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2025 SENATE BILL 149
March 21, 2025 - Introduced by Senators LARSON and SPREITZER, cosponsored by
Representatives PHELPS, CRUZ, CLANCY, HONG, MADISON, ARNEY, BARE,
BROWN, DESANTO, DESMIDT, FITZGERALD, GOODWIN, HYSELL, JOHNSON,
JOERS, KIRSCH, MAYADEV, MIRESSE, MCGUIRE, MOORE OMOKUNDE,
NEUBAUER, ORTIZ-VELEZ, PALMERI, PRADO, ROE, RIVERA-WAGNER, SHEEHAN,
STUBBS, STROUD, TENORIO and UDELL. Referred to Committee on Government
Operations, Labor and Economic Development.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to create 13.40 of the statutes; relating to: requiring the legislature to
convene an extraordinary session if an executive order of the president of the
United States freezes federal aid to the state.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires the legislature to convene an extraordinary session if the
president of the United States issues an executive order under which federal aid to
Wisconsin that was previously authorized under an act of Congress is frozen. The
extraordinary session must be called for legislative consideration of a bill that does
all of the following:
1. Establishes a procedure to estimate the amounts of federal aid that each
state agency, eligible local governmental unit, and eligible nonprofit organization is
likely to be deprived of as a result of the executive order. Only those local
governmental units and nonprofit organizations that receive federal moneys under
a state appropriation qualify as eligible.
2. Provides for payments from the budget stabilization fund to state agencies,
eligible local governmental units, and eligible nonprofit organizations to offset
estimated deprivation amounts.
3. Prioritizes payments to offset deprivation amounts of federal aid that fund
essential services.
4. Limits payments to eligible local governmental units and eligible nonprofit
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organizations to no more than the amounts the eligible local governmental unit or
eligible nonprofit organization would have received under a state appropriation of
federal moneys but for the executive order.
5. To the extent allowed under federal law, provides for reimbursement to the
budget stabilization fund for the payments specified in item 2 whenever the state
receives a back payment of federal aid moneys that were previously frozen by
executive order of the president.
6. Provides that if, in lieu of reimbursement to the budget stabilization fund,
federal aid moneys received by the state as a back payment are paid to a state
agency, eligible local governmental unit, or eligible nonprofit organization, the state
agency, eligible local governmental unit, or eligible nonprofit organization must
remit to the state for deposit in the budget stabilization fund an amount equal to
the back payment amount received.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 13.40 of the statutes is created to read:
13.40 Frozen federal aid. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
(a) XEligible local governmental unitY means a political subdivision, a special
purpose district, an agency or corporation of a political subdivision or special
purpose district, a school district, or a combination or subunit of any of the
foregoing, in this state that receives funding under an appropriation of federal
moneys made under ch. 20.
(b) XEligible nonprofit organizationY means an organization or association not
organized or conducted for pecuniary profit that is exempt from taxation under
section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code and that receives funding under an
appropriation of federal moneys made under ch. 20.
(c) XState agencyY means an association, authority, board, department,
commission, independent agency, institution, system, office, society, or other body
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in state government created or authorized to be created by the constitution or any
law.
(2) EXTRAORDINARY SESSION. If the president of the United States issues an
executive order under which federal aid to this state that was previously authorized
under an act of Congress is frozen, the assembly and senate committees on
organization shall as soon as practicable and without delay convene an
extraordinary session of the legislature for legislative consideration of a bill, which
the assembly or senate committee on organization shall have drafted and
introduced, that does all of the following:
(a) Establishes a procedure to estimate the amounts of federal aid that each
state agency, eligible local governmental unit, and eligible nonprofit organization is
likely to be deprived of as a result of the executive order.
(b) Provides for payments from the budget stabilization fund to state agencies,
eligible local governmental units, and eligible nonprofit organizations to offset
deprivation amounts estimated under the procedure established in par. (a).
(c) Prioritizes payments under par. (b) to offset estimated deprivation
amounts of federal aid that fund essential services, which shall be defined under
the bill.
(d) Limits payments to eligible local governmental units and eligible nonprofit
organizations to no more than the amounts the eligible local governmental unit or
eligible nonprofit organization would have received under an appropriation of
federal moneys made under ch. 20 but for the executive order.
(e) To the extent allowed under federal law, provides for reimbursement to the
budget stabilization fund for payments made under par. (b) whenever the state
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receives a back payment of federal aid moneys that were previously frozen by
executive order of the president.
(f) Provides that if, in lieu of reimbursement to the budget stabilization fund
under par. (e), federal aid moneys received by the state as a back payment are paid
to a state agency, eligible local governmental unit, or eligible nonprofit
organization, the state agency, eligible local governmental unit, or eligible nonprofit
organization shall remit to the state for deposit in the budget stabilization fund an
amount equal to the back payment amount previously paid to the state agency,
eligible local governmental unit, or eligible nonprofit organization.
(END)
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