Read the full stored bill text
Wisconsin Legislature: SB809: Bill Text
Skip navigation
Home
Documents
Senate
Assembly
Committees
Service Agencies
Docs
Options
Help
2025 Biennium
Statutes
Admin. Rules
Indices
Miscellaneous
Archives
Home
Bill, Rule, and Appointment Histories
Senators
Representatives
Committees
Text of Introduced Proposals
Amendment Text
Acts
Veto Messages
Enrolled Bills
Votes
Assembly and Senate Floor Calendars
Schedule of Committee Activities
Assembly and Senate Journals
Committee Records (ROCPs)
Legislative Rules
All Session-Related Documents
Subject Index to Acts
Subject Index to Legislation
Subject Index to Journals
Author Index to Legislation
Subject Index to Clearinghouse Rules
Miscellaneous Budget Documents
Executive Orders
Rulings of the Chair
Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules
Opinions of the Attorney General
Town Law Forms
Law
Districts
Session
Drafting Files
Feeds
Preferences
Show tree
Hide tree
Feedback
Help
Home
Senate Home
Senators
Committees
Session
Chief Clerk
Sergeant at Arms
Civics Education
Human Resources
Assembly Home
Representatives
Committees
Session
Chief Clerk
Sergeant at Arms
Human Resources
Schedule
Joint
Senate
Assembly
Study
Legislative Audit Bureau
Legislative Council
Legislative Fiscal Bureau
Legislative Human Resources Office
Legislative Reference Bureau
Legislative Technology Services Bureau
Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
SB809: Bill Text
Up
Up
2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5743/1
MPG:emw
2025 SENATE BILL 809
January 2, 2026 - Introduced by Senators
Testin
,
Dassler-Alfheim
,
Feyen
,
Keyeski
,
Ratcliff
,
Spreitzer
and
Tomczyk
, cosponsored by Representatives
Kurtz
,
Armstrong
,
Brill
,
Green
,
Kaufert
,
Kitchens
,
Mursau
,
Novak
,
Sinicki
,
Stubbs
and
Knodl
. Referred to Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.
SB809,1,5
1
An Act
to repeal
238.143 (2) and 238.143 (3) (c);
to amend
238.143 (3) (a),
2
238.143 (3) (b) (intro.), 238.143 (4) and 238.143 (6);
to repeal and recreate
3
238.143 (3) (title);
to create
238.143 (3) (cm) of the statutes;
relating to:
the
4
opportunity attraction and promotion program administered by the Wisconsin
5
Economic Development Corporation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill makes various changes to the opportunity attraction and promotion program administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Under current law, WEDC must establish and administer an economic development program for the purpose of attracting major opportunities and events to this state. Currently, any city, village, town, or county, American Indian tribe or band, area visitor and convention bureau, business improvement district, or private entity (eligible applicant) may apply for a grant under the program, and WEDC must award grants to eligible applicants for major opportunities and events projects that meet certain criteria. The bill eliminates the grant program and instead requires WEDC to sponsor eligible applicants for major opportunities and events initiatives that meet the current law criteria.
Under current law and, except as described below, under the bill, an eligible applicant must expend all moneys received from WEDC on a project (initiative under the bill) to attract to this state or host in this state, or both, a major opportunity or event that is open to the public, whether or not free of charge. Specifically, WEDC moneys may be used to undertake a project (initiative under the bill) to do one or more of the following: 1) bid against other states or jurisdictions outside this state to attract an opportunity or event that will draw national exposure and drive economic development and visitors to this state or 2) host an opportunity or event that will attract national exposure and drive economic development and visitors to this state that the eligible applicant has secured through a competitive bid against other states or jurisdictions outside this state.
The bill authorizes WEDC to award sponsorship moneys to eligible applicants to expend on initiatives to attract or host in this state major opportunities or events that are not open to the public if WEDC determines that the opportunity or event will attract national exposure to this state or contribute substantially to statewide or regional economic growth. Under the bill, WEDC must give special consideration to applications for such sponsorship moneys for initiatives WEDC determines would occur during a tourist offseason or a period of economic need for the state. Additionally, no such sponsorship moneys may be for opportunities or events that WEDC determines are regularly scheduled or rotate destinations within this state.
