Under current law, a group home must pay a biennial license fee of $75, plus $10 per child, based on licensed capacity. This bill raises that fee to $180, plus $24 per child, based on licensed capacity.
Under current law, a day care center that provides care and supervision for 9 or more children must pay a biennial license fee of $25, plus $5 per child, based on licensed capacity. This bill raises the per child fee to $10 per child.
Under current law, DHSS may order certain sanctions against a child welfare agency, shelter care facility, group home or day care center (licensee) that violates a provision of licensure or a rule promulgated by DHSS. If the licensee fails to comply with such an order, DHSS may, after providing notice and an explanation of the penalties and appeal process, directly assess forfeitures (civil monetary penalties) of not less than $10 or more than $50 for each day of violation. This bill increases that maximum daily forfeiture amount to $1,000. The bill also permits DHSS, after providing notice and an explanation of the penalties and appeal process, to assess a forfeiture against a licensee that violates a provision of licensure or a rule, without first ordering a sanction against the licensee.
Under current law, a person whose birth parent's rights have been terminated, or who has been adopted, in this state may request DHSS to provide the person, after the person reaches 18 years of age, with medical or genetic information filed with DHSS by the person's birth parents, with a copy of the person's original birth certificate and with the identity and location of the person's birth parents. If the person's birth parent has not filed the medical or genetic information with DHSS or has not filed an affidavit authorizing DHSS to disclose the person's original birth certificate or the identity and location of the birth parent, DHSS must conduct a search for the birth parent to obtain the medical or genetic information or to inform the birth parent that he or she may file an affidavit authorizing that disclosure. This process is called the adoption search program. This bill permits DHSS to contract with a county department or a licensed child welfare agency to administer the adoption search program.
Under current law, DHSS provides adoption services for children with special needs. This bill requires DHSS to develop a plan by July 1, 1997, for contracting out the adoption services currently provided by DHSS for children with special needs.
Under current law, DHSS administers various child care grant programs. Current law specifies certain procedures and eligibility criteria that DHSS must follow in awarding grants under those programs. This bill simplifies those procedures and criteria by eliminating certain requirements specified in current law.
Under current law, DHSS distributes state revenues, as community aids, and federal child care grant moneys to counties for child care services for parents who are gainfully employed and who need child care services (low-income child care); for parents who are at-risk of becoming eligible for AFDC (at-risk child care); and for parents who need child care services to prevent or remedy child abuse or neglect, to alleviate stress in the family or to preserve the family unit (respite child care). This bill requires DHSS to recover overpayments made for low-income, at-risk and respite child care. The bill requires DHSS to promulgate rules regarding the recovery of those child care overpayments.
Currently, if the at-risk child care funds distributed to a county are insufficient to meet the needs of all eligible parents, the county must distribute those funds to the following persons according to the following order of priority: 1) to parents who are working and who have been recipients of AFDC within the last 12 months (transitional child care); 2) to parents who are working and who have been recipients of AFDC, but not within the last 12 months (post-transitional child care); and 3) to participants in the new hope project (a program to assist low-income people in finding jobs). This bill eliminates the order of priority for at-risk child care funds.
Under current law, unspent or unencumbered child care funds that DHSS carries forward from one calendar year to the next may be used to provide child care in counties with unmet needs, to provide child care start-up and expansion grants and to provide training for child care providers. This bill eliminates the use of those funds for child care start-up and expansion grants and permits DHSS to use those funds to provide child care for certain recipients of AFDC and for former recipients of AFDC and to automate state child care licensing.
Current law appropriates a sum sufficient to provide state aid for certain county-administered public assistance programs, including AFDC, and for the cost of foster care and treatment foster care provided by certain nonlegally responsible relatives under state-administered or county-administered programs. Currently, this aid for the cost of this foster care by nonlegally responsible relatives is provided by reimbursing counties for their costs of providing this foster care. As a result, counties need not use community aids foster care funds for foster care provided by nonlegally responsible relatives under state-administered or county-administered programs. This bill limits the amount that may be paid from the sum sufficient appropriation to a county for foster care provided by nonlegally responsible relatives to the amount that the county received for these reimbursements in 1994.
