The bill repeals a provision concerning review and approval of certain matters
regarding assistance to dislocated workers that was administered as part of the WIA,
but that no longer exists. In addition, the bill updates references to the United States
Code sections regarding WIOA.
Community action agencies
Under current law, DCF must distribute grants to community action agencies
to provide skills enhancement services, including access to transportation, child
care, career counseling, job placement assistance, and financial support for
education and training. The bill provides an additional $1,000,000 in each fiscal year
of the 2023-25 fiscal biennium for that purpose.
The bill also provides a match from state funding to the federal community
services block grant, which funds the work of community action agencies. Under
current law, a community action agency is an entity that provides services such as
employment or housing assistance, financial planning, or educational services to
low-income individuals and that works to combat poverty in the community that it
serves. The bill increases the income cap for receiving services from a community
action agency from 125 percent of the federal poverty line to 200 percent of the federal
poverty line.
The bill also requires the Department of Health Services to establish a grant
program to provide grants to community action agencies to enable them to respond
to the needs of communities and low-income families and individuals in crisis
resulting from opioid addiction-related issues. Through the program, DHS is
required to endeavor to expand and support effective community efforts to identify
and respond to causes and consequences of opioid misuse and addiction experienced
by low-income individuals, families, and communities. Under the bill, DHS must
award grants of at least $25,000 and up to $250,000 per year. The bill sets out criteria
DHS must use in awarding grants as well as characteristics of applications to which
DHS must give preference. Grants under the bill may not be more than three years
in duration unless approved by the secretary of health services.
Lead exposure and abatement
1. Early intervention services for children with lead in their blood
Under current law, DHS implements a statewide program, referred to as the
Birth to 3 Program, that provides early intervention services for children aged three
and under who are developmentally delayed or are diagnosed as having a condition
that is likely to result in significantly delayed development. The bill ensures that
children with a concentration of lead in their blood of at least 3.5 micrograms per 100
milliliters of blood are eligible for services under the Birth to 3 Program. The bill also
allows DHS to develop a methodology to allocate funding for early intervention
services across county programs.
2. Lead-Safe Homes Program
Under current law, DHS provides lead abatement services through the
Lead-Safe Homes Program. The Lead-Safe Homes Program provides repairs to
owner-occupied and rental properties to make them lead-safe. Currently, the
program is funded in part through federal funding. The bill increases state funding
for the program by $28,400,000 over the fiscal biennium.
3. Windows Plus lead exposure program
The bill authorizes one general purpose revenue position within DHS and
increases funding to resume the Windows Plus lead exposure program. The
Windows Plus lead exposure program was initiated in the 2019-21 fiscal biennium
with onetime funding to provide lead-safe renovations in homes built before 1950
that are inhabited or frequently visited by low-income families with children. The
program focuses renovations on high-risk components of housing, such as windows,
porches, floors, and siding.
4. Lead service line replacement
This bill appropriates $200,000,000 from the general fund to the environmental
improvement program for projects involving forgivable loans to private users of
public water systems to replace lead service lines. Under current law, DOA and the
Department of Natural Resources administer the safe drinking water loan program
(SDWLP), which provides financial assistance from the environmental improvement
program to local governmental units and to the private owners of community water
systems that serve local governmental units for projects for the planning, designing,
construction, or modification of public water systems. DNR establishes a funding list
for SDWLP projects and DOA allocates funding for those projects.
Sober living
The bill requires DHS to encourage the development, expansion, and quality
control of networks of sober living residences and to allocate moneys to create a
revolving loan fund for establishing sober living residences or a network of sober
living residences or to award grants for purposes specified in the bill.
Nonemergency medical transportation services
The bill requires DHS to determine and implement a reimbursement rate for
nonemergency medical transportation services for Medical Assistance recipients
who are nursing home residents that is the same as the prevalent brokerage
reimbursement rate applied to other nonemergency medical transportation services
for Medical Assistance recipients.