Under current law, an eligible applicant must include in its application an estimate of projected direct and indirect economic benefits of the proposed opportunity or event and a related cost-benefit analysis concerning the opportunity or event. The bill eliminates that requirement and instead requires WEDC to estimate the projected direct and indirect economic benefits of an eligible applicant’s proposed opportunity or event before awarding a sponsorship to the eligible applicant.
Under current law, an eligible applicant must secure from nonstate sources an amount equal to the amount of the proposed grant award. The bill eliminates the requirement that matching funds must be nonstate sources and provides that matching funds for sponsorship awards may be cash or in-kind contributions.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SB809,1
1
Section
1
.
238.143 (2) of the statutes is repealed.
SB809,2
2
Section
2
.
238.143 (3) (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
SB809,2,3
3
238.143
(3)
(title)
Opportunity attraction and promotion sponsorships.
SB809,3
4
Section
3
.
238.143 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB809,3,6
5
238.143
(3)
(a) The corporation shall
award grants to
sponsor
eligible
6
applicants for major opportunities and events
projects
initiatives
as provided under
1
par.
pars.
(b)
and (cm)
. The corporation shall prescribe the form of
sponsorship
2
application and the information required to be submitted with
an
a sponsorship
3
application
, which shall include an
. Prior to awarding a sponsorship, the
4
corporation shall
estimate
of
the
projected direct and indirect economic benefits of
5
the proposed opportunity or event to the state
and a related cost-benefit analysis
6
concerning the opportunity or event
.
SB809,4
7
Section
4
.
238.143 (3) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB809,3,13
8
238.143
(3)
(b) (intro.)
An
Except as provided in par. (cm), an
eligible
9
applicant shall expend all
grant
sponsorship
moneys on
a project
an initiative
as
10
specified in the application to attract to this state or host in this state, or both, a
11
major opportunity or event that is open to the public, whether or not free of charge.
12
Specifically,
grant
sponsorship
moneys may be used to undertake a project to do one
13
or more of the following:
SB809,5
14
Section
5
.
238.143 (3) (c) of the statutes is repealed.
SB809,6
15
Section
6
.
238.143 (3) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:
SB809,4,4
16
238.143
(3)
(cm) An eligible applicant may expend sponsorship moneys on an
17
initiative, as specified in the application, to attract to this state or host in this state,
18
or both, a major opportunity or event that is not open to the public if the corporation
19
determines that the opportunity or event will attract national exposure to this state
20
or contribute substantially to statewide or regional economic growth. The
21
corporation shall give special consideration to applications for sponsorship moneys
22
under this paragraph for initiatives the corporation determines would occur during
23
a tourist offseason or a period of economic need for the state. No sponsorship
24
moneys may be expended under this paragraph for opportunities or events that the
1
corporation determines are regularly scheduled in this state or rotate destinations
2
within the state. In each fiscal year, of all the moneys the corporation allocates to
3
the program under this section, no more than 25 percent of those moneys may be
4
expended under this paragraph.
SB809,7
5
Section
7
.
238.143 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB809,4,9
6
238.143
(4)
Matching requirement.
The corporation may not award a
grant
7
sponsorship
under sub. (3) unless the eligible applicant has secured
from nonstate
8
sources
cash or in-kind contributions in
an amount equal to the amount of the
9
proposed
grant
sponsorship award
.
SB809,8
10
Section
8
.
238.143 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB809,4,15
11
238.143
(6)
Annual report.
No later than October 1 of each year, the
12
corporation shall submit a report to the joint committee on finance for the previous
13
fiscal year that includes a detailed description of each
grant
sponsorship
awarded
14
under sub. (3), including the
eligible applicant’s analysis
corporation’s estimate
15
concerning the opportunity or event.
SB809,4,16
16
(end)
Down
Down
/2025/related/proposals/sb809
true
proposaltext
/2025/related/proposals/sb809
proposaltext/2025/REG/SB809
proposaltext/2025/REG/SB809
section
true
Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
SB809: Bill Text
×
Details for
PDF view
Link
(Permanent link)
Bookmark this location
View toggle
Go to top of document
Search in this chapter
Search in this section
Search in this agency
Search in this chapter group
Search in this chapter
Search in this section
Cross references for section
Acts affecting this section
References to this
1970 Statutes Annotations
Appellate Court Citations
Administrative Code Index
Reference lines
Clear highlighting