Under current law, the child abuse and neglect prevention board awards general purpose revenues (GPR), program revenues (PR) received by the board as contributions, gifts, grants and bequests and segregated revenues (SEG) received by the children's trust fund as contributions, gifts, grants and bequests, to nonprofit organizations and public agencies to provide parenting education services and culturally competent outreach services to the parents of newborn infants (right from the start program). This bill eliminates GPR funding for this program and provides instead for PR funding from duplicate birth certificate fees for the program. The bill also increases the fee for a copy of a birth certificate from $10 to $15 and increases the amount of that fee that is credited to the board from $5 to $7.50.
Under current law, DHSS awards grants to counties that have high numbers of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect to provide 24-hour crisis and respite care for abused and neglected children (children-in-crisis program). This bill eliminates this program.
Under current law, DHSS must allocate $250,000 in each fiscal year to enter into a contract with an organization to provide services in Milwaukee County to divert youths from gang activities. In addition, current law requires DHSS to allocate $300,000 in each fiscal year to that organization for alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) education and treatment services for participants in the organization's youth diversion program. This bill eliminates the allocation to that organization for AODA education and treatment.
Mental illness and developmental disabilities
Under current law, a law enforcement officer or a juvenile court intake worker may take a person into custody, in a process known as emergency detention, if the officer or worker has cause to believe that the person is mentally ill, drug dependent or developmentally disabled and if the person evidences certain dangerousness. The law enforcement officer must transport the person to a mental health treatment facility, where the treatment director must, within 24 hours, determine if the person must be detained and, if the person consents, treated. If the person is detained, he or she must be released within 72 hours, excluding holidays and weekends, or a petition for commitment must be filed against the person. Individuals who act in accordance with the authorization provided by these laws are not liable in civil court for actions taken in good faith.
This bill authorizes a treatment director of a mental health treatment facility or his or her designee to evaluate and diagnose, as well as treat, an individual who so consents and who has been transported to the facility under emergency detention or who has voluntarily entered the facility. The immunity in civil court that is provided to individuals who act in accordance with the laws under emergency detention is, by the bill, extended to the evaluation and diagnosis of persons under emergency detention or who voluntarily enter mental health treatment facilities. The bill also specifically extends immunity to the making of a determination that an individual has or does not have mental illness or is or is not dangerous. Lastly, the bill extends immunity to a director of a treatment facility, or his or her designee, who under a court order evaluates, diagnoses or treats an individual who is confined in a jail.
This bill requires DHSS to investigate the feasibility of and analyze the potential savings and efficiencies of contracting with a private vendor to operate the state centers for the developmentally disabled and selling the state centers for the developmentally disabled to such a private vendor. By June 30, 1996, DHSS must report the findings resulting from its investigation and analysis to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature and to the governor.
Under this bill, beginning on January 1, 1996, a county must annually establish, from the sum of the county's annual allocation of moneys under the community integration program for persons relocated or meeting reimbursable levels of care (commonly known as "CIP II") and under the community options program, a maximum amount of not more than 25% for expenditure for services to persons residing in C-BRFs. The county must deny eligibility to these persons if they are initially applying for CIP II or community options program services and if the funding for their care would exceed the 25% maximum, unless DHSS, under criteria promulgated as rules, grants an exception based on the person's hardship that would result if the requirement is enforced. If a county's services, under CIP II or the community options program, to persons residing in community-based residential facilities exceed the 25% maximum as of January 1, 1996, the county may seek a waiver of the requirement from DHSS. DHSS must provide technical assistance to counties to explore alternative methods of providing services. DHSS also must submit, by October 1, 1995, rules establishing criteria for hardship exceptions, as proposed, and the proposed standards for granting variances to counties to DOA for review and approval.
