15.377 (1) BLIND AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT EDUCATION COUNCIL. (a) Definition. In this subsection, "visually impaired" has the meaning given in s. 115.51 (4).
(b) Creation. There is created a blind and visual impairment education council in the department of public instruction.
(c) Members. The blind and visual impairment education council shall consist of the following members, at least one of whom has been certified by the library of congress as a braille transcriber, appointed by the state superintendent for 3-year terms:
1. Three parents of children who are visually impaired.
2. Three persons who are members of an organization affiliated with persons who are visually impaired.
3. Three licensed teachers, one of whom is a teacher of the visually impaired, one of whom is an orientation and mobility teacher and one of whom is a general education teacher.
4. One school board member.
5. One school district administrator.
6. One school district special education director.
7. One cooperative educational service agency representative.
8. One person who has experience in educating the visually impaired or in educating teachers of the visually impaired and is affiliated with an institution of higher education.
9. Three other members, at least one of whom is visually impaired.
SECTION 37k. 15.406 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
15.406 (4) ATHLETIC TRAINERS AFFILIATED CREDENTIALING BOARD. There is created in the department of regulation and licensing, attached to the medical examining board, an athletic trainers affiliated credentialing board consisting of the following members appointed for 4-year terms:
(a) Four athletic trainers who are licensed under subch. VI of ch. 448 and who have not been issued a credential in athletic training by a governmental authority in a jurisdiction outside this state. One of the athletic trainer members may also be licensed under ch. 446 or 447 or subch. II, III or IV of ch. 448.
(b) One member who is licensed to practice medicine and surgery under subch. II of ch. 448 and who has experience with athletic training and sports medicine.
(c) One public member.
SECTION 40g. 15.675 of the statutes is renumbered 15.495 and amended to read:
15.495 Same; attached board. (1) EDUCATIONAL APPROVAL BOARD. There is created an educational approval board which is attached to the higher educational aids board department of veterans affairs under s. 15.03. The board shall consist of not more than 7 members, who shall be representatives of state agencies and other persons with a demonstrated interest in educational programs, appointed to serve at the pleasure of the governor.
SECTION 40k. 15.77 of the statutes is created to read:
15.77 Milwaukee school construction board. (1) There is created a Milwaukee school construction board consisting of all of the following:
(a) One senator and one representative to the assembly appointed as are the members of standing committees in their respective houses.
(b) One person appointed by the mayor of the city of Milwaukee.
(c) One person appointed by the governor.
(2) Any action of the Milwaukee school construction board requires the affirmative vote of 3 of its members.
(3) The Milwaukee school construction board does not have rule-making authority.
(4) The board of school directors of the school district operating under ch. 119 shall assist the Milwaukee school construction board in the performance of its duties.
(5) This section does not apply after the first day of the 60th month beginning after the effective date of this subsection .... [revisor inserts date].
SECTION 40r. 16.004 (13) of the statutes is created to read:
16.004 (13) UNFUNDED PRIOR SERVICE FOR ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. Beginning in the 1999-2000 fiscal year and ending in the 2003-04 fiscal year, the department shall pay $80,000 in each fiscal year from the appropriation account under s. 20.475 (1) (d) toward the department's unfunded prior service liability under the Wisconsin retirement system that results from granting the creditable service under s. 40.02 (17) (gm).
SECTION 40t. 16.004 (14) of the statutes is created to read:
16.004 (14) GRANTS TO TECHNICAL COLLEGES. From the appropriation under s. 20.505 (4) (e), the secretary shall award grants to technical college district boards to develop or expand programs in occupational areas in which there is a high demand for workers, and to make capital expenditures that are necessary for such development or expansion, as determined by the secretary. The department shall promulgate rules establishing criteria for judging grant applications.
SECTION 41. 16.009 (2) (p) of the statutes is created to read:
16.009 (2) (p) Contract with one or more organizations to provide advocacy services to potential or actual recipients of the family care benefit, as defined in s. 46.2805 (4), or their families or guardians. The board and contract organizations under this paragraph shall assist these persons in protecting their rights under all applicable federal statutes and regulations and state statutes and rules. An organization with which the board contracts for these services may not be a provider, nor an affiliate of a provider, of long-term care services, a resource center under s. 46.283 or a care management organization under s. 46.284. For potential or actual recipients of the family care benefit, advocacy services required under this paragraph shall include all of the following:
1. Providing information, technical assistance and training about how to obtain needed services or support items.
2. Providing advice and assistance in preparing and filing complaints, grievances and appeals of complaints or grievances.
3. Providing negotiation and mediation.
4. Providing individual case advocacy assistance regarding the appropriate interpretation of statutes, rules or regulations.
5. Providing individual case advocacy services in administrative hearings and legal representation for judicial proceedings regarding family care services or benefits.
SECTION 42. 16.0095 of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 43h. 16.023 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:
16.023 (1m) (a) In this subsection:
1. "Land rights" means a holder's nonpossessory interest in land that imposes a limitation or affirmative obligation the purpose of which is to retain or protect natural, scenic or open space values of land, assuring the availability of land for agricultural, forest, wildlife habitat or open space use, protecting natural resources or maintaining or enhancing air or water quality.
