SB 254

Under current law, by agreement between the county board and any nonprofit private corporation, a county having a population of 750,000 or more may establish and maintain a memorial to commemorate the lives and deeds of persons who served the state or nation in war or other national service. Milwaukee County is the only county in the state with a population of 750,000 or more, and the county established and maintains a memorial called the War Memorial Center. This bill creates a continuing appropriation account for the Department of Veterans Affairs from which the War Memorial Center’s memorial board may request DVA to provide funds to it for support of the memorial. In making a request for the funds, the memorial board is required to describe its intended use of the funds, and to aver that it has secured equal matching funds that it will contribute to its intended project supporting the War Memorial Center. In addition, in each fiscal year in which the War Memorial Center’s memorial board receives funds from DVA as described under the bill, the War Memorial Center’s memorial board is required to submit a report to the Joint Committee on Finance that describes how the funds were used and that indicates how much money remains in the appropriation account.