Under this bill, community options program services that are funded solely from state general purpose revenues may not be used to provide services in a C-BRF with more than 8 beds unless DHSS approves. DHSS is authorized to approve the provision if the C-BRF is composed of independent apartments for certain disabled or elderly residents or if the C-BRF meets standards that, under the bill, DHSS must establish by January 1, 1996. DHSS must submit the proposed standards to DOA for approval by October 1, 1995.
This bill requires DHSS to develop, by January 1, 1996, a model contract for purchase of long-term community support services under the community options program for persons who reside in C-BRFs. Under the bill, county departments of social services, human services, community programs or developmental disabilities services, agencies of county and tribal governments that are directed by county or tribal commissions on aging and private nonprofit agencies that contract with providers for these services must use the model contract.
Under current law, long-term support services under the community options program are funded from state revenues; under a waiver of federal medicaid laws, home and community-based services under the community options program are funded from a combination of state revenues and federal medicaid funds. The latter funding is commonly known as "COP waiver" funding. If a person who is eligible for community options program services and for medical assistance refuses the offer of community options program services that are funded under the "COP waiver", the person may not receive community options program services that are funded solely from state revenues, except for services funded during a 90-day period in which an application for "COP waiver" funding is processed. A person who is denied services on this basis may not request a hearing to review the denial.
This bill expands the limitation on use of solely state-funded community options program services by denying these services to persons who are eligible for and are offered and yet refuse home and community-based services under the community integration programs for persons who are relocated from certain institutions or who meet certain level-of-care requirements.
Current federal medicaid law prohibits federal funding, under this state's medical assistance program, of mentally ill persons aged 21 to 64 who receive services in a facility that the federal health care financing administration finds is an institution for mental diseases (IMD). Currently, 2 programs under DHSS fund, from state revenues, services for persons who reside in or who are relocated into communities from facilities that are found to be IMDs.
This bill expands eligibility for a program that funds services for persons who reside in or who are relocated from IMDs. The bill permits funding, at a rate that is 90% of the medical assistance reimbursement rate for the IMD in fiscal year 1987-88, for community-based care for persons who are at least 65 and are relocated from an IMD, if the IMD closes a bed for the relocation.
This bill eliminates an appropriation to DHSS to provide community mental health protection and advocacy services.
This bill eliminates a program under which DHSS must award a grant to a private nonprofit organization to collect and disseminate information on Alzheimer's disease, to coordinate public awareness activities related to the disease and to provide training, technical assistance and training material to certain entities that provide services to persons with the disease.
This bill revises the program of mental health services for severely emotionally disturbed children. The bill authorizes DHSS to transfer funds, for use as inpatient and community mental health services for severely emotionally disturbed children, from the medical assistance appropriation for distribution to applying counties that meet certain requirements. In order to receive the funding, a county must be the recipient of a federal grant for comprehensive community mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances; be the recipient of any other grant for services for severely emotionally disturbed children; or meet requirements for participating in the integrated services programs for children with severe disabilities and meet certain other requirements. The bill requires that a county that is applying for the funds submit a proposed plan for children who are served under the program to be enrolled in a limited services health organization at the time that the program terminates. Funding that is used under this revised program that is not encumbered by a recipient county by the June 30 that is 24 months after the fiscal year in which the funds were distributed lapses to the medical assistance appropriation.
The bill also permits moneys received as payments in restitution of property that is damaged at the Mendota or Winnebago mental health institutes or at the state centers for the developmentally disabled and money that is received from the sale of surplus property at the mental health institutes or state centers for the developmentally disabled to be used for replacement of the damaged property.
Other health and social services
This bill changes the name of DHSS, on July 1, 1996, to the department of health and family services.
