The 2016-17 Executive Budget included a proposal to shift state regulatory oversight of Private Onsite Water Treatment Systems (POWTS) or septic systems. The shift would have transferred regulatory oversight of POWTS from the Department of Safety & Professional Services (DSPS) to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). To ensure this regulatory shift was amended out of the final budget document, KPAS created and managed a ten-member Rural Health & Economic Development Coalition to successfully lobby the Joint Committee on Finance to amend the Governor’s original budget proposal and provide consistent regulation of POWTS within the DSPS and grants for families unable to afford replacement POWTS for their personal residences.

For more than four years, the Elevator Industry Worker Preservation Fund had attempted to introduce the Elevator Safety & Worker Protection Act (2005 Act 456). The primary objective of that legislation was to ensure that all Wisconsinites would ride in properly installed and well-maintained conveyances. Additionally, Act 456 ensured that individuals and companies installing and maintaining conveyances were properly trained and certified to perform these tasks safely. In less than eight months, KPAS was able to get the bill introduced and passed into law with unanimous approval of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate. On May 5, 2006 Act 456 was signed into law.