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Wisconsin Legislature: SB838: Bill Text
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SB838: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5603/1
MJW:cdc
2025 SENATE BILL 838
January 15, 2026 - Introduced by Senators
Jacque
,
Spreitzer
and
Habush Sinykin
, cosponsored by Representatives
O'Connor
,
Mursau
,
Stubbs
,
Gundrum
,
Kreibich
,
Dittrich
,
Ortiz-Velez
,
Sinicki
,
Behnke
and
McCarville
. Referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
SB838,1,3
1
An Act
to create
20.455 (5) (dm) and 165.925 of the statutes;
relating to:
a
2
human trafficking victim services grant program, granting rule-making
3
authority, and making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill establishes a grant program, administered by the Department of Justice, that provides grants to nonprofit organizations to provide support services to trafficking victims. The bill defines “support services” to mean any combination of direct victim advocacy, safety planning, housing, substance use disorder treatment, medical and behavioral health, job training, and employment support services. Under the bill, to be eligible for a grant, a nonprofit organization must submit an application that that describes the organization’s efforts to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies and includes a proposed plan for expenditure of the grant moneys, and the nonprofit organization must provide private matching funds that are equal to at least 50 percent of the grant amount. The bill provides $2,500,000 biennially for such grants.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SB838,1
1
Section
1
.
20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place,
2
insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
-
See PDF for table
SB838,2
8
Section
2
.
20.455 (5) (dm) of the statutes is created to read:
SB838,2,11
9
20.455
(5)
(dm)
Trafficking victim services grant program.
Biennially, the
10
amounts in the schedule to provide grants to nonprofit organizations under s.
11
165.925.
SB838,3
12
Section
3
.
165.925 of the statutes is created to read:
SB838,2,13
13
165.925
Trafficking victim services grant program.
(1)
In this section:
SB838,2,16
14
(a) “Nonprofit organization” means an organization described in section
501
15
(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that is exempt from federal income tax
16
under section
501
(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.
SB838,2,19
17
(b) “Support services” means any combination of direct victim advocacy,
18
safety planning, housing, substance use disorder treatment, medical and behavioral
19
health, job training, and employment support services.
SB838,2,22
20
(c) “Trafficking victim” means a person who was a victim of trafficking for the
21
purposes of a commercial sex act, as defined in s. 940.302 (1) (a), under s. 940.302 or
22
948.051 or under
22 USC 7101
to
7112
.
SB838,3,4
1
(2)
From the appropriation under s. 20.455 (5) (dm), the department of justice
2
shall award grants to nonprofit organizations to provide support services to
3
trafficking victims. To be eligible for a grant under this subsection, a nonprofit
4
organization shall do all of the following:
SB838,3,7
5
(a) Submit an application for a grant to the department of justice that
6
describes the organization’s efforts to coordinate with local law enforcement
7
agencies and includes a proposed plan for expenditure of the grant moneys.
SB838,3,9
8
(b) Provide matching funds that are equal to at least 50 percent of the grant
9
amount awarded under this subsection and that come from private funding sources.
SB838,3,11
10
(3)
The department of justice may award grants under sub. (2) in the
11
following amounts:
SB838,3,13
12
(a) To a nonprofit organization that provides among its services housing
13
services, up to $125,000 per fiscal biennium.
SB838,3,15
14
(b) To a nonprofit organization that provides only support services other than
15
housing services, up to $50,000 per fiscal biennium.
SB838,3,20
16
(4)
(a) In awarding grants under sub. (2), the department of justice shall give
17
preference to grant applicants that have a well-established relationship with local
18
law enforcement agencies and to grant applicants that are capable of providing
19
licensed services with licensed in-house staff or under a contract with a 3rd-party
20
provider that oversees provision of licensed services.
SB838,4,2
21
(b) In awarding grants under sub. (2) to nonprofit organizations that provide
22
housing services, the department of justice shall give preference to grant applicants
1
that have the ability to provide services to the greatest number of trafficking
2
victims.
SB838,4,5
3
(5)
The department of justice shall promulgate rules for the administration of
4
this section and the distribution of grants under this section, including developing
5
additional criteria on which grant awards may be based.
SB838,4,6
6
(end)
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