Under current law, the division of vocational rehabilitation, a subunit of DHSS, administers the vocational rehabilitation laws. Under these laws, DHSS assists eligible handicapped persons to become capable of competing in the labor market, practicing a profession, raising a family and making a home or participating in sheltered employment or other gainful work. Among other requirements under current law, DHSS must assess and evaluate services appropriate to each individual, develop an individualized written rehabilitation program with each handicapped person and develop and supervise services that are part of any handicapped person's vocational rehabilitation program. DHSS must also provide medical or other evaluations at no cost to the applicant to determine the applicant's eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services. DHSS must also provide rehabilitation teaching services for persons who are blind or visually impaired regardless of their eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services. Finally, under current law, DHSS may provide interpreters for the hearing impaired and must, subject to availability of funds, provide assistance to hearing-impaired persons to secure telecommunication devices. DHSS must provide, free of charge, at the request of an eligible hearing impaired person, a vehicle sticker that apprises law enforcement officers of the fact that the operator or owner of the vehicle is hearing impaired.
This bill transfers the division of vocational rehabilitation from DHSS to DILHR on July 1, 1996. Under this bill, DILHR is responsible for administering the vocational rehabilitation laws for handicapped persons except that DHSS retains responsibility for administering nonvocational services for the hearing and visually impaired.
This bill authorizes DHSS to regulate a type of facility, known as an assisted living facility, beginning on July 1, 1996. Under the bill, an assisted living facility is defined as a place in which at least 5 adults reside, that consists entirely of independent apartments and that provides not more than 28 hours per week of supportive, personal and nursing services to a resident of the facility. The bill requires that an assisted living facility be certified by DHSS as a provider of medical assistance in order to operate and requires DHSS to promulgate rules, approved by DOA, that establish standards for the certification.
Under current law, DHSS allocates $52,400 in each state fiscal year to contract with an organization to provide services to Hispanic workers who have been injured in industrial accidents. The services provided include group support and self-help activities, counseling, advocacy on behalf of injured workers for appropriate services, interpreter services, outreach and assistance in maximizing utilization of certain public programs. This bill eliminates this funding.
Under current law, generally only after a man has been adjudicated to be the father of a nonmarital child in a paternity action may the man be ordered to pay child support for the child. However, if the man has signed and filed with the state registrar a statement acknowledging paternity, a judge or family court commissioner may order the man to pay child support in any action affecting the family, such as an action for support. Within one year after signing a statement acknowledging paternity or one year after attaining age 18, whichever is later, a person who signed the statement may request that the judge or family court commissioner order blood tests. If the results of the blood tests exclude the man as the father of the child, the court must dismiss any action for support, or vacate any order for support, with respect to the man.
This bill provides that, if the results of the blood tests exclude the man, the court must also notify the state registrar, who must prepare a new birth certificate for the child, omitting the man's name. If no action for support has been filed, a person who has signed a statement acknowledging paternity may request that the county child support agency arrange for blood tests. If the results exclude the man, the child support agency must notify the state registrar. The bill also provides that a nonjudicial determination of paternity that has the same effect as a judgment of paternity becomes effective when a statement acknowledging paternity has been on file with the state registrar for one year or one year after the man who signed the statement attains age 18, whichever is later. Such a determination may be reopened under the same circumstances as a judgment of paternity.
This bill prohibits a C-BRF from initially admitting a potential resident who intends to pay for residency from private funds unless the C-BRF first obtains financial information from the potential resident at the time that he or she applies for admission. The potential resident must waive to specified persons his or her right to confidentiality of the information provided. From this information, the C-BRF must prepare a statement of financial condition of the potential resident and provide the statement to him or her. The statement must estimate a date, if any, by which the person's assets and other funding sources would be depleted, must indicate that, at the time of depletion, public funding may not be available in order to remain in the C-BRF and must specify options available to the individual at that time. If the estimated date of depletion of the individual's funds is less than 24 months after the date of the financial statement, the C-BRF must forward the statement to the county department of social services.
Under current law, DHSS, as part of the home-based enterprise program, is required to provide services, vocational rehabilitation, craft instruction and a supervised business initiatives program to severely handicapped persons who are eligible for vocational rehabilitation services. DHSS is permitted to own, lease, manage, supervise or operate businesses for the benefit of severely handicapped persons, including home-based craft work, also known as the homecraft program. Currently, the homecraft program is funded, in part, by a federal grant. Those persons ineligible to participate under the federal grant may participate in a portion of the program funded by state revenue.
