ARPA Update

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) posted additional guidance on their website for the American Rescue Plan Act – Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (LFRF).

ARPA Resources
 
Note: Updated allocation amounts for each individual non-entitlement community are not yet available. The Treasury expects to provide further guidance on distributions to non-entitlement units in the coming days.

Requesting Funding
  • Counties and metropolitan cities must complete the Treasury's process to request funding
  • Non-entitlement communities will receive funds from the State of Wisconsin next month. More information will be available after the Treasury issues further guidance on these distributions soon. 

Recent Assembly and Senate Floor Action

Both the Assembly and the Senate met last Tuesday and passed the following bills of interest to municipalities:

Senate

SB-91 Hydrologic Restoration (Sen. Cowles). A general permit for hydrologic restoration projects and creating a hydrologic restoration and management advisory council. The League supports this bill.

SB-117 Oversight of Police and Fire Departments in Populous Cities (Sen. Wanggaard). Imposes new requirements on boards of police and fire commissioners and protective services departments in Madison and Milwaukee. The League opposes this bill.

SB-124 Creating a Community Policing House Grant Program for Communities over 30,000 in Population. (Sen. Wanggaard). The League supports this bill.

SB-165 Sharing Police Employment Records with other Agencies. (Testin, Patrick) Requires law enforcement agencies to maintain an employment file for each employee. Under the bill, when a law enforcement agency, jail, or juvenile detention facility is recruiting for new officers, the agency, jail, or facility must require each candidate that is or has been employed by a different agency, jail, or facility to authorize that employer to disclose his or her employment files to the recruiting agency, jail, or facility and to release that employer from any liability related to the use and disclosure of the files. The League is neutral on this bill.

SB-248 Recycling (Sen. Cowles) Changes to the electronic waste recycling program and granting rule-making authority. The League supports this bill.

SB-254 Allowing waiver of interest and penalties on late 2021 property tax payments, and waiver of the timely payment requirement for filing certain property tax claims. (Sen. Feyen) The League is neutral on this bill.

Assembly

SB-52 Public notice of noncandidacy for incumbent local elected officials (Rep. Ramthun). The League supports this bill. The Senate passed this bill earlier. It will not be sent to the Governor for his signature.

JFC to Continue working on the state budget this Thursday

The co-chairs have not yet announced the budget topics that the committee will take up on Thursday. The agenda for Thursday's meeting will be posted on JFC's website once it is available. Also, background papers prepared by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, called Budget Papers, will be posted for Thursday's meeting here.

Local Transportation Funding Symposium Wednesday

WisDOT is hosting a Local Transportation Program Symposium for the upcoming 2022-2027 funding cycle on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in a virtual meeting from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The symposium will be streamed live via YouTube.

Representatives from the WisDOT Regions, WisDOT Central Office, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the University of Wisconsin Transportation Information Center (TIC) will be presenting information regarding Local Program updates.
On the morning of May 19, 2021 the following link may be used to attend the symposium: https://youtu.be/ty8JEvCOyDI
Presenters will cover updates to programs including the Surface Transportation Program (STP)-Urban, STP-Rural, Local Bridge Program, Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) and the Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) program.

This presentation will also provide information on the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), Transportation Economic Assistance (TEA) program, and the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP).
Prior to and during the symposium, questions about Local Programs may be submitted to: DOTLocalPrograms@dot.wi.gov. WisDOT staff will be monitoring this inbox for your questions and will respond during the symposium.

TAKE ACTION - ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITIES

Adopt the Shared Revenue Resolution!
Over 65 communities have adopted the League's model shared revenue resolution. Thank you to the cities and villages that have adopted or have added the Shared Revenue Resolution to their agenda for consideration. If your municipality isn’t on the list, it is NOT TOO LATE to take action in support of long-term funding for police, fire, parks, etc. We have provided a sample resolution - League Shared Revenue Take Action Plan (Check to see if your municipality is on the list at the same link. Did we miss you? Email Gail Sumi.)