Closing out the Legislative Session

2023-2024 Legislative Session

March 20, 2024| Number 17

One for the History Books?

The Assembly concluded their legislative work on February 22nd and the Senate wrapped up last week. In the vast arena of politics and policy making, this session is one that will be remembered. For all the complaints, posturing, and media attention on the polarization at the Capitol between parties and branches of government, this session is one of the most bipartisan in a very long time. There were significant policy accomplishments in the 2023-2024 session. The compromises forged did present challenges and generate some opposition, but the key players came to the table, discussed, and negotiated. Legislative leadership and the Governor were able to find common ground on several issues that political insiders would have opined impossible at the beginning of 2023. As the session ends let's take a moment to reflect on the comprehensive initiatives that were enacted into law including:

Shared Revenue - connecting local government funding to the increase in the state's sales tax, a new $275 million supplemental payment, and a $300 million Innovation Fund.
Milwaukee City and County Sales Tax.
Housing Incentives Package - $525 million to increase the state's housing stock.
Significant increases in transportation funding.
Milwaukee Brewers funding and administration for the baseball district.
EV Deployment - Allowing fees per kilowatt hour to secure almost $78 million in federal funds to ensure that Wisconsin is competitive in this new marketplace.
Comprehensive Modifications to the Regulation of Alcohol Beverages in the state.
Funding for K-12 education and school choice programs.
New Legislative Maps passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.

Tackling any of these issues in a given session would be taxing, but to see them all pass in one session is notable. Each provision experienced a path of compromise; some by impacted parties, some by legislators, and some by the Governor. But in the end bipartisan common ground was found and all sides gave a little to cross the finish line. This session dug into large, complex issues perhaps creating a road map to expand upon in 2025!

All Eyes Turned Toward the Governor

All of the municipal bills below have been sent to the Governor. Some have been signed into law and others await his decision.

SB 624 Solid Waste Facilities. (Senator Jacque and Rep. Mursau) This bill provides an alternative method for a municipality to establish proof of financial responsibility for municipal solid waste facilities. The bill also allows DNR to pay costs associated with closure, long-term care, and corrective action costs for certain solid or hazardous waste facilities. The League supported this bill.

⭐Now Act 107

AB 627 Changes to the Business Development Tax Credit. (Rep. Armstrong and Senator Feyen) This bill allows the addition of retaining jobs (not just job creation) and capital investments to the eligibility for business development tax credits. The bill also provides tax benefits for investments in workforce housing and establishing a childcare program for eligible employees. See the Legislative Council Amendment Memo. The League supported this bill.

⭐Presented to the Governor on March 18th.

S B 791 and SB 792 EV Charging and Infrastructure. (Senator Marklein and Rep. VanderMeer) Policy and funding structure legislation respectively. SB 791 allows fees for electric vehicle charging per kilowatt hour as required by federal regulations by providing an exemption in the state's utility statutes and imposes an excise tax on electric vehicle charging. SB 791 does limit a local government's ability to own or operate public facing EV charging facilities but allows local governments to host chargers on municipal property through leasing.

In a final amendment, SB 791 prohibits local governments from requiring private developers to install an EV charging station as a condition of granting a building permit, conditional use permit, or other local approval. However, this restriction does not apply to the enforcement of a voluntary contractual agreement between a developer and local governmental unit. Wisconsin is one of two states that needs to modify our statutes to allow a fee per kilowatt hour in order to secure the $78 million in EV federal funding. This bill needed to become law to secure the federal funding. It was a compromise. The League supported this bill to utilize the federal funding and safeguard third party leasing options.

⭐SB 791 and 792 were signed by the Governor this morning and will be published acts later this week.

SB 822 Municipal Clerks/Elections Officials. (Senator Knodl and Rep. Gundrum)

Senate Bill 822 requires all state and local candidates and committees to register and file campaign finance reports with the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Previously, candidates for local offices and committees that support or oppose local candidates and referendums registered and filed campaign finance reports with local clerks.

The bill also includes whistleblower protections against retaliatory employment actions for county clerks, municipal clerks, and election officials who lawfully report election fraud or irregularities. Finally, the bill creates a crime of battery to an election official that increases the existing penalty for battery to a Class I felony when the victim is an election official, election registration official, municipal clerk, or county clerk acting in his or her official capacity. The League supported this bill.

⭐Presented to the Governor on March 18th.

AB 1075 Regional Allocation of the Residential Housing Infrastructure Revolving Loan (Rep. Armstrong, Rep. Brooks, and Senator Quinn) Current law, passed earlier this session, authorizes the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to award revolving loans to residential housing developers for eligible housing infrastructure projects supporting workforce and senior housing. WHEDA was required to divide the state into regions based on the service area of each regional planning commission constituted under current law, with the counties not served by a regional planning commission constituting collectively one region. As originally enacted, no such region could receive more than 25 percent of the loan amounts in any given application cycle.

To circulate the funding to more areas of the state, this bill changes that 25 percent loan award allocation requirement to provide that no such region may receive more than 12.5 percent of the moneys appropriated for such loans in the 2023-25 fiscal biennium. The League supported this bill.

⭐Presented to the Governor on March 18th.

Bridge/Culvert Reminder❗

📢Cities and Villages, if you haven't already, please complete and submit your small bridge and culvert inventory selection.

Use this form to submit the information to your County Highway Commissioner by April 15th.

Municipalities have to identify how they would like to collect the inventory information on 6 to 20-foot bridges and culverts by April 15, 2024 and submit that selection to the county. Communities have three options:

Collect the data using your own staff
Contract with your county Highway Commissioner and use county staff or
Contract with a private sector agency

⭐If this form is not submitted, your municipality will be missed in the statewide inventory. The inventory will be used to assess bridge conditions to determine structures in need of maintenance, repair, or replacement.

For more information see the League's Transportation webpage or the WisDOT Local Program Webpage.

Introducing More Housing Wisconsin, a joint initiative between the League, Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) and Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) to provide monthly briefing papers throughout the year that will serve as a toolkit to local governments with ideas and solutions to help solve the workforce housing shortage. Watch for monthly briefings and interviews.

The first briefing paper is a Housing Ready Checklist, which is a tool to help municipal officials and staff review and evaluate their zoning and subdivision regulations, land use plans, permitting process and fees, communications with developers, use of tax incremental financing, and other policies and procedures related to housing to ensure they are aligned toward the goal of creating more workforce housing for the community.

Housing Incentives Update

After the League worked successfully with the legislature and partners on an incentive housing package earlier this session. WHEDA needed to create three brand new programs. The Vacancy to Vitality and Restore Main Street programs have term sheets developed and have awarded one round of funding already. Recently, the municipal and developer term sheets and application materials associated with the Infrastructure Access Program were announced!

Additional Infrastructure Access Application Materials

New Legislative Districts

The Wisconsin Legislative website now details current 2022 legislative districts and new 2024 districts based on the newly approved maps. Municipal leaders and employees are encouraged to check the maps and acquaint yourself with new legislators that may be representing your area. Click on the link and go to "Find my Legislators" on the right side of the page. Enter your municipality and you will see the breakdown of 2022 and 2024 districts.

Email questions or comments to:

Toni Herkert, Government Affairs Director, therkert@lwm-info.org or

Katie Scott, Government Affairs Specialist, kscott@lwm-info.or g.