Safeguards for Wisconsin renters on the way? Here's what Evers wants.

Gov. Tony Evers is proposing several measures in his 2023-25 biennial budget proposal he says will make apartments safer for tenants across Wisconsin and strengthen cities’ abilities to hold landlords accountable.

Citing dangers of electrical fires in rental properties exposed in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation, Evers wants to do the following:

• Put $5 million into a Housing Safety Grant pilot program in Milwaukee to create a centralized and searchable database for renters to see the code enforcement history of each property; beef up inspection programs and provide money to landlords to fix minor code violations.

• Provide $100 million for municipalities statewide to restore blighted properties and create additional safe and affordable housing.

• Rebalance the landlord-tenant relationship by allowing local governments to proactively enforce code violations, place moratoriums on evictions, create fees for inspection programs and require landlords to disclose code violations to prospective tenants.

• Provide $60 million to create a legal assistance program for low-income people to have representation in eviction proceedings and other legal matters. 

“From 2011 to 2019, the Wisconsin Legislature passed more than 100 changes to landlord-tenant law, including eroding the ability of local governments to enact ordinances regulating the landlord-tenant relationship and hindering the ability of cities like Milwaukee to manage problematic landlords,” Evers wrote in a press release Monday.

The Republican-controlled Legislature will consider the proposals in coming months.

The Journal Sentinel's 2021 investigation Wires and Fires found that electrical fires hit Black renters in Milwaukee hardest, yet few in authority are ever held accountable.