AB548: Bill Text

LRB-0761/1

JK&GMM:kjf

2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE

2015 Assembly BILL 548

November 24, 2015 - Introduced by Representatives Mason, Riemer, Sargent, Berceau, Considine, Genrich, Goyke, Hebl, Kolste, Milroy, Ohnstad, Spreitzer, Subeck, C. Taylor and Zamarripa, cosponsored by Senators Miller, C. Larson, Lassa, Ringhand, Vinehout and Wirch. Referred to Committee on Environment and Forestry.

AB548,1,7 An Act to amend 16.75 (1) (a) 1.; and to create 15.105 (34), 16.24, 16.705 (1L), 16.705 (10), 16.71 (5s), 16.75 (13), 20.505 (4) (kc), 66.0903 (5) (h) and 103.49 (3g) (i) of the statutes; relating to: establishing a Wisconsin conservation corps program, authorizing a transfer of moneys appropriated to one or more state agencies, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing exemptions from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill creates a Wisconsin conservation corps (WCC) program to protect, enhance, and provide access to Wisconsin's natural heritage and encourage and enable young people to learn the value of work in a natural setting by providing employment training and career pathways. The bill also creates a WCC Board, which is the policy-making body of the WCC and is attached to the Department of Administration (DOA). The WCC Board consists of the secretary of natural resources or his or her designee; the executive secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands; two representatives to the assembly, appointed as are members of assembly standing committees; two senators, appointed as are members of senate standing committees; and the following members, appointed to serve for three-year terms: one member of a nongovernmental organization that has expertise in conservation matters or that represents employees who work in conservation activities; two members of the faculty employed by a technical college district board, appointed by the state Technical College System Board; one member representing the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Extension; and one member of a nongovernmental organization that has expertise in youth training programs.

Under the bill, DOA provides staff services to the WCC Board. The bill directs the WCC Board to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit corporation that has demonstrated experience in natural resources conservation and youth training (manager) to manage and administer the WCC program. The manager then engages, trains, and supervises work crews to carry out each project. The manager also identifies, reviews, and recommends proposed projects for the approval of the WCC Board. The bill requires the WCC Board to ensure that projects are equally distributed across technical college districts to the greatest extent possible, and to ensure that at least one project is located in each technical college district in each year.

To finance the operation of the WCC Board and program, the bill permits the secretary of administration to transfer not more than $400,000 from sum certain appropriations to state agencies in the executive branch to the WCC Board during the period beginning on the day the bill becomes law and ending on the date of publication of the 2017-19 biennial budget act, subject to certain limitations. The secretary is prohibited from making any transfer of moneys derived from federal revenues and is also prohibited from making a transfer if the transfer would violate the state or federal constitution, state or federal law, or a requirement imposed by the federal government as a condition to receipt of aids by this state. In addition, the secretary is prohibited from transferring certain moneys appropriated to the Department of Transportation. Any proposed transfer must first be reported by the secretary to the cochairpersons of the Joint Committee on Finance (committee) and is subject to review, approval, or modification by the committee, but the committee may waive its right to review a proposed transfer.

The bill provides that a WCC project must be designed to carry out a specific goal within a defined period of time, must be focused on the conservation or enjoyment of natural resources for environmental conservation or for energy conservation and efficiency purposes, and must have a specific, beneficial, and physical effect. Environmental conservation projects may include new trail construction, trail rehabilitation, invasive species management, bridge and boardwalk construction, reforestation, timber stand improvement, stream bank stabilization, erosion control, rain garden installation, prairie restoration, historical site preservation, recreation site maintenance, wild land fire hazard reduction and fuels management, lake and stream restoration, boundary marking, fencing, landscaping, or carpentry.

Energy conservation and efficiency projects may include data collection for scientific research, retrofitting of residential or industrial windows, installing solar panels, high-efficiency water heater installation, rain barrel collection system construction, insulation upgrades, high-efficiency lighting product installation, power management system installation, motion detection system upgrades, efficient heating and cooling system installation, biogas digestion system installation, biomass heating and energy system installation, truck loading dock seal installation, wind or solar electric system installation, geothermal heat pump installation, electric chiller installation, greenhouse construction, or irrigation system installation. A project may be sited only on public land in this state or land in this state in which the public has an ownership interest, except that incidental work may be performed on other land if the work is directly related to accomplishing work performed on public land or land in which the public has an ownership interest. The bill permits local governments or nonprofit corporations to sponsor projects. A project application is then submitted to the WCC Board by the manager. The application must identify the proposed project and the sponsor of the project and provide a detailed plan for the work on the project. In addition, the application must contain an enumeration of the number of work crews that will work on the project and an affirmation as to whether the work crew members would be eligible to participate in a youth corps program administered by the National and Community Service Board (NCSB), as well as a plan for training the work crew members, providing transportation to the project work sites, making available individualized educational opportunities for work crew members suited to the qualifications, experience, and needs of the members while they are working on the projects; for assisting work crew members in making full use of all benefits provided under such a youth corps program if the project qualifies as a youth corps program; and for visiting postsecondary institutions, such as a technical college or UW two-year college, to familiarize the crew members with application and enrollment procedures, programs, and course offerings.

The bill provides that each work crew member on a WCC project must be between the ages of 18 and 25, and at least 50 percent of the work crew members on each project must have no postsecondary education and have a family income of not more than 200 percent of the federal poverty line on the date of their initial engagement.

The bill provides that, if the manager determines that an application is an appropriate WCC project and that work crew members would be eligible under the program, the manager must submit the application to NCSB for funding. If funding is provided by NCSB, the manager must use the funding to assist the sponsor in training the work crews.

