallel the forfeiture amounts
provided under the federal False Claims Act.
crimes
Decriminalizing 25 grams or less of marijuana
Current law prohibits a person from possessing or attempting to possess;
possessing with the intent to manufacture, distribute, or deliver; and
manufacturing, distributing, or delivering marijuana. The penalties vary based on
the amount of marijuana or plants involved or the number of previous
controlled-substance convictions the person has. Current law also allows local
governments to enact ordinances prohibiting the possession of marijuana.
This bill eliminates a) the penalty for possession of marijuana if the amount of
marijuana involved is no more than 25 grams; b) the penalty for manufacturing or
for possessing with the intent to manufacture, distribute, or deliver if the amount of
marijuana involved is no more than 25 grams or the number of plants involved is no
more than two; and c) the penalty for distributing or delivering marijuana if the
amount of marijuana involved is no more than 25 grams or the number of plants
involved is no more than two. The bill retains the current law penalty for distributing
or delivering any amount of marijuana to a minor who is no more than 17 years of
age by a person who is at least three years older than the minor. The bill limits local
governments to enacting ordinances prohibiting only the possession of more than 25
grams of marijuana.
