Sections 2.07 and 2.08 - Nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurship, and employment grants: The Grants to nonprofit organizations program provide financial assistance or other services to veterans and their dependents. The Employment grant program provides incentives to employers to hire disabled veterans. The Entrepreneurship grant program provides grants to incentivize entities that provide entrepreneurship training, technical or business assistance, financial assistance, and other assistance to veteran entrepreneurs to improve employment outcome for the benefit of veterans. The proposed rules will include the following: 1.
Clarify allowed use of grant funds.2.
Strengthen the delivery and administration of the programs.4.
Increase transparency, accountability, and compliance by adding a matching requirement to ensure grantee organizations are sustainable and financially viable.5.
Streamline the application and evaluation process to enhance pre-award screening and efficiency. For example, the current rules under s. 2.08 require the Department to rate the criteria but do not specifically outline the expectations. The proposed rules will set clear expectations for the applicants and allow the evaluation committee to have all the information to evaluate and rate the criteria appropriately.Additionally, the proposed rules will include general cleanup and updates, reorganize sections, amend outdated provisions, and bring the rule into conformity with current statutes and drafting standards for style and format.
3. Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:
The Department promulgated rules that created s. VA 2.07 (Clearinghouse Rule 14-058, effective October 1, 2017) and s. VA 2.08 (Clearinghouse Rule 17-003, effective April 1, 2018). Upon further review, the Department has identified provisions within the rules that require revisions and clarification in order to enhance the administration of these grant programs. Without a rule change, the Department will be required to administer the grant programs for the upcoming grant period as they currently exist under ch. VA 2. This will result in the enforcement of unnecessary and restrictive requirements, limitation in the number of grant awards, and unclear guidance for applicants and program administrators. The rules propose the following new policies:
1.
Implements new matching requirements in order to ensure grantee organizations are sustainable and financially viable while expanding the distribution of grant funds to more entities. 2.
Redefines the evaluation process in order to enhance pre-award screening and efficiency. 3.
Defines new scoring criteria in order to streamline and simplify the evaluation process. There are no alternative means to address the need for revisions as presented above.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
Section 45.03 (2), Stats., authorizes the Secretary of the Department to promulgate rules necessary to carry out the purposes of Ch. 45 and the powers and duties conferred upon it. Section 45.21 (3), Stats., requires the Department to promulgate rules for the distribution of aid under the retraining assistance program. Section 45.40 (3m), Stats., authorizes the Department to promulgate rules establishing eligibility criteria and household income limits for payments under the subsistence and health care aid grant programs. Section 45.437, Stats., authorizes the Department to award grants to veterans, employers, and nonprofit or organizations to assist veteran entrepreneurs, to give employers in this state incentives to hire veterans, especially disabled veterans, to help fund employment training for veterans, especially disabled veterans, and for other programs or purposes as determined by the department by rule. Section 45.437(4), Stats., explicitly authorizes the Department to promulgate rules implementing the veterans employment and entrepreneurship grant programs.
5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
200 hours
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
Veterans, eligible spouses of veterans, eligible family members of veterans, training centers and institutions of higher education that enroll veterans and eligible family members, employers that hire veterans, nonprofit organizations and entities that provide assistance to veterans and their eligible family members, and health care providers that provide veterans with dental, vision, and hearing services.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
None.
8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):
The department anticipates that the proposed rules will have no to minimal economic impact statewide or locally, nor have an effect upon small businesses.
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