This bill requires the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)
to establish and operate the office of the business ombudsman (office). Under the bill,
WEDC is required to staff the office with at least one full-time employee. The office
is required to serve as a liaison between businesses and Wisconsin agencies,
authorities created by statute, such as the Wisconsin Housing and Economic
Development Authority, counties, municipalities, and federal regulatory agencies
(collectively, government entities) and local economic development and community
development organizations. The bill requires that the primary goal of the office is
improve the conditions for conducting business in this state.

The bill requires the office to assist businesses to obtain and maintain any
applicable approval of a government entity required as a condition of operating a
business in Wisconsin or conducting any business activity in Wisconsin (permit).
Under the bill, the office's assistance concerning permits must include all of the
following:

1. Explaining the requirements for obtaining a particular permit.

2. Explaining the criteria the appropriate government entity applies in making
a determination on a permit application and the time period within which that
determination will typically be made.

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3. Arranging a meeting between the representatives of a business and the staff
of the appropriate government entity concerning a permit or the permit application
process.

4. Tracking the progress of a particular permit application.

5. Helping a business comply with applicable regulatory laws and rules,
including by providing plain-language explanations of those laws and rules.

The bill further requires that the office advocate for permit applicants,
including by monitoring the permit process to ensure that a permit is granted in the
shortest amount of time possible consistent with applicable substantive
requirements established by rule or law and advocating legislative changes to
improve and expedite any permit process.

Under the bill, the office must also provide mediation or other dispute
resolution services to facilitate the resolution of a dispute between a government
entity and a permit applicant. The bill specifies that the office is not liable for any
consequences resulting from the failure of a government entity to issue a permit or
the failure of a person to seek or obtain a permit.

With respect to state agencies, the bill gives the office the following additional
specific responsibilities:

1. Upon the written request of a business, the office must investigate the
circumstances of an enforcement action taken by the agency against the business
and prepare recommendations concerning alternative penalties against the
business, if any, that the office believes will achieve regulatory compliance without
causing unnecessary hardship to the business.

2. The office is required to submit to an agency taking such an enforcement
action a copy of the written request submitted by the business to the office; a copy
of any recommendations prepared by the office with respect to the enforcement
action; and a statement requesting that the agency submit to the office within 45
days a written response describing the enforcement action ultimately taken by the
agency, or that the agency intends ultimately to take, against the business and what,
if any, accommodations were made for the business as a result of the office's
recommendations.

3. Annually, the office is required to compile the requests received and
submissions made by the office concerning agency enforcement actions and any
responses to those submissions the office received from agencies; analyze and
evaluate that information and any other relevant information to determine
regulatory enforcement trends and the efficacy of the office in facilitating regulatory
relief to and promoting regulatory compliance by businesses; and include all of that
information and those findings in an annual report to the legislature concerning the
work of the office.

Likewise, the bill requires that state agencies work with the office and
businesses concerning permits and the permit application process, including by
doing all of the following:

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1. Designate at least one agency employee to coordinate the agency's
cooperation with the office and provide information to the office concerning the
agency's permits and permit applications.

2. Respond promptly to the office concerning a request from the office for
information about a permit or permit application or to expedite a permit.

3. Include information provided by the office about the office's services in any
informational material on permits that the agency provides to the public.

4. Promptly notify the office and the permit applicant if the agency determines
that an application for a permit is incomplete or otherwise defective and provide the
permit applicant a reasonable opportunity to correct the defect.

5. Periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the agency's administrative
rules and permit application forms to simplify and expedite the agency's permit
process.

6. Provide an opportunity for an informal preapplication meeting with the
agency's staff to any business interested in applying for a permit.

7. In any such preapplication meeting, identify all permits required by the
agency for a particular business activity, describe the steps and identify the time
period for each step in the permit process, and identify any potential problems the
business may encounter in that process.

8. Notify any business that contacts the agency about a permit of the
availability of a preapplication meeting and invite participation by office staff in any
preapplication meeting.

The bill also requires the office to act as an ombudsman for brownfields
redevelopment in Wisconsin. Under current law, brownfields redevelopment is any
work or undertaking by a person to acquire a brownfields facility or site and to raze,
demolish, remove, reconstruct, renovate, or rehabilitate the facility or existing
buildings, structures, or other improvements at the site for the purpose of promoting
the use of the facility or site for commercial, industrial, or other purposes. A
brownfield is an abandoned, idle, or underused industrial or commercial facility or
site, the expansion or redevelopment of which is adversely affected by actual or
perceived environmental contamination.

Under the bill, in its capacity as ombudsman for brownfields redevelopment,
the office must promote brownfields redevelopment and education of the public
concerning brownfields redevelopment; coordinate with government entities and
local economic development and community development organizations concerning
activities and responsibilities related to brownfields redevelopment; and, with the
Department of Workforce Development, coordinate job training related to
brownfields redevelopment for persons who are unemployed and reside in the
vicinity of a brownfields redevelopment project.

Finally, under the bill, the office must maintain and publicize the availability
of a toll-free telephone number available to in-state and out-of-state callers, and

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the office is required to seek to explain, promote, and publicize its services to the
public.