The bill requires each sponsor of a WCC project to do both of the following: upon completion of the project, erect a permanent plaque at each work site identifying the site as a WCC project; and submit a report to the WCC Board identifying the number of work crew members who enrolled at a technical college, a UW college, or another postsecondary institution upon completion of the project and their status on the first anniversary of completion of the project.

The bill exempts services performed by WCC work crews from compliance with requirements for state and local public works projects to adhere to current prevailing wage scales. The bill permits the WCC Board to retain its manager and permits other state agencies to engage a WCC crew on a project without complying with state procurement laws, including requirements for public notice to and competitive solicitation of contractors and limitations on the circumstances when contractual services may be obtained.

Finally, the bill requires the WCC Board to submit an annual report to the legislature identifying the projects that were completed in each year or that are in the process of completion as of the end of that year.

For further information see the state 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:

AB548,1 Section 1. 15.105 (34) of the statutes is created to read:

AB548,4,4 15.105 (34) Wisconsin conservation corps board. There is created a Wisconsin conservation corps board that is attached to the department of administration under s. 15.03, consisting of the following:

AB548,4,5 (a) The secretary of natural resources or his or her designee.

AB548,4,6 (b) The executive secretary of the board of commissioners of public lands.

AB548,4,8 (c) Two representatives to the assembly, appointed as are members of assembly standing committees.

AB548,4,9 (d) Two senators, appointed as are members of senate standing committees.

AB548,4,12 (e) One member of a nongovernmental organization that has expertise in conservation matters or that represents employees who work in conservation activities, for a 3-year term.

AB548,4,14 (f) Two members of the faculty employed by a technical college district board, appointed by the technical college system board, for 3-year terms.

AB548,4,16 (g) One member representing the University of Wisconsin-Extension, for a 3-year term.

AB548,4,18 (h) One member of a nongovernmental organization that has expertise in youth training programs, for a 3-year term.

AB548,2 Section 2. 16.24 of the statutes is created to read:

AB548,5,6 16.24 Wisconsin conservation corps. (1) Establishment of program. There is established the Wisconsin conservation corps program. The purpose of the program is to protect, enhance, and provide access to Wisconsin's natural heritage and encourage and enable young people to learn the value of work in a natural setting by providing employment training and career pathways.

AB548,5,7 (2) Definitions. In this section:

AB548,5,8 (a) "Board" means the Wisconsin conservation corps board.

AB548,5,9 (b) "College campus" has the meaning given under s. 36.05 (6m).

AB548,5,11 (c) "Local government" has the meaning given for "local governmental unit" in s. 16.97 (7).

AB548,5,14 (d) "Nonprofit corporation" means a nonstock, nonprofit corporation described under section 501 (c) (3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code that is exempt from the federal income tax under section 501 (a) of that code.

AB548,5,19 (e) "Project" means a planned undertaking of the Wisconsin conservation corps for a sponsor to carry out a specific goal within a defined period of time that is focused on the conservation or enjoyment of natural resources for environmental conservation or for energy conservation and efficiency purposes and that will have a specific, beneficial, and physical effect.

AB548,5,21 (f) "Sponsor" means a local government or a nonprofit corporation that proposes to undertake a project.

AB548,5,22 (g) "Youth corps program" has the meaning given in s. 16.22 (1) (dm).

AB548,5,25 (3) Wisconsin conservation corps board. The board is the policy-making body of the Wisconsin conservation corps program. The board shall promulgate rules consistent with this section for the operation of the program.

AB548,6,11 (4) Management and services. (a) The board shall contract with a nonprofit corporation that has demonstrated experience in natural resources conservation and youth training or employment to administer and manage the Wisconsin conservation corps program. The manager shall retain all work crew members under sub. (8), except that the manager shall enroll any work crew members who are participants in a youth corps program. The manager shall also train and supervise all work crews, provide educational programming for work crews, and provide outreach and other communications services in accordance with this section and the rules and directives of the board. The manager shall also identify and review potential projects, assist with project proposal development, and recommend to the board proposed projects for its review and approval.

AB548,6,16 (b) The board shall not authorize or require, and the manager shall not engage, the services of any employee or contractor to perform services under the Wisconsin conservation corps program if those services displace the services of any individual who is employed by this state in a position, as defined in s. 230.03 (11), or who is employed by a local government in a permanent position.

AB548,6,21 (5) Project application; approval. (a) Each project is subject to review and approval by the board prior to commencement of work on the project. The manager may submit an application to the board for approval of a proposed project. An application shall be in the form prescribed by the board and shall include all of the following:

AB548,6,23 1. An identification of the project and the sponsor of the project, together with a detailed plan for the work to be performed on the project.

AB548,7,2 2. An enumeration of the number of work crews that will work on the project, an affirmation as to whether work crew members would be eligible to participate in a youth corps program, and an affirmation that the work crew members will satisfy the requirements under sub. (8).

AB548,7,8 3. A plan for training the work crew members, providing transportation to each project work site, and making available individualized educational opportunities for work crew members suited to the qualifications, experience, and needs of the members while they are working on the project, and for assisting work crew members who are participating in a youth corps program in making full use of all benefits provided under the program.

AB548,7,13 4. A plan for the crew members to visit postsecondary institutions, such as a technical college or a college campus of the University of Wisconsin System, at least once every 3 months while they are employed or enrolled to work on a project in order to familiarize them with application and enrollment procedures, programs, and course offerings.

AB548,7,17 (b) The board shall approve applications for projects that are located in at least one of each of the technical college districts in each year. To the greatest extent practicable, the board shall ensure that projects are equally distributed across technical college districts.

AB548,7,19 (6) Staff support. The department shall provide all staff support necessary for the operation of the board.