Last week, Governor Evers signed into law several bills the League lobbied for that are beneficial to municipalities, including allowing clerks to issue operator's licenses, creating a new water quality trading option to help communities comply with phosphorus standards, cleaning up the confusing process for filling vacancies in local elective offices, and allowing municipalities to conduct levy limit referendums earlier in the year than November. These and other new laws positively impacting municipalities are described in more detail below. Upon signing two of these bills, Governor Ever's quipped "Common sense prevails." Indeed.

SB 91 -- (now Act 151). Authorizes water quality credit trades to be facilitated by a central clearinghouse. This bill creates another option for communities to use when attempting to find affordable ways to comply with phosphorus and other water pollution standards that apply to wastewater treatment plant effluent and stormwater. The League thanks Sen. Cowles (R-Green Bay) and Rep. Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) for introducing this bill.

SB 203 -- (now Act 166) Allows municipal governing bodies to delegate to the clerk or other appropriate official the authority to issue operator’s (bartender’s) licenses. This bill will speed up the time it takes for a person to obtain an operator’s license and free up more time on the governing body’s agenda for policy actions. The League thanks Sen. Kapenga (R-Delafield) and Rep. Knodl (R-Germantown) for introducing this bill.

SB 108 -- (now Act 164) Makes the process for filling vacancies in elective city and village offices clearer and easier to follow. The bill eliminates confusing dates in current law while retaining the flexibility local governing bodies need for determining how best to fill a vacancy. The League worked with Rep. Brooks (R-Saukville) and Sen. Stroebel (R-Saukville) to draft this bill and we thank them for introducing it.

AB 310 -- (now Act 126) Makes it possible for a municipality or county to conduct a referendum to exceed levy limits earlier in the year than November, which is the earliest such a referendum could occur under prior law. November is too late to inform the annual municipal budget writing process. The League worked with the authors and the Wisconsin Counties Association on this bill. The League thanks Rep. Novak (R-Dodgeville), Rep. Shankland (D-Stevens Point) and Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) for introducing AB 310.

AB 472 -- (now Act 133) Treats joint emergency medical services districts the same as joint fire departments under the levy limit law. The bill expands the joint fire department levy limit exception to also include payments for charges assessed by a joint emergency medical services district. The League thanks Rep. Loudenbeck (R-Clinton) and Sen. Nass (R-Whitewater) for introducing this bill.

SB 637 (now Act 175) Allows for the reconstruction of or improvements to nonconforming homes in a floodplain even if costs exceed 50% of the property's assessed value if certain conditions apply. The League thanks Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Pronschinske (R-Mondovi) for introducing this bill.

AB 661 -- (now Act 140) Clarifies that notice of governmental body meetings to the public under the open meetings law must be accomplished by using one of the following methods:

Rep.Quinn (R-Rice Lake) and Sen. Jacque (R-DePere) introduced this bill at the request of the Wisconsin Towns Association.

AB 532 -- (now Act 136) Allows a taxpayer to decrease the amount of capital gains subject to income and franchise taxation by investing in a Wisconsin qualified opportunity fund holding at least 90 percent of its assets in property that qualifies under the federal opportunity zone program and is located in one of Wisconsin's 120 opportunity zones. Rep. Vandermeer (R-Tomah) and Sen. Feyen (R-Fond du Lac) introduced this bill with the strong encouragement and support of the City of Racine.

AB 607 -- (now Act 139) Increases the amount of total funding for the length-of-service award grant program for volunteer fire fighters and EMTs from $2.5 million in a fiscal year to $2.8 million in fiscal year 2019-20 and $2.9 million in 2020-2021 and each subsequent year after. Rep. Mursau (R-Crivitz) and Sen. Testin (R-Stevens Point) introduced this bill.

AB 818 -- (now Act 146) Authorizes DOT to issue permits for the overweight transport of residual material to and from municipal sewage treatment facilities. Rep. Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) and Sen. Petrowski (R-Marathon) introduced this bill.

SB 369 (now Act 159) Requires the adjutant general to pay to a local government the state’s share of federal emergency management grants for major disaster recovery assistance within 30 days after: (1) the state receives the federal emergency assistance funds; (2) the adjutant general has received all required state and federal forms from the local government; and (3) the local unit of government has fulfilled all other state and federal requirements. Sen. Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Kurtz (R-Wonowoc) introduced this bill.

On February 28, Governor Evers signed SB 50 into law as Act 108, creating standards for law enforcement agencies that use body cameras on police officers. The Legislative Council Study Committee on the Use of Police Body Cameras recommended the bill. Under the Act, if a law enforcement agency uses a body camera, the agency must have a written policy on the use, maintenance, and storage of the cameras and the data recorded by the cameras. The bill also requires that the law enforcement agencies retain data from the recordings for at least 120 days and specifies the circumstances in which that data must be retained longer. The Act took effect March 1.

A Legislative Council memo provides more information about Act 108, here.