2025-2026 Legislative Bulletin

September 15, 2025

In this edition of the League's Legislative Bulletin, you'll find:

1. The League's Annual Fall Conference This Week

2. League Legislative Agenda in Action

3. Local Project Grants Open for Applications

4. Recently Introduced Legislation of Municipal Importance

5. Agency Anecdotes on:

a. DNR Rulemaking Comment Periods

b. Innovation Grant Program Opening

c. Natural Resources Grant Opportunities

d. Local Governments Reminded About EV Tax

e. Solid Waste Interested Parties Meeting

Fall Conference Kicks Off Wednesday

The League’s annual Fall Conference kicks off with a welcoming reception this Wednesday, September 17th and jampacked informative and educational programming from Thursday, September 18th to Friday, September 19th. We look forward to seeing many of you in Milwaukee for this fun and engaging event! 

League Legislative Agenda in Action

As the fall weather starts bringing cooler temperatures around Wisconsin, the action in the State Capitol is heating up. Guided by the League’s 2025-2026 Legislative Agenda, you’re Government Affairs Team is hard at work to advocate for the interests of cities and villages in state government. 

Last week, the League testified at a public hearing in the Assembly Local Government Committee on Assembly Bill 326. This legislation would provide financial assistance to local governments under 7,500 in population to obtain grant writing and compliance services to pursue certain grant opportunities. 

Thank you to Tim McCumber, Administrator in the Village of Lake Delton, and Andy Kurtz, Planning and Community Development Manager at Vierbicher, for joining us to testify on this legislation! Additional thanks go out to the bill’s authors, Representative Kurtz and Senator Marklein. Pictured to the right are Andy, Rep. Kurtz, and Tim following the hearing. 

Next week, the Senate Transportation and Local Government Committee will be hearing the companion bill, Senate Bill 337. In the same public hearing, the committee will take testimony on Senate Bill 216. This legislation raises the competitive bidding thresholds from $25,000 to $50,000 and notice thresholds from $5,000 to $10,000 for all non-transportation public construction projects. This legislation will also index all bidding and notice thresholds to the Consumer Price Index, adjusted every five years.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 23rd at 10:30am in Room 411 South of the State Capitol. If you’re interested in joining the League to testify in-favor of either or both of these bills, please send Toni and Evan an email at the addresses listed at the end of this email. We’d be excited to have you join us!

Local Project Grants Open for Applications

Does your community have a planned capital project that would have a statewide impact? If you answered yes and are shovel ready, then you’re encouraged to explore the Non-State Grant Program!

This program was first created in the 2023-2025 State Budget with $50 million and is continued in the 2025-2027 State Budget with an additional $50 million available. The League advocated for the replenishment of this important program. The Non-State Grant Program provides up to 50% of the cost for construction projects, public and private, that have a profound public purpose and support economic and community development.

This program is highly competitive with more than 250 applications received in the first round of funding and only 50 projects receiving funding. Among those 50 projects were two municipal awards, including $274,000 for the Appleton Public Library and $1.4 million to the City of Baraboo for upgrades to local emergency response. Many other awarded projects were supported by municipalities, including museums, clinics, and Boys and Girls Clubs.

Last week, Governor Evers announced the 2025 Non-State Grant Program is open for applications. All applicants must provide a match of at least 50% from non-state sources and all project awards are capped at $2 million. To learn more, visit the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s (DOA) webpage. DOA will also post program office hour dates and times on this webpage soon. Applications are due by 5pm on October 31st.

Recently Introduced Legislation of Municipal Importance

The following bill was recently introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature and has been added to the list of those being monitored by the League. Unless otherwise indicated, no formal position has been taken on this proposal to date. 

• Senate Bill 410: Fall Prevention Grants - Sen. Jacque (R-New Franken) and Rep. Gundrum (R-Slinger) - This legislation provides $450,000 per year in each year of this biennium for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to award a grant to the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging for the purpose of statewide falls prevention awareness and initiatives. 

⭐If you would like to contact your legislators on any bills mentioned in the Legislative Bulletin, you can find contact information for all legislators here. To find out which legislators represent your community, use the "Find Your Legislator" function on the right side of the page. 

