Gov. Evers: Takes Action on More Than 10 Bills

Assembly Bill 51, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 35:

• Modifies the eligibility criteria for the minority teacher loan program to allow a loan recipient to be eligible if they are employed by a public school, private school or tribal school that is located in a Wisconsin school district where at least 40 percent of the students are minority students; and
• Expands the definition of a “minority student” to be more inclusive.

Assembly Bill 38, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 36:

• Adjusts research contract requirements for University of Wisconsin System employees by eliminating the 45-day passive review period for contracts of $250,000 or more, requiring those responsible for managing potential conflicts of interest evaluate and address in a management plan an employee’s interest in the research company, and requiring the Board of Regents to specify the contents of the management plan; and
• Changes the definition of “research company” to include entities engaged in nonprofit activity. 

Senate Bill 269, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 37:

• Allows municipalities that had a value increment reporting error of more than $50 million in 2018 to transfer excess tax increment collections to the municipality’s general fund to reimburse taxpayers for the higher property tax rates resulting from the error.

Assembly Bill 117, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 38:

• Allows a building permit applicant to submit a printed copy of the electronic form the city, village, town or county makes available, or a printed copy of the electronic form or the paper form that the Department of Safety and Professional services makes available;
• Prohibits a municipality from requiring that a one- or two- family dwelling building permit applicant must submit the application in both paper and electronic forms; 
• Maintains a municipality’s right to mandate paper applications; and 
• Requires the municipality to electronically submit the information on applicants’ paper forms to the Department of Safety and Professional Services. 

Assembly Bill 54, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 39:

• Allows a public or private school to provide warning to students before a fire, tornado, or school safety incident drill.

Assembly Bill 141, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 40:

• Clarifies the deadlines for property tax payments to be considered received on time if they are postmarked on or before the due date; and
• Specifies the five-day grace period concludes the following Friday, if the due date falls on a weekend. 

Assembly Bill 143, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 41:

• Permits a municipality to enact and enforce ordinances prohibiting a person from providing massage or bodywork therapy, designating themself as a massage or bodywork therapist, or using or assuming any title or designation that represents the person as a massage or bodywork therapist without the appropriate licensure;
• Allows the municipality to impose a forfeiture of up to $1,000 for violations of such an ordinance;
• Prohibits a person from employing or contracting with another person to provide massage or bodywork therapy services unless that person holds the appropriate licensure and allows a municipality to enact and enforce an ordinance; 
• Increases the penalty for violating the state law from a civil offense to a criminal offense, including a fine of up to $1,000 for each violation or imprisonment up to 90 days or both; and 
• Allows the Massage Therapy and Bodywork Therapy Affiliated Credentialing Board to impose a fee of up to $1,000 for each offense. 

Assembly Bill 193, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 42:

• Allows counties or municipalities to adopt and use a biennial budgetary procedure by either adopting a resolution or enacting an ordinance;
• Maintains the requirement that a county or municipality follows the current law procedures regarding hearings, budget summaries and information regarding expected revenues and expenditures;
• Requires that the actual expenditures and revenues must be included for the first 18 months of the current budget period in the case of a biennial budget proposal; and 
• Requires that county departments in a county that utilizes a biennial budgetary procedure submit budget requests that included a 6-year capital improvement plan. 

Assembly Bill 195, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 43:

• Makes any teaching licenses based on reciprocity Tier II licenses, and allows them to become Tier III lifetime licenses after the completion of 6 semesters of teaching experience; and 
• Allows a teacher to receive a license based on reciprocity if they have successfully taught for 2 semesters under a department-issued license or permit at a public, private, or charter school. 

Assembly Bill 194, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 44:

• Creates an alternative pathway to initial licensure as a special education teacher for individuals who meet all other licensing requirements and successfully complete a course of study that provides rigorous instruction in teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency, receive feedback and coaching from an expert in reading instruction, and provide a portfolio of work that demonstrates competence in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency.

Assembly Bill 235, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 45:

• Provides county and municipal governments with the ability to levy for lost utility aid payments caused by the closure of electric power generating facilities; and
• Specifies that the levy limit adjustment created under the bill may not exceed the incremental utility aid reduction in the year for which the levy is imposed and that qualifying revenue reductions under the bill occur only when a county or municipality receives a utility aid payment that is less than the payment in the prior year. 

Assembly Bill 189, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 46:

• Increases the number of credits guaranteed to transfer between and within University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Technical College System, and institutions participating in the Universal Credit Transfer Agreement from 30 credits to 72 credits;
• Requires the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and the Wisconsin Technical College System Board to enter into an agreement to promote “program-to-program articulation agreements” that articulate how the completion of one program at one institution transfers to another program and institution; and
• Requires the boards to submit a report to the Joint Committee on Finance on their progress in complying with the program-to-program articulation agreements no later than April 1, 2021. 

Senate Bill 142, now 2019 Wisconsin Act 47:

• Prohibits any University of Wisconsin System institution or Wisconsin technical college from penalizing attending veterans, military service members, or eligible dependent for late tuition payments by the federal government. 

Gov. Evers today also vetoed Assembly Bill 53. Veto message here.