This bill eliminates the homecraft portion of the home-based enterprise program funded by state revenue.
Under current law, community aids funds are distributed in accordance with certain statutory allocations. There is a basic county allocation from which DHSS allocates money to the counties for social services in general. There are also a number of specific categorical allocations for specific types of social services. Current law has categorical allocations for services to children and families; supportive home care services; child care services; community support programs; community-based programs for the developmentally disabled; family support programs; Alzheimer's family and caregiver support services; emergency services; and alcohol, drug abuse and mental health services. This bill restructures community aids allocations into a single general community aids allocation and 3 specific categorical allocations -- one for prevention and treatment of substance abuse, one for community mental health services and one for child care services -- and allocates funding for each of the categories.
Under current law, community aids funds that are not spent or encumbered by December 31 of each year lapse to the general fund. However, current law contains a number of provisions allowing counties, tribal governing bodies and nonprofit organizations to carry over certain community aids funds to the next year. Under one of these provisions, DHSS is permitted to carry forward up to 3% of the total amount of community aids funds, other than certain child care funds, that are allocated for use by the county, tribal governing body or nonprofit organization. These funds may be used in the following calendar year, subject to certain limitations. One of these limitations prevents DHSS from carrying forward more than 25% of the amount allocated to the county, tribal governing body or nonprofit organization under certain community aids categorical allocations. This bill repeals this 25% rule. Under current law, if DHSS determines that a county department will be unable to expend certain funds for at-risk child care, low-income child care and respite child care by December 31 each year, DHSS may authorize that county department to expend part of these funds for the start-up, improvement or expansion of child care services or facilities, to the extent permitted by federal law. This bill repeals this provision.
Under current law, counties are required to provide matching funds for community aids funds distributed from certain allocations. Each county's yearly required match equals 9.89% of the total of the county's distributions for that year for which matching funds are required. These matching funds may come from county tax levies, federal and state revenue sharing funds or, subject to certain limitations, private donations. This bill eliminates these county matching requirements.
The bill also makes certain changes relating to the administration of the community aids program. The bill requires county departments of health or social services, county departments of community programs, county departments of developmental disabilities services and tribal governing bodies to submit to DHSS, before October 1 of each year beginning in 1995, a proposed budget for the expenditure of community aids funds. The proposed budget must be submitted on a form developed by DHSS and approved by DOA. In addition, the bill requires DHSS to develop performance standards for all services funded through community aids. These performance standards are to be developed after consultation with DOA and with county departments and are required to be implemented no later than July 1, 1996.
Under current law, the payee or payer under a judgment or order providing for child or family support may file a petition, motion or order to show cause with the court to have the amount of support revised. The court or family court commissioner may not revise the amount of support unless the person requesting the change can show a substantial change in circumstances since the last order or revision. If the court or family court commissioner revises child or family support, it must be done by using a percentage standard. The revised amount may deviate from the amount that would result from use of the percentage standard if, on the basis of various factors, the court or family court commissioner determines that use of the percentage standard would be unfair to the child or to either of the parties.
This bill provides that a payee under a judgment or order for child or family support may file an affidavit with the court for a revision of the support, unless the current judgment or order is based on the percentage standard and is expressed as a percentage of income or unless less than 33 months have elapsed since the entry of the current judgment or order. The affidavit must include: facts supporting a reasonable basis for a substantial change in circumstances; the proposed amount of support, which must be determined by using the percentage standard; the number of children to be supported under the revised judgment or order; and the payer's current income or earning capacity, if the proposed amount of support is expressed as a fixed sum or as a combination of a percentage and a fixed sum in the alternative. The payee must serve the affidavit on the payer, or send it by registered or certified mail to the payer's last-known address. Upon proof of service on the payer, the court must send notice to the payer that informs the payer that the court or family court commissioner may revise the support amount as requested in the affidavit unless the payer requests a hearing within 30 days.
