Evers signs bills to promote affordable housing, allow designs to proceed on engineering building

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Gov. Tony Evers signed bills on Friday that will allow housing authorities to develop mixed-use projects, interior designers to sign off on their own plans and design work to proceed on a $300 million new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Evers signed the bills as part of 15 pieces of legislation he approved on Friday. Among them was Senate Bill 533, which would give housing authorities the ability to develop mixed-use buildings and properties for both low- and moderate-income tenants.

The bill changed state laws that had limited housing authorities to working only on projects that serve low-income residents. Proponents of the legislation, including the city of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, argue it will add to the stock of affordable housing in the state.

The law also specifies that housing authorities can’t build units that serve tenants making more than double the median income in a particular area. The proposal would also raise from $25,000 to $50,000 the bidding threshold for construction work on housing-authority projects.

Interior designers

Interior designers will now have authority to approve their own project plans under Senate Bill 344, now Wisconsin Act 195.

State law had previously required interior designers to secure an architect’s stamp of approval for buildings of 50,000 cubic feet or more before code officials inspect the building. The bill gives interior designers the power to stamp their own plans on projects that don’t involve structural elements. It also requires interior designers to earn a four-year degree and have six years of practical experience to be registered in Wisconsin, among meeting other criteria.

The bill also adds interior designers to an existing oversight board. Instead of the Department of Safety and Professional Services, interior designers will be regulated by the Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers.

UW-Madison engineering building 

Assembly Bill 775, now Act 206, continues planning work for a new engineering building at UW-Madison after legislative Republicans stripped out money for the project from Gov. Tony Evers’ capital budget request last year.

The bill directs the State Building Commission to spend $1 million on planning and design work for the project, which could ultimately cost about $300 million.

UW-Madison officials say the  340,000-square-foot project would allow the school to admit an additional 1,000 undergraduate students a year. The project would replace the school’s existing engineering building, which was built in 1938.

The university plans to pursue money for the project in the state’s next two-year budget. UW-Madison would cover half the project’s costs with private donations and would seek $150 million in support from the state. Follow @natebeck9