SB 762

This bill creates the Wisconsin Climate Corps (WCC) program to provide

workers to assist with the restoration and rebuilding of natural lands, climate

resiliency projects, and weatherization and energy efficiency projects in homes and

to provide employment training and career pathways for underserved communities.

The bill directs the Wisconsin Climate Corps Board, which is created under the bill

and attached to the Department of Administration, to contract with a nonprofit

corporation (manager) that has demonstrated experience in grant program writing

and administration, natural resource restoration and rebuilding, and youth

training, education, and employment to manage and administer the program. Under

the bill, the manager must remain neutral with respect to any union organizing

activities of workers in the program.

The bill provides that a WCC project must be designed to carry out a specific

goal within a defined period of time and must be focused on the restoration and

rebuilding of natural lands, weatherization and energy efficiency projects in homes,

or other climate resiliency projects in urban and rural areas of this state.

The bill allows local governments, tribal governments, nonprofit corporations,

and executive branch agencies to sponsor projects. The manager is required to

administer the grant program, including reviewing applications, approving projects,

and negotiating agreements with sponsors to provide work crews to complete eligible

projects, and to submit an annual report to DOA regarding each project. The board

may provide grants for projects approved by the manager. Under the bill, the

cumulative amount of administrative costs in connection with a grant may not

exceed 10 percent of the amount of the grant.

The bill provides a preference for work crew members on a WCC project to be

at least 16 and not more than 30 years old and a requirement that at least 50 percent

of the work crew members on each project be from underserved populations in this

state, as determined by the manager. The bill also provides that workers on projects

must be paid at least $15 per hour worked and receive a housing stipend and health

insurance coverage.

The bill requires each sponsor of a WCC project to erect a permanent plaque at

each work site that is on property owned by the federal government, the state, a local

government, a tribal government, or a nonprofit entity identifying the site as a WCC

project.

The bill allows DOA to retain its manager and allows other state agencies to

engage a WCC crew on a project without complying with state procurement laws,

including requirements for public notice to and competitive solicitation of

contractors and limitations on the circumstances under which contractual services

may be obtained.

Finally, the bill requires DOA to annually audit the program and submit an

annual report to the legislature identifying the projects that were completed in each