Wisconsin Legislative Council
ACT MEMO
One Ea st Ma in Stre e t, Suite 401 • Ma dison, W I 53703 • (608) 266-1304 • le g.council@le gis.wisconsin.gov • http://www.le gis.wisconsin.gov/lc
Prepared by: Dan Schmidt, Deputy Director February 5, 2024
2023 Wisconsin Act 89
[2023 Senate Bill 702]
Funding for Technical College
Oral Health Care Programs
2023 Wisconsin Act 89 authorizes the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) to provide up to $20,000,000
in funding from the JCF supplemental appropriation for the purpose of assisting technical college
programs to expand the state’s oral health care workforce. The funds are accessed based on a
coordinated plan of expenditures identified by the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) Board
and the appropriate technical colleges, which is submitted to JCF. The plan must include sufficient
information for JCF to determine that:
The requested funding will be used only for eligible expenditures to expand a technical college’s
existing oral health care program that has a capacity limit and a current waiting list or to create a
new oral health care program after a finding of demonstrated community interest in and need for
the program; and
The technical college will provide 20 percent matching funding, except that the technical college
must provide no less than 50 percent matching funding for instructor hiring bonuses.
The plan must include requests for the following:
Up to $2,000,000 for Northcentral Technical College to expand current dental hygienist and dental
assistant programs and for development of a dental therapy program if dental therapy becomes an
authorized dental practice;
Up to $1,430,000 for any other technical college that offers a dental hygienist program; and
Up to $1,000,000 for any technical college that offers no dental program or only a dental assistant
program, to create a new program or expand an existing program.
These technical colleges may also request additional funding under the plan, provided the funding will
be used for purposes that are consistent with the bill.
Eligible expenditures of the funds include:
Capital expenditures, such as expenditures for equipment or facility improvements or expansion.
Expenditures for instructional supplies, teaching materials and resources, consumables, or clinic
fees.
Instructor bonuses under certain specified conditions.
If JCF approves the required plan, funding is provided to the WTCS Board to verify plan compliance
and provide reimbursement to the individual technical colleges. If a technical college has not requested
reimbursement from the WTCS Board within 12 months after JCF approves the plan or if the technical
college informs the WTCS Board that it will not implement the program changes described in the
approved plan, the WTCS Board may submit a request to JCF to redistribute the funds allocated for that
technical college to another technical college to be used for a purpose consistent with the act, subject to
JCF approval under a 14-day passive review process. - 2 -
Finally, the act requires a district board that receives funding to report to the WTCS Board the amount
of funding the district board received, a detailed description of all expenditures for which the funding
was used, and the impact of the funding on the district board’s oral health care programs. A summary
report must be submitted to the Legislature as well.
Effective date: February 2, 2023
For a full history of the bill, visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
DWS:jal