SB494,1,10 1An Act to amend 341.14 (6r) (b) 1., 341.14 (6r) (b) 3., 341.14 (6r) (e) and 341.14
2(6r) (fm) 7.; to repeal and recreate 341.14 (6r) (c); and to create 20.143 (1)
3(gb), 20.395 (5) (cL), 25.40 (1) (a) 19., 71.05 (1) (c) 5., 71.26 (1m) (h), 71.45 (1t)
4(h), 341.14 (6r) (b) 7., 341.14 (6r) (f) 54., 341.14 (6r) (h) and 560.21 of the
5statutes; relating to: special distinguishing registration plates associated
6with certain professional football teams; payments to qualified counties for
7construction or renovation of a home stadium to be used by a professional
8football team, granting income and franchise tax exemptions for certain
9interest income on bonds issued by counties; the sale of engraved tiles or bricks
10sold by a professional football team; and making appropriations.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, members of authorized special groups may obtain special
distinguishing registration plates for certain vehicles registered with the
department of transportation (DOT). Special plates may be obtained for
automobiles, station wagons, motor homes and certain dual purpose motor homes,
farm trucks and dual purpose farm trucks that are owned or leased by special group

members. A fee, in addition to the regular registration fee for the particular kind of
vehicle, is assessed for the issuance or reissuance of most special plates.
Members of authorized special groups related to certain campuses of the
University of Wisconsin (UW) System or to the support of endangered or threatened
species pay an additional annual fee as a tax deductible contribution to the UW
System or to the endangered resources program administered by the department of
natural resources.
This bill establishes an authorized special group for persons interested in
obtaining special distinguishing registration plates expressing their support of a
professional football team whose home stadium is located in this state. DOT may not
issue special group plates related to the professional football team unless any
approvals that are required for use of an applicable logo, trademark, trade name or
commercial symbol designating the team have been obtained.
In addition to the regular vehicle registration fee, the special group members
are required to pay a $15 fee to DOT for issuance or reissuance of the special plates
and an additional $25 annual fee. After payment of certain data processing and
licensing fee costs incurred by DOT in producing the plates, the remainder of the $25
annual fees are paid by the department of commerce to qualified counties that have
issued bonds or promissory notes for the purposes of constructing or renovating a
stadium to be used by a professional football team.
Current law also prohibits enumerating special group license plates by
legislative action. Instead, members of special groups desiring a special group
license plate must apply to DOT for designation. This bill creates an exception to this
administrative process.
The fees may not be sent to a county by the department of commerce until the
county enters into a written agreement with the department of commerce stating
that the moneys received will be used for purposes related to the construction or
renovation of football stadium facilities and until the county and the professional
football team enter into a written agreement specifying that the team will sell
engraved tiles or bricks, the net proceeds of which must be used to fund construction
or renovation costs of the football stadium facilities.
The bill also exempts from income and franchise taxation any interest on bonds
that a county may issue for purposes related to the construction or renovation of
football stadium facilities.
This bill will be referred to the joint survey committee on tax exemptions for a
detailed analysis, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
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:
SB494, s. 1 1Section 1. 20.143 (1) (gb) of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,2
120.143 (1) (gb) Professional football stadium development. All moneys received
2under s. 341.14 (6r) (b) 7. b., for the purposes of making payments under s. 560.21.
SB494, s. 2 3Section 2. 20.395 (5) (cL) of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,64 20.395 (5) (cL) Licensing fees, state funds. From the general fund, all moneys
5received under s. 341.14 (6r) (b) 7. a. for the purpose of making payments of licensing
6fees under s. 341.14 (6r) (h).
SB494, s. 3 7Section 3. 25.40 (1) (a) 19. of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,108 25.40 (1) (a) 19. Moneys received under s. 341.14 (6r) (b) 7. that are deposited
9in the general fund and credited to the appropriation accounts under ss. 20.143 (1)
10(gb) and 20.395 (5) (cL).
SB494, s. 4 11Section 4. 71.05 (1) (c) 5. of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,1312 71.05 (1) (c) 5. A county for purposes related to football stadium facilities, as
13defined under s. 560.21 (1) (c).
SB494, s. 5 14Section 5. 71.26 (1m) (h) of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,1615 71.26 (1m) (h) Those issued by a county for purposes related to football stadium
16facilities, as defined under s. 560.21 (1) (c).
SB494, s. 6 17Section 6. 71.45 (1t) (h) of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,3,1918 71.45 (1t) (h) Those issued by a county for purposes related to football stadium
19facilities, as defined under s. 560.21 (1) (c).
SB494, s. 7 20Section 7. 341.14 (6r) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB494,4,721 341.14 (6r) (b) 1. Upon application to register an automobile, station wagon or
22motor home, or a motor truck, dual purpose motor home or dual purpose farm truck
23which has a gross weight of not more than 8,000 pounds, or a farm truck which has
24a gross weight of not more than 12,000 pounds, by any person who is a resident of
25this state and a member of an authorized special group, the department shall issue

