Rep. Lori Palmeri

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a state assistance program to help smaller municipalities, specifically 3rd and 4th class cities, villages, and towns, upgrade their water infrastructure to meet federal water quality standards. The program would provide grants covering up to 50 percent of project costs, with the Department of Natural Resources responsible for administering applications, setting eligibility criteria, and prioritizing projects based on established rules. An appropriation of $10 million is included for the 2025-26 fiscal year to fund these assistance payments, and the department must approve all project plans and specifications before funds are released.

Maddy summaryAB 890 allows healthcare providers to administer medically appropriate vaccines to minors aged 16 or older without parental consent if the minor requests it. The bill requires providers to obtain the minor’s consent before billing third parties for the vaccination; if the minor declines third-party billing, they pay directly and the department bills them per existing fee rules. This directly affects minors aged 16+ seeking vaccinations, healthcare providers, and billing processes for such services. The policy changes focus on expanding minor autonomy for specific vaccinations while maintaining clear billing requirements.

Maddy summaryAB 194 modifies Wisconsin's housing programs under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. It redefines "developer" to include tribal housing authorities (Section 3) and clarifies "residential housing" to include tax-exempt reservation or trust lands (Section 4). The bill reduces maximum loan limits for housing projects from 33% to 20% of development costs (Section 10) and from 25% to 10% (Section 11). It also requires local governments to submit cost-reduction analyses showing how zoning or fee changes lowered housing costs (Section 7), directly affecting developers, tribal entities, and local governments administering housing programs.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows local governments to require that certain top administrative employees live within their jurisdiction. It specifically permits police and fire departments to set residency rules for their chiefs, cities and villages to apply them to administrators, counties without elected executives to apply them to county administrators, and school boards to apply them to school district administrators. Additionally, cities and villages that have or are electing a city manager may require that manager to live locally. The changes take effect only for individuals hired after the bill becomes law, meaning existing employees are not affected.

Maddy summaryAB 916 creates a state-funded home repair program to address habitability issues and improve energy efficiency in affordable housing. It provides grants of up to $25,000 per unit to eligible homeowners (income ≤100% of area median income who own or occupy their homes) and interest-free loans of up to $25,000 to eligible landlords (owning ≤5 properties/15 units of affordable housing). The program prioritizes repairs for homes with health/safety hazards, energy efficiency upgrades, and accessibility improvements for individuals with disabilities or young children. Properties must be between 10 and 40 years old to qualify, and funds are administered by the state authority or contracted counties/nonprofits with strict reporting requirements.

Maddy summaryAB 1044 creates a state grant program allocating $300,000 for the 2025-26 fiscal year to help adult family homes, community-based residential facilities, nursing homes, and residential care apartment complexes purchase patient lift devices. These devices must be state-approved, allow independent or staff-assisted operation, and mechanically lift a person. Facilities receiving grants must report usage data, with up to $100,000 of the appropriation reserved for collecting and analyzing this information.

Maddy summaryAB 722 imposes annual fees on large energy customers in Wisconsin based on their peak electricity demand, starting at $2 million for those using 100-250 megawatts and increasing by $1 million for each additional 250-megawatt increment. Fifty percent of these fees will fund the Green Innovation Fund, managed by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The bill also requires data centers to report annual water usage to local governments, certify adherence to sustainable building standards (like LEED or BREEAM) within three years of operation, and pay workers the prevailing wage rate for large-scale construction projects exceeding $250 million in cost. These provisions directly affect large energy users, data center operators, and local governments managing water reporting.

Maddy summaryAB 785 establishes a program to cap electricity and gas costs at 2% of a household's annual income for energy burdened households (spending 2-4% of income on utilities) and severely energy burdened households (spending 4% or more, or having no income with utility bills). It prohibits utility disconnections for residential customers with income up to 300% of the federal poverty level due to nonpayment and creates an "energy burden relief fund" to finance the program. The bill requires automatic enrollment for eligible households, an online application portal, and annual reporting by the Public Service Commission on program administration and barriers to participation.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a state grant program to help school districts pay student teachers an hourly wage of at least $15 for their teaching hours during the 2026-27 school year and beyond. The funding comes from a state appropriation, with the Department of Public Instruction calculating and distributing payments to school boards based on the number of hours each student teacher worked in their district. The legislation also gives the department authority to create rules for administering the program and defines student teachers as individuals enrolled in approved teacher preparation programs who are completing their student teaching component.

Maddy summaryAB 155 designates a specific segment of U.S. Highway 12 in Lake Delton, Sauk County, as the "Tom Diehl Memorial Highway." The bill requires the state transportation department to officially mark this portion of the highway with the memorial name. This is a commemorative designation with no substantive policy changes or financial impact beyond signage. It directly affects the highway location in Lake Delton and honors Tom Diehl through the naming.