Date of enactment: March 22, 2024
2023 Assembly Bill 1079 Date of publication*: March 23, 2024
2023 WISCONSIN ACT 206
AN ACT to repeal 45.61 (2) (am), 45.61 (2) (b), 45.61 (2) (c) (intro.), 45.61 (2) (c) 3., 45.61 (2) (e), 45.61 (5) (b),
230.212 and 322.120 (3) (a) 2.; to renumber and amend 45.61 (5) (a); to amend 16.53 (1) (d) 1., 45.61 (2) (a), 45.61
(2) (c) 1., 45.61 (2) (c) 2., 45.61 (2) (d), 45.61 (3), 45.61 (4) (a) and 230.05 (7); and to create 16.53 (1) (d) 5. and
230.212 of the statutes; relating to: employment of direct−care employees by veterans homes, eligibility for burial
in veterans cemeteries, and elements of sexual assault under the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 16.53 (1) (d) 1. of the statutes is amended
to read:
16.53 (1) (d) 1. The secretary, with the approval of the
joint committee on employment relations, shall fix the
time and frequency for payment of salaries due elective
and appointive officers and employees of the state. As
Except as provided in subd. 5., as determined under this
subdivision, the salaries shall be paid either monthly,
semimonthly or for each 2−week period.
SECTION 2. 16.53 (1) (d) 5. of the statutes is created
to read:
16.53 (1) (d) 5. Beginning on April 1, 2025, at the
request of the employee, the salary for an employee who
provides direct care to residents of a veterans home, as
defined in s. 45.01 (12m), shall be paid on a weekly basis.
SECTION 3. 45.61 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended
to read:
45.61 (2) (a) A person who died while on active duty
or who was discharged or released from active duty in the
U.S. armed forces under conditions other than dishonor-
able and who was a resident of this state at the time of his
or her entry into active service and his or her dependent
child and surviving spouse.
SECTION 4. 45.61 (2) (am) of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 5. 45.61 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 6. 45.61 (2) (c) (intro.) of the statutes is
repealed.
SECTION 7. 45.61 (2) (c) 1. of the statutes is amended
to read:
45.61 (2) (c) 1. Is The spouse or dependent child of
a person who is serving on active duty at the time of the
spouse’s or dependent child’s death if the person was a
resident of this state at the time of his or her entry or reen-
try into active service.
SECTION 8. 45.61 (2) (c) 2. of the statutes is amended
to read:
45.61 (2) (c) 2. Was a resident of this state at the time
of his or her entry or reentry into active service and The
spouse of a person who was discharged or released from
active duty in the U.S. armed forces under honorable con-
ditions.
SECTION 9. 45.61 (2) (c) 3. of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 10. 45.61 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended
to read:
* 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.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 206 2023 Assembly Bill 1079
45.61 (2) (d) A person who was a resident of this state
at the time of his or her entry or reentry into service served
in any a national guard or a reserve component of the U.S.
armed forces or who was a resident of this state for at least
12 consecutive months immediately preceding his or her
death, and the person’s spouse, surviving spouse, and
dependent children, if the person is eligible for burial in
a national cemetery under 38 USC 2402.
SECTION 11. 45.61 (2) (e) of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 12. 45.61 (3) of the statutes is amended to
read:
45.61 (3) FEES AND COSTS. The department may
charge a fee for burials under this section and may pro-
mulgate rules for the assessment of any fee. The cost of
preparing the grave and the erection of a marker for a per-
son described under sub. (2) (a), (b), or (d), or (e) shall be
paid from the appropriation under s. 20.485 (1) (gk).
SECTION 13. 45.61 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended
to read:
45.61 (4) (a) Application for burial shall be made to
the department. The surviving spouse of the person
described under sub. (2) (a), (b), or (d), or (e), if that per-
son is interred at the Central Wisconsin Veterans Memo-
rial Cemetery, shall have the privilege of selecting a plot
next to that person if available. The department shall
hold the plot for the surviving spouse for a period of one
year from the date of granting the privilege, but may
extend the hold, on request, for additional one−year peri-
ods.
SECTION 14. 45.61 (5) (a) of the statutes is renum-
bered 45.61 (5) and amended to read:
45.61 (5) Expenses incident to the burial under this
section of persons described in sub. (2) (a) and (b) to (e)
shall be paid from the estate of the decedent, except that
if there is no estate or the estate is insufficient, the
expense of burial, or necessary part of the burial, shall be
paid from the appropriation accounts under s. 20.485 (4)
(g), (m), or (q) or, for members of veterans homes, from
the appropriation account under s. 20.485 (1) (gk) for
members of veterans homes, and the. The amount
expended for those expenses under this subsection shall
not exceed the amount established for funeral and burial
expenses under s. 49.785 (1) (b).
SECTION 15. 45.61 (5) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 16. 230.05 (7) of the statutes is amended to
read:
230.05 (7) The Except as provided in s. 230.212 (1),
the director shall use techniques and procedures designed
to certify eligible applicants to any vacant permanent
position within 30 days after the filing of an appropriate
request by an appointing authority.
SECTION 17. 230.05 (7) of the statutes, as affected by
2023 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is amended to read:
230.05 (7) Except as provided in s. 230.212 (1), the
The director shall use techniques and procedures
designed to certify eligible applicants to any vacant per-
manent position within 30 days after the filing of an
appropriate request by an appointing authority.
SECTION 18. 230.212 of the statutes is created to read:
230.212 Veterans homes recruiting. (1) The direc-
tor shall use techniques and procedures designed to cer-
tify eligible applicants to any vacant permanent position
at a veterans home, as defined in s. 45.01 (12m), within
7 business days after the filing of an appropriate request
from the department of veterans affairs. Notwithstand-
ing s. 230.25 (3), the director shall maintain a register of
certified eligible applicants for veterans homes until noti-
fied by the department of veterans affairs that the depart-
ment no longer needs that register of certified eligible
applicants.
(2) The director shall allow a veterans home, as
defined in s. 45.01 (12m), to fill permanent vacant posi-
tions for nurses, nurse aides, medical assistants, and dieti-
tians who are graduates of an institution of higher educa-
tion or completed an instructional or training program in
this state without using the procedures established under
this subchapter if all of the following apply:
(a) The offer of employment is made before the indi-
vidual graduates from the institution of higher education
or completes a training or instructional program.
(b) For a nursing position, the individual is eligible
to be licensed under ch. 441.
(c) For a nurse aide position, the instructional pro-
gram the individual completed was approved under s.
146.40 (3) or (3g).
(d) For a medical assistant position, the training pro-
gram the individual completed was accredited by the
National Commission for Certifying Agencies, a national
medical association, or a state medical association.
(e) For a dietitian position, the individual is eligible
to be certified under subch. V of ch. 448.
(e) The offer of employment is contingent upon grad-
uation or successful completion of a training program.
(3) Notwithstanding s. 230.16, the director shall
exempt from rating panels and interview panels any
applicant for a position that is not supervisory and that
provides direct care to a resident of a veterans home, as
defined in s. 45.01 (12m).
SECTION 19. 230.212 of the statutes, as created by
2023 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.
SECTION 20. 322.120 (3) (a) 2. of the statutes is
repealed.
SECTION 21.0Effective dates. This act takes effect on
the day after publication, except as follows:
(1) The treatment of s. 230.05 (7) (by SECTION 17)
and the repeal of s. 230.212 take effect on January 1,
2029.