1to the person special plates whose colors and design shall indicate that the vehicle
2is owned by a person who is a member of the applicable special group. The
3department may not issue any special group plates under par. (f) 54. until 6 months
4after the department has received information sufficient for the department to
5determine that any approvals required for use of any logo, trademark, trade name
6or other commercial symbol designating the professional football team have been
7obtained.
SB494, s. 8 8Section 8. 341.14 (6r) (b) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB494,4,209 341.14 (6r) (b) 3. An additional fee of $15 shall be charged for the issuance or
10reissuance of a plate issued on an annual basis for a special group specified under
11par. (f) 35. to 47. or, 53. or 54. or designated by the department under par. (fm). An
12additional fee of $15 shall be charged for the issuance or reissuance of a plate issued
13on a biennial basis for a special group specified under par. (f) 35. to 47. or, 53. or 54.
14or designated by the department under par. (fm) if the plate is issued during the first
15year of the biennial registration period or $15 for the issuance or reissuance if the
16plate is issued during the 2nd year of the biennial registration period. The
17department shall deposit in the general fund and credit to the appropriation account
18under s. 20.395 (5) (cj) all fees collected under this subdivision for the issuance or
19reissuance of a plate for a special group designated by the department under par.
20(fm).
SB494, s. 9 21Section 9. 341.14 (6r) (b) 7. of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,5,1022 341.14 (6r) (b) 7. An additional fee of $25 that is in addition to the fee under
23subd. 3. shall be charged for the issuance or renewal of a plate issued on an annual
24basis for the special group specified under par. (f) 54. An additional fee of $50 that
25is in addition to the fee under subd. 3. shall be charged for the issuance or renewal

1of a plate issued on the biennial basis for the special group specified under par. (f) 54.
2if the plate is issued or renewed during the first year of the biennial registration
3period or $25 for the issuance or renewal if the plate is issued or renewed during the
42nd year of the biennial registration period. To the extent permitted under ch. 71,
5the fee under this subdivision is deductible as a charitable contribution for purposes
6of the taxes under ch. 71. For each professional football team for which plates are
7produced under par. (f) 54., all moneys received under this subdivision in excess of
8the initial costs of data processing for the special group plate related to that team
9under par. (f) 54. or $35,000, whichever is less, shall be deposited in the general fund
10and credited as follows:
SB494,5,1211 a. An amount equal to the costs of licensing fees under par. (h) that are related
12to that team shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.395 (5) (cL).
SB494,5,1813 b. The remainder after crediting the appropriation account as provided in subd.
147. a. shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.143 (1) (gb). The
15department of transportation shall identify and record the percentage of moneys
16that are attributable to each professional football team represented by a plate under
17par. (f) 54. and shall periodically furnish those percentages to the department of
18commerce.
SB494, s. 10 19Section 10. 341.14 (6r) (c) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act
209
, is repealed and recreated to read:
SB494,6,821 341.14 (6r) (c) Special group plates shall display the word "Wisconsin", the
22name of the applicable authorized special group, a symbol representing the special
23group, not exceeding one position, and identifying letters or numbers or both, not
24exceeding 6 positions and not less than one position. The department shall specify
25the design for special group plates, but the department shall consult the president

