45.41 Payments to veterans organizations.
(1) In this section:
(a) “Regional office" means the U.S. department of veterans affairs regional office in Wisconsin.
(b) “State veterans organization" means the state organization or department of a national veterans organization incorporated by an act of congress.
(2)
(am) Upon application the department may make a payment to any state veterans organization that establishes that it, or its national organization, or both, has maintained a full-time service office at the regional office for 5 consecutive years out of the 10-year period immediately preceding the application. Any payment shall be calculated based on the total amount of all salaries and travel expenses under sub. (3) paid during the previous fiscal year by the state veterans organization to employees engaged in veterans claims service and stationed at the regional office. The department shall pay an amount equal to 50 percent of all salaries and travel expenses under sub. (3) or $175,000, whichever is less, to a recipient under this paragraph.
(e) An organization that receives a payment under par. (am) shall maintain records as required by the department concerning the organization's expenditure of the payment. That organization shall give the department access to those records upon request of the department, and the department may audit those records.
(3) A state veterans organization shall file an application annually with the department for the previous 12-month period ending on March 31 of the year in which it is filed. The application shall contain a statement of salaries and travel expenses paid to employees of the organization engaged in veterans claims service activities at the regional office by the state veterans organization covering the period for which application for a payment is made. The statement shall be certified as correct by a certified public accountant licensed or certified under ch. 442 and sworn to as correct by the adjutant or principal officer of the state veterans organization. The application shall include the state organization's financial statement for its previous fiscal year and evidence of claims service activity that the department requires. The state veterans organization shall submit with its initial application sufficient evidence to establish that it or its national organization, or both, has maintained a full-time service office at the regional office for 5 consecutive years out of the 10-year period immediately preceding the application. Subsequent applications shall be accompanied by an affidavit by the adjutant or principal officer of the state veterans organization stating that the organization, on its own or with its national organization, maintained a full-time service office at the regional office for the entire 12-month period for which application for a payment is made.
(3m) If the total amount of payments committed to be paid under sub. (2) (am) exceeds the amount available for the payments from the appropriation under s. 20.485 (2) (vw), the department shall prorate the reimbursement payments among the state veterans organizations receiving the payments.
(4)
(a) From the appropriation under s. 20.485 (2) (s), the department shall annually provide a payment of $200,000 to the Wisconsin department of the Disabled American Veterans for the provision of transportation services to veterans.
(b) The Wisconsin department of the Disabled American Veterans shall maintain records as required by the department concerning its expenditure of the payment under par. (a). The Wisconsin department of the Disabled American Veterans shall give the department access to those records upon request of the department and the department may audit those records to ensure that the Wisconsin department of the Disabled American Veterans is using the payment under par. (a) to provide transportation services to veterans.
(5) From the appropriation under s. 20.485 (2) (vs), the department may annually grant up to $75,000 to the Wisconsin department of the American Legion for the operation of Camp American Legion.
History: 2005 a. 22; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20; 2017 a. 59; 2021 a. 58.
Structure Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
45.001 - Recognition of persons who served in the armed forces.
45.02 - Eligibility for benefits.
45.03 - Department of veterans affairs.
45.04 - Release of information and records.
45.05 - Registration of certificate of discharge.
45.07 - Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
45.09 - Veterans as classroom volunteers.
45.095 - Donation of abandoned vehicles.
45.12 - Wisconsin veteran-owned business logotypes.
45.13 - Wisconsin commission for the United States semiquincentennial commission.
45.20 - Tuition reimbursement.
45.21 - Retraining assistance program.
45.40 - Assistance to needy veterans.
45.41 - Payments to veterans organizations.
45.42 - Veterans personal loans.
45.43 - Veterans assistance program.
45.437 - Veterans employment and entrepreneurship grant program.
45.44 - Veterans fee waiver program.
45.46 - Grants to nonprofit organizations that serve veterans and their families.
45.47 - Record-keeping and audit requirements for grant programs administered by the department.
45.48 - Veterans outreach and recovery program.
45.50 - Veterans homes; management.
45.51 - Eligibility for membership.
45.55 - Notes and mortgages of minor veterans.
45.57 - Veterans homes; transfer of funding.
45.58 - Grants to local governments.
45.60 - Military funeral honors.
45.61 - Wisconsin veterans cemeteries.
45.62 - Burial places compiled.
45.72 - County and municipal memorials.
45.73 - Sites for veterans memorial halls.
45.74 - Memorial corporations organized under 1919 act.
45.75 - Memorials in populous counties.
45.80 - County veterans service officer.
45.81 - County veterans service commission.
45.82 - Grants to counties and tribes for improvement of services.