Transportation
1. Transportation grants
Under current law, the Department of Transportation may award grants to
public and private organizations for the development and implementation of
demand management, ride-sharing, and job access and employment transportation
assistance programs. The bill increases the amount of state monies appropriated in
the 2023-25 fiscal biennium for the development and implementation of job access
and employment transportation assistance programs by 5 percent of the amount
appropriated for those purposes in fiscal year 2022-23.
2. Urban mass transit aid
Under current law, DOT provides state aid payments to local public bodies in
urban areas served by mass transit systems to assist the local public bodies with the
expenses of operating those systems. The bill increases the total amount of state aid
payments for mass transit systems serving urban areas having a population of less
than 50,000 to $5,707,800 in calendar year 2023 and thereafter.
3. Specialized transportation services
Under current law, DOT administers specialized transportation programs to
provide financial assistance for transportation services for seniors and individuals
with disabilities. One program provides funding to counties based on each county's
proportion of the state's population of seniors and individuals with disabilities. The
other program provides funds to local public bodies and nonprofit organizations
through a competitive application process to supplement federal funding under the
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program. The bill
increases funding for both programs by 2 percent of the amount appropriated for
those purposes in fiscal year 2022-23.
Higher education
The bill requires the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
to allocate $50,000 each fiscal year for the Institute for Research on Poverty at
UW-Madison to study and provide an annual report to the public on poverty in this
state.
For further information see the state and local 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:
SB557,1
1Section 1
. 13.48 (26m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,7,72
13.48
(26m) Lead service line replacement. The legislature finds and
3determines that the prevalence of lead service lines in connections to public water
4systems poses a public health hazard and that processes for reducing lead entering
5drinking water from such pipes requires additional treatment of wastewater. It is
6therefore in the public interest, and it is the public policy of this state, to assist
7private users of public water systems in replacing lead service lines.
SB557,2
8Section 2
. 16.03 (2) (d) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,8,2
116.03
(2) (d) No later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, do all of the
2following:
SB557,8,83
1. Identify ways in which the departments of administration, children and
4families, health services, public instruction, workforce development, and veterans
5affairs and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority can
6increase access to services for homeless individuals and families, including
7individuals who are included in the category of homeless children and youths, as
8defined in
42 USC 11434a (2).
SB557,8,129
2. Advise each of the departments specified in subd. 1. and the Wisconsin
10Housing and Economic Development Authority to revise any policy or practice of the
11department or authority that the council determines impedes homeless individuals
12and families from obtaining services.
SB557,3
13Section 3
. 16.19 of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,8,20
1416.19 Civil legal services for the indigent. Annually, the department shall
15pay the amount appropriated under s. 20.505 (7) (e) to the Wisconsin Trust Account
16Foundation, Inc., to provide civil legal services to indigent persons. The Wisconsin
17Trust Account Foundation, Inc., shall distribute the amount received as grants to
18programs that provide civil legal services to indigent persons, and those programs
19may use the grant funds to match other federal and private grants. The grants may
20be used only for the purposes for which the funding was provided.
SB557,4
21Section
4. 16.306 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,9,522
16.306
(2) (a) From the
appropriation appropriations under s. 20.505 (7)
(fk)
23and (fm), the department may award a grant to an eligible applicant for the purpose
24of providing housing and associated supportive services to homeless individuals and
25families to facilitate their movement to independent living if the conditions under
1par. (b) are satisfied. The department shall
ensure that the funds for the grants are
2reasonably balanced among geographic areas of the state that correspond to the
3geographic areas served by each continuum of care organization designated by the
4federal department of housing and urban development, consistent with the quality
5of applications submitted award grants under this paragraph on a competitive basis.
SB557,5
6Section
5. 16.3065 of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,9,8
716.3065 Emergency rental assistance. (1) In this section, “eligible
8applicant” has the meaning given in s. 16.306 (1).