1of the University of Wisconsin System before specifying the word or symbol used to
2identify the special groups under par. (f) 35. to 47., the secretary of natural resources
3before specifying the word or symbol used to identify for the special group under par.
4(f) 50. and the chief executive officer of the professional football team and an
5authorized representative of the National Football League before specifying the
6design for the applicable special group plate under par. (f) 54. Special group plates
7under par. (f) 50. shall be as similar as possible to regular registration plates in color
8and design.
SB494, s. 11 9Section 11. 341.14 (6r) (e) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act
109
, is amended to read:
SB494,6,2211 341.14 (6r) (e) The department shall specify one combination of colors for
12special group plates for groups or organizations which are not military in nature and
13not special group plates under par. (f) 35. to 47. and 50. and for each professional
14football team under par. (f) 54.
The department shall specify one combination of
15colors for special group plates under par. (f) 35. to 47. The department shall specify
16the word or words comprising the special group name and the symbol to be displayed
17upon special group plates for a group or organization which is not military in nature
18after consultation with the chief executive officer in this state of the group or
19organization. The department shall require that the word or words and symbol for
20a university specified under par. (f) 35. to 47. be a registration decal or tag and affixed
21to the special group plate and be of the colors for a university specified under par. (f)
2235. to 47. that the president of the University of Wisconsin System specifies.
SB494, s. 12 23Section 12. 341.14 (6r) (f) 54. of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,7,3
1341.14 (6r) (f) 54. Persons interested in expressing their support of a
2professional football team, as defined in s. 560.21 (1) (e), whose home field is in a
3football stadium, as defined in s. 560.21 (1) (b), in this state.
SB494, s. 13 4Section 13. 341.14 (6r) (fm) 7. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB494,7,105 341.14 (6r) (fm) 7. After Except for the authorized special group enumerated
6under par. (f) 54., after
October 1, 1998, additional authorized special groups may
7only be special groups designated by the department under this paragraph. The
8authorized special groups enumerated in par. (f) shall be limited solely to those
9special groups specified under par. (f) on October 1, 1998, except for the authorized
10special group enumerated under par. (f) 54
.
SB494, s. 14 11Section 14. 341.14 (6r) (h) of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,7,1412 341.14 (6r) (h) From the appropriation under s. 20.395 (5) (cL), the department
13shall pay reasonable licensing fees relating to the word or words or the symbol on
14special group plates under par. (f) 54.
SB494, s. 15 15Section 15. 560.21 of the statutes is created to read:
SB494,7,16 16560.21 Professional football stadium development. (1) In this section:
SB494,7,1717 (a) "County" means a county with a population of at least 150,000.
SB494,7,2318 (b) "Football stadium" means a stadium that is principally used as the home
19stadium of a professional football team at the time that bonds are issued under s.
2067.05 or promissory notes are issued under s. 67.12 (12), for purposes related to the
21construction or renovation of football stadium facilities, or if no home stadium exists
22at the time that such bonds or promissory notes are issued, "football stadium" means
23a stadium that includes the site of a proposed home stadium of such a team.
SB494,8,324 (c) "Football stadium facilities" means football stadium property, tangible or
25intangible, including spectator seating of all types, practice facilities, parking lots

1and structures, garages, restaurants, parks, concession facilities, entertainment
2facilities, facilities for the display or sale of memorabilia, transportation facilities,
3and other functionally related or auxiliary facilities or structures.
SB494,8,74 (d) "Home stadium" means the principal site of a stadium that is home to a
5professional football team and that is approved by the league to which the
6professional football team belongs for use as the home stadium for that professional
7football team.
SB494,8,138 (e) "Professional football team" means a team that is a member of a league of
9professional football teams that have home stadiums in at least 10 states and a
10collective average attendance for all league members of at least 40,000 persons per
11game over the 5 years immediately preceding the year in which bonds are issued
12under s. 67.05 or promissory notes are issued under s. 67.12 (12) for purposes related
13to the construction or renovation of football stadium facilities.
SB494,9,3 14(2) From the appropriation under s. 20.143 (1) (gb), the department annually
15shall make payments to any county that the department determines has a football
16stadium. The amount of any payment to a county under this section shall be the sum
17of money credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.143 (1) (gb) during the
18previous fiscal year that is attributable to the professional football team whose home
19stadium is located in that county. The department may not make any payment to a
20county under this section unless the county first enters into a memorandum of
21understanding with the department stating that the county will use any moneys
22received under this section for purposes related to the construction or renovation of
23football stadium facilities. The department may not make any payment to a county
24under this section unless the county first enters into a memorandum of
25understanding with the professional football team specifying that the team will sell

1engraved tiles or bricks which may be placed around football stadium facilities and
2will use the net proceeds of the sale to fund construction or renovation costs of the
3football stadium facilities.
SB494, s. 16 4Section 16. Initial applicability.
SB494,9,65 (1) The treatment of sections 71.05 (1) (c) 5., 71.26 (1m) (h) and 71.45 (1t) (h)
6of the statutes first applies to taxable years beginning on January 1, 2000.
SB494, s. 17 7Section 17. Effective date.
SB494,9,98 (1) This act takes effect on the first day of the 5th month beginning after
9publication.
SB494,9,1010 (End)
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