MADISON – Governor Tony Evers signed several bills into law on Thursday afternoon, two of which were authored by Representative Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek).
2025 Senate Bill 556 (now 2025 Wisconsin Act 163) includes certain energy and liquefied natural gas storage facilities in the calculation for utility aid payments in Wisconsin.
“Because utility properties are exempt from local property taxes, the state provides local governments with utility aid payments to offset lost revenue. Act 163 ensures that new energy storage facilities are included in that formula, increasing funding for the City of Oak Creek and Milwaukee County as a new storage facility comes online at the local power plant,” explained Rodriguez.
2025 Assembly Bill 778 (now 2025 Wisconsin Act 176) expands the Transitional Jobs/Transform Milwaukee Jobs program. Under previous law, individuals were disqualified from the program if they were unemployed for less than four weeks or eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Act 176 repeals these eligibility criteria, so if someone wants to go to work as soon as possible rather than waiting or collecting unemployment insurance, they can do so with the help of the Transitional Jobs/Transform Milwaukee Jobs program.
“The Transitional Jobs program helps Wisconsinites who are down on their luck by getting them into a family-supporting job. In repealing these two eligibility criteria, Act 176 will enable up to 350 more individuals to join the program and get to work each year,” stated Rep. Rodriguez.
“I’m grateful to my coauthors and the various stakeholders for working with me on these bills. I also thank my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate for their unanimous support for both of these proposals. Lastly, thank you Governor Evers for signing these bills into law,” concluded Rodriguez.
