Providing additional funding for the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and the Transitional Jobs program and making an appropriation. (FE)

Funding for the programs comes chiefly from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.

Under the programs, DCF pays to an employer, or a person with which DCF contracts to administer the programs (contractor), that employs a program participant a wage subsidy for up to 40 hours per week at minimum wage and may reimburse an employer or contractor for certain taxes, unemployment insurance contributions or taxes, and worker's compensation insurance premiums that are attributable to employment of the participant. To be eligible to participate in a program, an individual must be at least 18 years old, and, if over 24 years old, must be the parent or primary relative caregiver of a child under the age of 18; must have household income below 150 percent of the poverty line; must be unemployed for at least four weeks; must be ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits; and may not be participating in a Wisconsin Works employment position. An individual may participate in the program for a maximum of 1,040 hours, which is equivalent to 26 40-hour weeks.

This bill appropriates $9,000,000 of general purpose revenue (GPR) in fiscal year 2015-16 and $8,000,000 of GPR in fiscal year 2016-17 to expand the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and the Transitional Jobs program. Under the bill, 60 percent of the funding from this GPR appropriation is allocated to the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and 40 percent is allocated to the Transitional Jobs program. In order to participate in the expansion of either program funded by this GPR appropriation, an individual does not have to satisfy the criterion that, if over 24 years old, he or she must be the parent or primary relative caregiver of a child under the age of 18.