If the payer does not timely request a hearing, the court or family court commissioner may revise the support amount as requested in the affidavit if the affidavit complies with all of the requirements under the statute and demonstrates to the satisfaction of the court or family court commissioner that the revision in support is determined in a manner consistent with the statute under current law that provides for revision of support. If the support is revised, the court must send the revised order to the payer along with notice that an assignment is in effect for the new amount of support. If the payer does timely request a hearing, the court or family court commissioner must hold a hearing and determine, in accordance with the statute in current law that provides for revision of support, whether the support should be revised.
Under current law, DHSS must provide agencies of county and tribal governments that are directed by county or tribal commissions on aging with funds to provide older individuals with the services of benefit specialists or appropriate referrals for assistance. Benefit specialists offer information, advice and assistance that are related to eligibility for and problems with public benefits and services, health care financing, insurance, housing and other financial and consumer concerns and refer individuals who are in need of legal representation to legal resources.
This bill removes the requirement that tribal governments provide benefit specialist services and the funding for this purpose and requires, instead, that only counties both receive funding for these services and provide these services to all older individuals living within the county.
Currently, county departments of social services must submit to DHSS their plans and contracts for care and services that the county departments will purchase. DHSS, in turn, must review the contracts and approve them if they are consistent with DHSS rules and procedures and if state and federal funds are available for their purposes.
This bill authorizes, rather than requires, DHSS to require county departments of social services, human services, community programs and developmental disabilities services to submit contracts for the purchase of care and services to DHSS for review and approval.
Current law provides a procedure for the involuntary commitment for treatment of sexually violent persons. A sexually violent person who is committed for treatment may be placed in an institution for care or may be placed on supervised release in the community. DHSS is responsible for the costs of evaluating, treating and caring for sexually violent persons who are committed for treatment. This bill clarifies that if a sexually violent person is placed on supervised release, DHSS is responsible for paying for treatment and care provided to the sexually violent person while he or she is in the community.
Under current law, if a child's birth occurs in or en route to a hospital and if the child's parents are unmarried, the hospital administrator or certain other persons must provide the child's mother with a voluntary paternity acknowledgment form and with a pamphlet that has information about birth certificates.
This bill requires that trained, designated hospital staff provide oral information to the child's available unmarried parents about the voluntary paternity acknowledgment form and about the legal significance and benefits of establishing paternity.
Under current law, a general purpose revenue appropriation to DHSS funds payments to counties for establishing paternity. Another general purpose revenue appropriation to DHSS funds assistance to certain counties in establishing paternity and obtaining child support and payments to Milwaukee County for an additional family court commissioner. A program revenue appropriation to DHSS that consists of child support moneys collected for children receiving AFDC funds, among other things, state incentive payments to counties that meet certain efficiency criteria for paternity establishment and child support collection. Another program revenue appropriation to DHSS from the same funding source, (AFDC child support collections), funds grants to counties for programs to revise child support orders.
This bill provides one single program revenue appropriation to DHSS for payments to counties for all activities related to child support establishment and collection, funded entirely from AFDC child support collections.
This bill eliminates a program in DHSS to conduct a statewide elder abuse awareness campaign.
This bill directs DHSS to conduct a study, and submit its conclusions and recommendations to DOA and JCF by December 1, 1995, on limiting licenses issued by the state for failure to pay child or family support. DHSS must address such issues as: what licenses are amenable to limitation; what types of limitations are feasible; how to implement such a program; the cost of administering such a program; and the estimated increase in support collections from such a program.
Insurance
Under current law, the commissioner of insurance may by rule prescribe educational prerequisites and set continuing education standards for insurance intermediaries (generally, insurance agents). The commissioner may also suspend the license of an intermediary who fails to produce evidence of compliance with any continuing education standards set by the commissioner.
