Governor Evers delivered his 2021-23 state budget address on Tuesday night. The 700-page executive budget can be viewed here and the Budget In Brief can be viewed here . The 1,800 page bill, which was introduced as Assembly Bill 68/Senate Bill 111, can be viewed here.
The Governor’s budget has already been met with resistance from the Legislature. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) described it as a ‘wish list’ that ‘contains far too many poison pills.’
We are still going through these very lengthy documents, but here is an overview of items that may be of interest to WEMTA.
TEACH: The Governor recommends making several adjustments to the Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) program, including:
Extending the information technology infrastructure block grant program for schools and libraries to June 30, 2025, at $3 million per year;
Allowing the Department of Administration to use unawarded grant funds in the second year of the biennium; and
Modifying current law to modernize outdated terms, align state statutes with current administrative practice and align state statutes with applicable federal regulations.
Board of Commissioners of Public Lands
Gifts and Grants: Creates an appropriation for gifts and grants to allow the board to receive donations to improve accessibility of public lands under its control.
Internet Assistance: Provides $20 million per year for a new TANF program to aid low-income households in paying for monthly Internet subscriptions.
Return to Work for Retired Teachers: Allows districts to rehire a retired WRS annuitant teacher if: (a) at least 15 days have passed since the teacher left employment with a district; (b) at the time of retirement, the teacher does not have an agreement with any school district to return to employment; and (c) upon returning to work, the teacher elects to not become a participating employee and to continue receiving his or her annuity.
Domestic Partnership Benefits for Employee Trust Funds Insurance Programs: The Governor recommends reinstating domestic partnership benefits for all insurance programs administered by the Department of Employee Trust Funds. These benefits were originally eliminated under 2017 Wisconsin Act 59, effective January 1, 2018.
Employment Relations Commission
Collective Bargaining Provisions: The Governor recommends:
Establishing collective bargaining, mediation and arbitration rights for front-line workers and any other employee in a collective bargaining unit containing a front-line worker;
Eliminating the required annual recertification requirement for representatives of all bargaining units;
Requiring a majority vote of all bargaining unit members voting to recertify a representative, as opposed to a majority vote of all a unit's members; and
Requiring that upon changes in policy impacting wages, working hours or working conditions (and if there are no such changes then on at least a quarterly basis), employers meet and consult with representatives from all bargaining units other than public safety, transit or front-line worker qualified units with collective bargaining rights. Front-line workers are defined as employees with regular job duties that include interacting with members of the public or large populations, or directly involving the maintenance of public works.
Local Government Employee Grievance Procedures: Requires local units of government to revise employee grievance procedures to address employee discipline, workplace safety and a just cause standard of review for termination, including a refusal to renew a teaching contract. The Governor also recommends modifying state statutes to require a local government employee grievance procedure to include an impartial hearing from the commission, during which the grievant would be entitled to legal representation.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Notification: Requires the Department of Financial Institutions to maintain and make available information regarding student loan forgiveness programs for which employees of the state or employees of a local unit of government may be eligible. The Governor also recommends that all state and local public employers be required to provide information regarding student loan forgiveness programs to their employees.
Student Loan Ombudsman and Borrower Bill of Rights: Creates an Office of Student Loan Ombudsman within the Department of Financial Institutions. The Governor also recommends establishing a student loan Borrower Bill of Rights to ensure that student loan servicers provide the necessary information for higher education loan borrowers to make the best choices for their individual circumstances and to ensure that student loan servicers take basic actions that are in the best interest of student loan borrowers.
Settlement Funds: The Governor recommends repealing statutory language changes made in 2017 Wisconsin Act 369 requiring the Attorney General to deposit all settlement funds into the general fund. This would restore the prior law status of the disposition of settlement funds by requiring the Attorney General to submit a proposal for the expenditure of uncommitted settlement funds to the Joint Committee on Finance under a passive review process. It is WEMTA's position that these funds belong in the Common School Fund.
Recollection Wisconsin and WISELearn: Reallocates $150,000 in FY22 and $200,000 in FY23 from WISELearn and providing an additional $100,000 in FY23 to support public library digital archiving efforts through Recollection Wisconsin.
Public Library System Aid: Provides an additional $2.5 million in the first year of the budget and an additional $4 million in the second year.
Library Service Contracts: Provides an additional $12,900 in the first year and $25,300 in the second year to fully fund the estimated costs of the library service contracts.