SB557,9,14
9(2) From the appropriation under s. 20.505 (7) (bq), the department shall
10award grants to eligible applicants to provide tenant-based rental assistance to
11individuals and families. All grant funds shall be used to provide tenant-based
12rental assistance to individuals and families who have suffered an economic
13hardship and whose annual household income does not exceed 80 percent of the
14median household income for the county in which the individual or family resides.
SB557,6
15Section 6
. 16.3085 (2) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,9,2016
16.3085
(2) (b) 2. Employment-related services, including connecting parents
17who are job training graduates or who have a recent work history with their local
18workforce development board established under 29 USC
2832 3122 and assisting
19them with using the job center website maintained by the department of workforce
20development.
SB557,7
21Section
7. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert
22the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
-
See PDF for table ![PDF](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/assets/image/file_acrobat.gif)
SB557,8
1Section
8. 20.320 (2) (a) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,3
120.320
(2) (a)
Lead service line replacement. As a continuing appropriation, the
2amounts in the schedule for lead service line replacement loans under s. 281.61 (8)
3(b).
SB557,9
4Section
9. 20.435 (5) (em) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,75
20.435
(5) (em)
Sober living residences. Biennially, the amounts in the
6schedule to support sober living residences or sober living residence networks under
7s. 46.483.
SB557,10
8Section
10. 20.437 (2) (cs) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,129
20.437
(2) (cs)
Community services block grant; state match. A sum sufficient
10to match 25 percent of the amounts received under
42 USC 9903 for the federal
11community services block grant for the purposes for which the federal community
12services block grant funds are received.
SB557,11
13Section 11
. 20.437 (2) (eg) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,1514
20.437
(2) (eg)
Internet assistance program. The amounts in the schedule for
15the Internet assistance program under s. 49.168.
SB557,12
16Section
12. 20.445 (1) (fc) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,1917
20.445
(1) (fc)
Job and employment services; pilot program. The amounts in the
18schedule for the pilot program established under 2023 Wisconsin Act .... (this act),
19section 69 (1).
SB557,13
20Section
13
. 20.445 (1) (fc) of the statutes, as created by 2023 Wisconsin Act ....
21(this act), is repealed.
SB557,14
22Section 14
. 20.505 (7) (bq) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,11,2523
20.505
(7) (bq)
Emergency rental assistance. As a continuing appropriation,
24the amounts in the schedule for emergency rental assistance grants under s.
2516.3065.
SB557,15
1Section
15. 20.505 (7) (e) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,12,42
20.505
(7) (e)
Indigent civil legal services. The amounts in the schedule to
3provide grants for the provision of civil legal services to indigent persons under s.
416.19.
SB557,16
5Section
16. 20.505 (7) (fk) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,12,76
20.505
(7) (fk)
Housing grants. As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in
7the schedule for housing grants under s. 16.306.
SB557,17
8Section
17. 36.25 (56) of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,12,139
36.25
(56) Annual poverty study. Of the moneys appropriated to the Board
10of Regents under s. 20.285 (1) (a), the board shall, beginning in fiscal year 2023-24,
11allocate $50,000 in each fiscal year for the Institute for Research on Poverty at the
12University of Wisconsin-Madison to study and provide an annual report to the public
13on poverty in this state.
SB557,18
14Section 18
. 38.40 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,12,1815
38.40
(2) Interagency assistance. The council on workforce investment
16established under 29 USC
2821 3111 and the department of public instruction shall
17assist the board in providing the technical preparation, school-to-work, and
18work-based learning programs under sub. (1m).
SB557,19
19Section
19. 46.483 of the statutes is created to read:
SB557,12,24
2046.483 Sober living residences.
(1) Definition. In this section, “sober living
21residence" means a residential dwelling unit or other form of group housing that is
22offered or advertised by a person as a residence that provides a peer-supported,
23alcohol-free, and drug-free living environment where no treatment services are
24provided on-site and that would qualify for a loan under
42 USC 300x-25.
SB557,13,4
1(2) Requirement; funding support. The department shall encourage the
2development, expansion, and quality control of networks of sober living residences.
