Kurtz Bills Signed Into Law

Contact: Rep. Tony Kurtz
rep.kurtz@legis.wi.gov

Kurtz Bills Signed Into Law

MADISON – Today, Governor Evers signed three bills authored by Rep. Kurtz into law.

2023 Wisconsin Act 221 was authored with Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green). Act 221 creates a grant program to assist local agencies with updating their technology equipment and infrastructure for the Wisconsin Interoperability System for Communications (WISCOM), a radio system that permits emergency responders from public safety agencies to communicate across jurisdictions.

2023 Wisconsin Act 222 was authored with Sen. Patrick Testin (R- Stevens Point). Act 222 will continue the current practice of allowing providers to recover their costs of facilitating Next Generation 911 (NG-911) by creating a grant program for incumbent local exchange carriers to receive reimbursement for some of their costs. These costs may include IP-based transport of NG-911; purchasing, installing, and maintaining NG-911 equipment; and NG-911 database management. Next Generation 911 provides better technology and access to emergency communication. In addition to 911 voice capabilities, NG-911 allows the public to send texts, images, video and data to a 911 center.

2023 Wisconsin Act 244 was authored with Sen. Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan). Act 244 increases the cap for state aid for local fairs from $10,000 to $20,000 and prohibits the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection from implementing rules that prohibit someone from being able to collect a state-aided premium for their exhibit at multiple fairs. This rule would discourage increased participation at fairs and places an administrative burden on fairs that is difficult to enforce, especially for smaller fairs like the Juneau County Fair and Elroy Fair. The most recent state budget provided additional funding for county and district fairs, bringing the state aid up to a total of $650,000 annually to account for the changes made in the bill.

Last week, Governor Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 158. Authored with Sen. Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan), Act 158 authorizes the Department of Transportation to issue permits for transporting fluid milk product in vehicle combinations up to a maximum weight of 98,000 pounds. The bill also further defines “Fluid milk product” is to include raw milk and liquid milk products and byproducts, including liquid whey and whey byproducts. These changes will support growth in our dairy industry and provide needed updates to dairy hauling regulations. 

Rep. Kurtz has one additional bill waiting for final action by the governor. Assembly Bill 540/Senate Bill 518, authored with Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), would provide $20 million for Campus Community Transition Grants to be awarded to a county that has a two-year branch campus closed to in-person instruction, with a maximum amount of $2 million per county. These grants will help a county plan and redevelop underutilized campus buildings in the event of a campus closure. The money may be used for economic development, housing, and other redevelopment opportunities. This bill is critically important to several counties who have invested millions in these 2 year campuses as the UW-System decides what to do with the remaining campuses.

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