General School Aids: Provides a $221 million increase in the first year of the biennium and a $391 million increase in the second year of the biennium to restore two-thirds funding for schools. The Governor recommends providing a revenue limit adjustment of $200 per member in FY22 and $204 per member in FY23, and indexing the revenue limit adjustment to the change in consumer price index beginning in FY24.
Per Pupil Aid: Provides an increase of roughly $28 million per year to fully fund a per pupil payment of $750 and an additional payment of $75 to school districts for each economically disadvantaged student.
Out-of-School Time Programs Grant: Provides $20 million to create a new continuing grant program to support out-of-school time program sites and out-of-school time programs. DPI must award grants to school boards in amounts of not less than $80,000 and not more than $145,000 per school year, and each grant may continue up to five school years.
Computer Science Education Grants: Provides $750,000 to create a new grant program in FY23 to support professional development resulting in the licensing of computer science teachers.
Broadband Expansion Funding: Increases funding for the commission's broadband expansion grant program to over $150 million over the biennium, including: (a) a total of $74.8 million in FY22 and $72.9 million in FY23 in general purpose revenue funding; and (b) a minimum of $2 million annually in funding that is already budgeted from the universal service fund as part of a larger investment in broadband in the state. Also provides funding and position authority for an additional position in the State Broadband Office to assist with the expanded broadband grant program. Recommends creating a new general purpose revenue appropriation to cover all of the costs of the State Broadband Office.
Supporting Municipal Broadband: Recommends modifying statutory provisions that discourage municipalities from providing broadband service to residents in broadband "unserved" and "underserved" areas. Also recommends modifying current law to allow these same municipalities to apply for grants under the broadband expansion grant program.
Broadband Infrastructure Owned by Electric Utilities and Cooperatives: Recommends modifying current law to allow electric cooperatives and utilities to install, maintain or own broadband infrastructure on an eligible easement.
Broadband Line Extension Grant Program: Provides $1.8 million in funding for calendar year 22 and $3.5 million for calendar year 23 to establish a broadband line extension grant program, which will provide grants or financial assistance to eligible households to subsidize the cost of a line extension from existing broadband infrastructure to a residence.
Broadband Customer Protections: Recommends modifying current law to protect broadband customers by requiring broadband service providers to meet certain service requirements, including prohibiting a broadband service provider from denying service to residential customers on the basis of race or income. Other protections would require providers to:
Provide service satisfying minimum standards established by PSC and allow subscribers to terminate contracts if broadband service fails to satisfy those standards;
Provide service as described in advertisements or representations made to subscribers;
Repair broadband service within 72 hours after a subscriber reports an interruption that is not the result of a major system-wide or large area emergency;
Give subscribers credit for interruptions of broadband service that last more than 4 hours in a day; and
Give subscribers at least 30 days' advance written notice before instituting a rate increase.
Broadband Planning and Leadership Grant Program: Provides $300,000 in funding per calendar year to PSC to support the creation of a broadband planning and leadership grant program to assist communities as they develop plans to expand broadband service and access. Also recommends creating a grant resource team within the Department of Administration, which will, in part, provide technical assistance to communities in navigating state and federal broadband grant processes.
Broadband Granular Mapping Data Requirements: Recommends modifying current law to require Internet service providers to provide broadband coverage mapping data on a more granular level than required by the Federal Communications Commission. Provides $76,100 for calendar year 22 and $97,100 for calendar year 23 in funding and position authority to the commission to assist with the more comprehensive broadband mapping efforts.
Marijuana Legalization: Legalizes the use of recreational marijuana and directs proceeds from its taxation to programs at the Department of Children and Families and education. The Governor’s office estimates that marijuana legalization will generate $165 million in revenue per year. The Governor is proposing dividing the revenue up as follows:
$30 million for equity grants through the Department of Health Services, the Department of Administration, and the Department of Children and Families, respectively;
$5 million to fund grants to underserved communities through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation;
$34 million to support sparsity aid, which goes to small, rural school districts;
Remaining funds would go to the state’s general fund
Additional Resources for the Office: Increases funding by $154,900 in the first year and $162,800 in the second year to support a deputy secretary of state position, office operations associate position and one-time financing necessary to move the office to a new location.
Increasing Resources of the Office: Provides funding to create three new positions for the office including a chief of staff, financial officer and office manager. The Governor also recommends modifying the fund source split of the office and providing additional supplies and services for subscriptions and costs associated with moving to new space in FY22. The Governor further recommends that the State Treasurer serve on the Wisconsin Small Business Retirement Savings Board.
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