*** Analysis from -0443/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -0442/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2468/2 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -0433/2 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -0426/4 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2077/1 ***
This bill eliminates a program in DHSS to conduct a statewide elder abuse awareness campaign.
*** Analysis from -1577/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1142/3 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1145/2 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1147/3 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2488/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1150/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1753/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1450/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1451/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2577/5 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -0165/2 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1392/3 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2256/1 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -2104/5 ***
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.
*** Analysis from -1431/8 ***
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.
5. Duplicates for hunting licenses, fishing licenses, sports licenses and conservation patron licenses.
The bill decreases the fees for most fishing and hunting stamps, except the bill increases the fee for the waterfowl hunting stamp.
*** Analysis from -2644/2 ***
Currently, a conservation patron license confers on its holder the privileges of most of the state's fish and game licenses and allows a licensee to use a state park, state trail or other related areas without having to pay an admission fee. A sports license confers on its holder the privileges of the resident small game hunting, deer hunting and fishing licenses. Under current law, only residents may purchase these licenses. This bill allows both residents and nonresidents to purchase these licenses. Nonresidents must pay a higher fee than residents.
Under current law, a wildlife damage surcharge is imposed on the fee for sports licenses but no wildlife damage surcharge is imposed on conservation patron licenses. This bill imposes a wildlife damage surcharge on the conservation patron license and raises the surcharge on the sports license.
*** Analysis from -0935/2 ***
Under current law, DNR may issue a permanent fishing license to a state resident who has a certain disability. The license is valid from the date of issuance as long as the licensee is a resident and his or her disability continues. There is no fee for this license.
Under this bill, this license is valid for one year. A license issued before the day the bill becomes law remains valid until March 31, 1996. The bill also imposes a fee for this license.
*** Analysis from -1003/1 ***
Current law requires DNR to collect a nonrefundable processing fee of $3 for each application submitted for certain hunting and trapping licenses, permits and stamps. Under this bill, DNR must also collect this processing fee for each application submitted for a bonus deer hunting permit.
*** Analysis from -0931/4 ***
This bill authorizes DNR to establish a fee that may be charged to cover the costs that are associated with paying for fish and game licenses, permits and stamps requested by mail, telephone or electronic means.
*** Analysis from -1006/2 ***
Under current law, a minor under the age of 12 may not hunt with a firearm. Also, except for the hunting safety certificate of accomplishment, DNR may not issue any type of hunting license, permit or stamp to a minor under the age of 12. This certificate only authorizes the hunting of small game and can only be used once the minor reaches the age of 12.
Under this bill, a minor who is a state resident and who is 11 years old may apply for a hunting license, permit or stamp that is issued by a preference system used by DNR if the minor has a certificate of accomplishment. However, the minor may not use the license, permit or stamp until he or she reaches the age of 12.
*** Analysis from -0930/3 ***
Under this bill, DNR may conduct educational hunting, fishing and trapping activities for groups of persons whom DNR determines will benefit from such activities.
*** Analysis from -0937/4 ***
Under current law, a county may apply to DNR for aids to improve the natural environment of the game and nongame species in the county's forests. Under current law, the maximum annual aids payment that a county may receive may not exceed 10 cents per acre. Under this bill, the maximum annual aids payment is increased to 20 cents per acre.
*** Analysis from -1030/1 ***
Navigable waters
Under current law, most boats must have certificates of number that are issued annually for a fee by DNR. The fee for a certificate of number is based on the size of the boat. This bill increases these fees.
*** Analysis from -1033/2 ***
This bill makes changes in the fee structure for applications for permits and other approvals issued by the DNR for various projects that affect navigable waters and wetlands.
For projects such as the placement of structures or deposits in navigable waters and for certain permits that affect dams the bill changes the fees so that they are based on the number of hours DNR typically spends on reviewing, investigating and making a determination on the application. Under current law, the amount of the fee is based on the cost of the project.