3From the appropriation under s. 20.435 (5) (em), the department shall allocate
4moneys for any of the following purposes:
SB557,13,65
(a) Creating a revolving loan fund for establishing a sober living residence or
6a network of sober living residences.
SB557,13,87
(b) Awarding grants to train and supervise field workers to provide technical
8assistance to sober living residences.
SB557,13,119
(c) Awarding grants to entities that establish sober living residences or to sober
10living residences to support the development, expansion, and quality operation of
11sober living residences.
SB557,20
12Section 20
. 46.56 (14) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,14,613
46.56
(14) (a) In order to support the development of a comprehensive service
14system of coordinated care for children who are involved in 2 or more systems of care
15and their families, the department shall establish a state advisory committee with
16representatives of county departments and tribal governing bodies, the department
17of public instruction, educational agencies, the department of children and families,
18the department of corrections, the juvenile correctional system, professionals
19experienced in the provision of services to children who are involved in 2 or more
20systems of care and their families, advocates for such families and their children, the
21subunit of the department of workforce development that administers vocational
22rehabilitation, a representative of the local workforce development board
23established under 29 USC
2832 3122, a representative of the philanthropy
24community, the technical college system, health care providers, courts assigned to
25exercise jurisdiction under chs. 48 and 938, child welfare officials, and other
1appropriate persons as selected by the department. The department may use an
2existing committee for this purpose if it has representatives from the listed groups
3and is willing to perform the required functions. This committee shall establish
4principles and core values for administering initiatives, monitor the development of
5initiatives throughout the state, and support communication and mutual assistance
6among operating initiatives as well as those that are being developed.
SB557,21
7Section 21
. 49.143 (2) (a) 4m. e. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,14,108
49.143
(2) (a) 4m. e. Coordinate with local workforce development boards
9established under 29 USC
2832 3122 to ensure compatibility of purpose and no
10duplication of effort.
SB557,22
11Section 22
. 49.163 (4) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB557,14,1712
49.163
(4) Contract for administration. (intro.) The department may
13contract with any person to administer the program under this section, including a
14Wisconsin Works agency; county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23; local
15workforce development board established under 29 USC
2832 3122; or community
16action agency under s. 49.265. The department, or the agency or agencies with which
17the department contracts under this subsection, shall do all of the following:
SB557,23
18Section 23
. 49.1635 (1) of the statutes is repealed.
SB557,24
19Section 24
. 49.1635 (2) of the statutes is repealed.
SB557,25
20Section 25
. 49.1635 (3) of the statutes is repealed.
SB557,26
21Section 26
. 49.1635 (4) of the statutes is repealed.
SB557,27
22Section 27
. 49.1635 (5) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 49.1635 (1m) and
23amended to read:
SB557,15,324
49.1635
(1m) From the allocation under s. 49.175 (1) (j), the department shall
25make a grant of
$500,000 $1,000,000 in each fiscal year to Wisconsin Trust Account
1Foundation, Inc., for distribution of annual awards
of not more than $75,000 per year
2per program to programs that provide legal services to persons who are eligible under
3par. (b) 2. sub. (2m) (b) if all of the following apply:
SB557,15,74
(a) Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., submits a plan to the
5department detailing the proposed use of the grant; the proposed use of the grant
6conforms to the requirements under
par. (b) sub. (2m); and the secretary of the
7department, or his or her designee, approves the plan.
SB557,15,118
(b) Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., enters into an agreement with
9the department that specifies the conditions for the use of the grant proceeds, and
10the conditions conform to the requirements under
par. (b) sub. (2m) and include
11training, reporting, and auditing requirements.
SB557,15,1412
(c) Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., agrees in writing to submit to the
13department the reports required under
par. (c)
sub. (3m) by the times required under
14par. (c) sub. (3m).