SB 712

This bill makes an appropriation for the Board of Regents of the University of

Wisconsin System to fund a freshwater collaborative among no more than six UW

institutions that has the following purposes: 1) studying the challenge of water

quality management, including a focus on nutrient runoff, farm policy impacts, and

other issues; and 2) studying the challenge of water quality and safety, including a

focus on treatment, contamination, and other issues. The bill requires the

freshwater collaborative to do all of the following to accomplish those purposes: 1)

devise new watercentric training programs focused on undergraduates; 2) provide

an opportunity for students to participate in a work-study internship program in a

state office that coordinates state water policy; 3) provide scholarships and student

support to retain and attract new talent; 4) amplify marketing and recruiting

relating to Wisconsin's role in freshwater science; 5) enhance workforce development

programming; and 6) recruit new faculty and staff for training programs, research,

and innovation.

The bill requires the Board of Regents to establish metrics for determining the

success of the freshwater collaborative and submit those metrics to the Joint

Committee on Finance. The Board of Regents may expend the moneys appropriated

under the bill if JCF does not schedule a meeting to review the metrics. However,

if JCF schedules a meeting, the moneys may be expended only after JCF approves

or modifies the metrics.

The Board of Regents must appoint a nine-member committee to advise the

board on how to allocate the funding among UW institutions. One member is the UW

System president. The Board of Regents must appoint two members who are

nationally recognized objective experts who have shown expertise in the field of

water science. Those two members must be selected from a list of five individuals

recommended by the UW System president. The senate majority leader and

assembly speaker each appoint two members with one representing the agricultural

industry and the other representing a private sector nonagricultural industry.

Finally, the governor appoints two members with one representing a private sector

nonagricultural industry and the other representing a municipal water utility of a

second class city with a population of less than 150,000.

The bill also requires the Board of Regents to submit a biennial report to the

Joint Committee on Finance and other legislative committees that shows how

funding under the bill is distributed and expended at each UW institution, as well

as information on demographics and accomplishments of the collaborative.