Agency Anecdotes

DNR Rulemaking Comment Periods

In the September 2nd edition of the Legislative Bulletin, we announced that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule were now open to public comment. As a reminder, the DNR is holding a public hearing on the proposed rule this Wednesday, September 17th at 10am via Zoom with written comments due by Wednesday, September 24th.

The DNR has also announced that public comments are now being accepted on the proposed permanent administrative rule to set stringent maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFAS in drinking water. Following the enactment of an administrative rule in 2022, the Wisconsin MCLs for PFOA and PFOS, the two long-chain PFAS compounds, are 70 parts per trillion (ppt).

This proposed rule would lower the PFOA and PFOS standards to 4 ppt and set standards for shorter-chain PFAS compounds PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA at 10 ppt. Finally, the rule would set a hazard index of 1. The hazard index combines different concentrations of the regulated PFAS compounds to determine whether an overall threshold of PFAS has been met even if any individual PFAS compound does not exceed MCLs.

The DNR estimates that 96 public water systems will need to take action to comply with the onset of these standards by April 26, 2029. A public hearing on the proposed rule will be held on Thursday, October 2nd at 10am via Zoom and written comments are being accepted until Wednesday, October 8th. A full version of the draft rule may be found on the DNR’s website.

The League will be commenting on both proposed permanent administrative rules. We are concerned with the timeline, municipal costs, and possibility of getting ahead of the federal standards. A copy of the League’s comments will be provided in future Legislative Bulletins. 

Innovation Grant Program Opening Soon

The Innovation Grant Program at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) will be opening soon! Are you ready? Following the significant changes in the 2025-2027 State Budget, there’s certainly a reinvigorated buzz and energy surrounding the opening of this $300 million incentivization of consolidated or transferred services or duties. With resources to help plan your application available on DOR’s website, you can be certain your municipality doesn’t miss out on this exciting opportunity. 

Natural Resources Grant Opportunities

Four state grant opportunities are currently open for application to assist municipalities with natural resources-related planning and projects. These grant opportunities include:

• The Coastal Management Grant Program at DOA funds projects to protect or restore habitat, reduce nonpoint source pollution, promote education and planning, and improve access and preservation in Great Lakes communities. Applications are due by Monday, November 3rd.

• The Municipal Dam Grant Program at the DNR funds maintenance, repair, modification, or abandonment and removal projects of municipally-owned dams. These cost-sharing grants are highly competitive and must come at the directive of an engineering report. Applications are due by Friday, February 27, 2026.

• The Pre-Disaster Flood Resilience Grant Program at Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) assists in identifying flood vulnerabilities and implementing projects that restore natural hydrology to prevent the impacts from flooding events in your community. The Notice of Intent to Apply deadline is Friday, October 10th and the applications are due Friday, December 12th.
• A webinar on this grant program will be held this afternoon, September 15th, from 1pm to 2pm. A link to join this webinar is available here.

• The Surface Water Grant Program at the DNR funds education, planning, invasive species management and prevention, and surface water restoration and management through a series of different cost-sharing programs. Pre-applications are due today, September 15th, with the final applications due by Saturday, November 15th.

Local Governments Reminded About EV Tax

DOR has recently reminded local governments that own, operate, manage, or lease an electric vehicle (EV) charging station that you must implement a three cents per kilowatt-hour tax on this energy use. This tax applies even if the EV charger is not available to the public and even if the EV charger does not impose a fee for use. However, Level 1 and 2 chargers installed before March 22, 2024, are exempt from this requirement. Learn more on DOR’s website. 

Solid Waste Interested Parties Meeting

Next Tuesday, September 23rd, the DNR is holding their annual Solid Waste Interested Parties meeting on Microsoft Teams. This meeting will provide summaries of numerous important topics for those responsible for refuse and recycling in their municipalities, including an update on landfill and recycling fires, revisions to landfill and recycling rules, food waste evaluation results, and more. Registration for this 9:30am to 12:00pm virtual meeting is available here. 

Email questions or comments to:

Toni Herkert, Government Affairs Director, therkert@lwm-info.org

Evan Miller, Government Affairs Specialist, emiller@lwm-info.org