This bill authorizes the commissioner to approve organizations that may offer prelicensing or continuing education courses or programs, for an initial fee not exceeding $500 and an annual renewal fee not exceeding $100, and to approve the courses that an approved organization may offer, for a fee not exceeding $25 per credit hour. The bill also provides that if an intermediary whose license is suspended for failure to produce evidence of compliance with continuing education standards produces such evidence within 60 days after the license is suspended, the license is reinstated, effective on the date of the suspension. If the intermediary does not produce evidence of compliance within 60 days, however, the license is revoked and the intermediary must satisfy all original licensing requirements to be relicensed.
Under current law, every business corporation, including a nonprofit corporation, and every limited partnership must maintain in this state a registered agent for service of process. Current law does not require insurers to maintain a registered agent for service of process. Service is made on the commissioner of insurance or, if a legal proceeding is brought by the state, on the secretary of state. The commissioner or secretary of state must send a copy of the process by certified mail to the person served at the person's last-known principal place of business, residence or post-office address. The fee for service on the commissioner is $5.
This bill requires every insurer to maintain in this state a registered agent for service of process, whose name and address must be filed with the commissioner. If an insurer fails to maintain an agent or if the agent cannot be found, substituted service may be made on the commissioner, or on the secretary of state if the action is brought by the state. If substituted service is made, the commissioner or the secretary of state must follow the same procedure as before for mailing the process. The bill, however, increases the fee for service on the commissioner to $10.
Under current law, the commissioner of insurance collects fees for various services provided by the office of the commissioner of insurance (OCI). The fees are used to pay for the general operating costs of OCI. This bill increases the fees for insurers, rate service organizations and motor clubs for: filing documents required by law as a prerequisite to operating in this state; issuing a certificate of authority; annually continuing a certificate of authority; and filing an annual statement. The bill also creates a fee for certifying copies of a number of types of documents, such as certificates of authority and annual statements.
Under current law, hospitals must use a uniform accounting system developed by the office of health care information (OHCI) in OCI and specified in rules promulgated by the commissioner of insurance. This bill eliminates that requirement.
Under current law, the activities of OHCI are funded by assessments paid by hospitals in proportion to gross private-pay patient revenues during the most recently concluded fiscal year. One of the responsibilities of OHCI is to collect health care information from health care providers other than hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to analyze and disseminate in language that can be understood by lay persons. General operations of OCI are funded by fees paid by insurers for various services provided by OCI, such as issuing certificates of authority, filing annual statements and listing insurance agents.
Under this bill, the responsibility of OHCI to collect, analyze and disseminate information from health care providers other than hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers may be funded from OCI's appropriation derived from insurer fees, as well as from the appropriation for OHCI derived from hospital assessments.
OCI administers the patients compensation fund, the local government property insurance fund and the state life insurance fund. The patients compensation fund is derived from assessments paid by certain health care providers, and the other 2 funds are derived from premiums paid by policyholders insured under the funds. For each fund there exists an annual appropriation (from which the unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year lapses back to the fund) for paying the expenses of administering the fund and a continuing appropriation (from which the balance never lapses) for making the payments for which the fund was created, such as losses under the property or life insurance policies and compensation to patients making claims against health care providers.
This bill specifically provides that moneys appropriated under the continuing appropriation for each of the 3 funds may not be used for expenses related to administering the fund.
Local government
Shared revenue and property tax credits
This state currently distributes a school levy property tax credit to municipalities that is based upon each municipality's share of statewide levies for school purposes. Beginning in 1997, this bill increases the annual amount distributed under this credit from $319,305,000 to $469,305,000.
Under current law, a small municipality receives, in addition to payments under the regular shared revenue formula, an additional shared revenue payment if it has a population of 5,000 or less, a tax rate of at least one mill and the full value of the property in the municipality meets certain tests. This bill ends funding for these additional payments after 1995. In 1995, $14,000,000 was appropriated for those payments.
This bill requires counties to spend shared revenue payments first for circuit court expenses, for probation and parole hold costs in county jails and for youth services expenses and 2nd for other costs for which the counties would otherwise levy property taxes. The bill also requires counties to spend mandate relief payments first for probation and parole hold costs in county jails and 2nd for costs for which the counties would otherwise levy property taxes.
