385 Relating to: a veterans employment and entrepreneurship grant program, veteran employment grants, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)

  Date of enactment: April 25, 2016
2015 Senate Bill 419   Date of publication*: April 26, 2016

* Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes : Effective date of acts. "Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication."

2015 WISCONSIN ACT 385

An Act to repeal 20.485 (2) (q) and 45.435; and to create 20.485 (2) (qm) and 45.437 of the statutes; relating to: a veterans employment and entrepreneurship grant program, veteran employment grants, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1 . 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table

Section 2 . 20.485 (2) (q) of the statutes, as affected by 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 , is repealed.

Section 3 . 20.485 (2) (qm) of the statutes is created to read:

20.485 (2) (qm) Veterans employment and entrepreneurship grants. The amounts in the schedule for the payment of veterans employment and entrepreneurship grants under s. 45.437.

Section 4 . 45.435 of the statutes, as affected by 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 , is repealed.

Section 5 . 45.437 of the statutes is created to read:

45.437 Veterans employment and entrepreneurship grant program. (1) Definition. In this section, "disabled veteran" means a veteran who is verified by the department to have a service-connected disability rating of at least 50 percent under 38 USC 1114 or 1134 .

(2) Grants. (a) From the appropriation under s. 20.485 (2) (qm), the department may award up to $500,000 annually in grants to veterans, employers, and nonprofit organizations under this section.

(b) The department may not award a grant under par. (a) unless the department determines that the grant is likely to improve employment outcomes for veterans in this state. Subject to that limitation, the department may award grants to assist veteran entrepreneurs, to give employers in this state incentives to hire veterans, especially disabled veterans, to help fund employment training for veterans, especially disabled veterans, and for other programs or purposes as determined by the department by rule.

(3) Annual report. Annually, the department shall submit a report to the governor and to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) that includes all of the following:

(a) The number of grants awarded under this section.

(b) The amount of each grant awarded under this section.

(c) The purpose of each grant awarded under this section.

(d) The outcomes attributable to each grant awarded under this section.

(4) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules implementing this section. The rules promulgated under this subsection shall include rules establishing the specific goals grant recipients must meet and requiring that those goals be met before any grant moneys are disbursed.

Section 6 . Effective date.

(1) This act takes effect on July 1, 2016, or on the day after publication, whichever is later.