Other local government
Under the current tax incremental financing (TIF) program, a city or village may create a tax incremental district (TID) in part of its territory to foster development in certain areas that are blighted, in need of rehabilitation or suitable for industrial sites. Before a city or village may create a TID, several steps and plans are required, including public hearings on the proposed TID, preparation and adoption of a project plan for the TID and creation of a joint review board to review the proposal. The joint review board, which is made up of representatives of the overlying taxing jurisdictions of the proposed TID, must approve the project plan or the TID may not be created. If an existing TID project plan is amended by a planning commission, these steps are also required.
Also under current law, once a TID has been created, the department of revenue (DOR) calculates the "tax increment base value" of the TID, which is the value of all taxable property within the TID at the time of its creation equalized for state purposes. If the development in the TID increases the value of the property in the TID above the base value, a "value increment" is created. That portion of taxes collected on the value increment in excess of the base value is called a "tax increment". The tax increment is placed in a special fund that may be used only to pay back the costs of the TID, such as public works, financing costs, and professional service costs. DOR authorizes the allocation of the tax increments until the TID terminates or 23 years after the TID is created, whichever is sooner. Under current law, TIDs are required to terminate in most cases once these costs are paid back, 16 years after the last expenditure identified in the project plan is made or when the creating city or village dissolves the TID, whichever occurs first. Tax increments generated by a TID may be expended during a period of not more than 7 years.
This bill creates a mechanism by which the planning commission of a city or village may allocate positive tax increments generated by one TID (the donor TID) to another TID created by that planning commission (the recipient TID) if certain conditions are met, including a requirement that the 2 TIDs have the same overlying taxing jurisdictions. This change applies only to TIDs that are created before October 1, 1994, and such an allocation may continue for no more than 10 years.
The bill also extends the life span of TIDs that are created before October 1, 1994. For such a TID, the maximum life span is increased from 23 to 27 years, DOR may allocate tax increments for 27 years instead of 23 years and the maximum time that the TID may exist after the last expenditure identified in the project plan is made is 16 years instead of 20 years. The bill does not increase the maximum period of time during which tax increments may be expended.
Under current law, the state pays to a county that has a county assessor system either 75% of the costs of the system or 75% of the sum of 0.2 mill multiplied by the full value of taxable property in the county plus $3.95 multiplied by the number of parcels of land in the county, whichever is less. Under this bill, the state does not pay any of the costs of a county assessor system, but a county may charge the cities, villages and towns in the county for the cost of assessments.
Under current law, most towns may incorporate as a city or village only after following certain procedures and receiving approval for the incorporation from a circuit court and from the department of administration (DOA). Also under current law, if a town wishes to consolidate with another contiguous city, village or town, the consolidation may not take effect unless a circuit court and DOA find that the proposed consolidation is in the public interest. Town territory that is contiguous to any city or village may be annexed to that city or village under several methods, including direct annexation and annexation by referendum. Under both of these methods, in a county with a population of at least 50,000, DOA is authorized to advise whether the proposed annexation is against the public interest. Upon receiving such notice, the annexing municipality is required to review DOA's advice before final action is taken.
This bill transfers all of these incorporation and boundary review functions from DOA to the department of development (DOD), effective on July 1, 1996.
Currently, public records not stored in hard copy format may be transferred to microfilm or optical disk format only. This bill authorizes local government records to be transferred to or maintained in optical disk or electronic format subject to rules promulgated by DOA.
Natural resources
Fish, game and wildlife
This bill changes the fees charged by the department of natural resources (DNR) for certain fish and game licenses, permits, stamps and duplicate licenses. The bill increases the fees for the following:
1. All hunting licenses and permits except bonus deer hunting permits.
2. All recreational fishing licenses except sturgeon spearing licenses.
3. Sports licenses and conservation patron licenses.
4. Commercial fishing licenses, except for licenses that authorize fishing for only rough fish in outlying waters under contract with DNR.