2. "Transaction" means a conveyance of land rights.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2000, the council shall develop and distribute a form to each register of deeds that contains space for the following information:
1. The name and address of each party that is involved in a transaction.
2. The date of the transaction.
3. The approximate size of the parcel to which the land rights relate.
4. The approximate total size of the parcel of which the land rights constitute a portion.
(c) For a transaction that is completed after June 30, 2000, a person who is a party to a transaction, as a purchaser or purchaser's agent or as a seller or seller's agent, shall prepare and sign the form described in par. (b). The person who prepares and signs the form shall send one copy of the form to the council, which shall create and maintain a directory for the forms.
SECTION 43j. 16.023 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.023 (3) Subsections (1) and to (2) do not apply after August 31, 2003.
SECTION 44. 16.15 (4) of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 45m. 16.18 of the statutes is created to read:
16.18 Management assistance grants to certain counties. (1) In this section, "eligible county" means a county that has a geographic area of less than 400 square miles and that contains no incorporated municipal territory.
(2) An eligible county may apply to the department for a management assistance grant annually in each state fiscal year for the purpose of assisting the county in funding one or more of the following functions:
(a) Public security.
(b) Public health.
(c) Public infrastructure.
(d) Public employe training.
(e) Economic development.
(3) No eligible county may receive a grant under this section unless the county maintains its financial records in accordance with accounting procedures established by the department of revenue, and unless the county submits to the department a detailed expenditure plan that identifies how the grant proceeds are proposed to be expended and how the proposed expenditures will enable the county to meet its goals for execution of the functions specified in sub. (2) for which the grant is requested.
(4) The department shall make grants to eligible counties from the appropriation under s. 20.505 (1) (ku).
(5) No county may receive a grant under this section in an amount exceeding $500,000 in any state fiscal year.
SECTION 51m. 16.23 of the statutes is repealed.
SECTION 52. 16.24 (title) and (1) of the statutes are renumbered 14.63 (title) and (1), and 14.63 (1) (b), as renumbered, is amended to read:
14.63 (1) (b) "Institution of higher education" means a public or private institution of higher education that is accredited by an accrediting association recognized by the department state treasurer, and a proprietary school approved by the educational approval board under s. 39.51 45.54.
SECTION 53. 16.24 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (2), and 14.63 (2) (intro.) and (b), as renumbered, are amended to read:
14.63 (2) WEIGHTED AVERAGE TUITION; TUITION UNIT COST. (intro.) Annually, the department state treasurer and the board jointly shall determine all of the following:
(b) The price of a tuition unit, which shall be valid for a period determined jointly by the department state treasurer and the board. The price shall be sufficient to ensure the ability of the department state treasurer to meet its his or her obligations under this section. To the extent possible, the price shall be set so that the value of the tuition unit in the anticipated academic year of its use will be equal to 1% of the weighted average tuition for that academic year plus the costs of administering the program under this section attributable to the unit.
SECTION 54. 16.24 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (3), and 14.63 (3) (a) (intro.) and (d), as renumbered, are amended to read:
14.63 (3) (a) (intro.) The department state treasurer shall contract with an individual, a trust or a legal guardian for the sale of tuition units to that individual, trust or legal guardian if all of the following apply:
(d) The department state treasurer shall promulgate rules authorizing a person who has entered into a contract under this subsection to change the beneficiary named in the contract.
SECTION 55. 16.24 (4) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (4) and amended to read:
14.63 (4) NUMBER OF TUITION UNITS PURCHASED. A person who enters into a contract under sub. (3) may purchase tuition units at any time and in any number, except that the total number of tuition units purchased on behalf of a single beneficiary may not exceed the number necessary to pay for 4 years of full-time attendance, including mandatory student fees, as a resident undergraduate at the institution within the University of Wisconsin System that has the highest resident undergraduate tuition, as determined by the department state treasurer, in the anticipated academic years of their use.
SECTION 56. 16.24 (5) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (5), and 14.63 (5) (a) and (b) (intro.) and 2., as renumbered, are amended to read:
14.63 (5) (a) Except as provided in sub. (7m), if an individual named as beneficiary in a contract under sub. (3) attends an institution of higher education in the United States, each tuition unit purchased on his or her behalf entitles that beneficiary to apply toward the payment of tuition and mandatory student fees at the institution an amount equal to 1% of the anticipated weighted average tuition of bachelor's degree-granting institutions within the University of Wisconsin System for the year of attendance, as estimated under sub. (2) in the year in which the tuition unit was purchased.
(b) (intro.) Upon request by the beneficiary, the department state treasurer shall pay to the institution in each semester of attendance the lesser of the following:
2. An amount equal to the sum of the institution's tuition and mandatory student fees for that semester.
SECTION 57. 16.24 (6) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (6), and 14.63 (6) (a) 5. and (b), as renumbered, are amended to read:
14.63 (6) (a) 5. Other circumstances determined by the department state treasurer to be grounds for termination.
(b) The department state treasurer shall terminate a contract under sub. (3) if any of the tuition units purchased under the contract remain unused 10 years after the anticipated academic year of the beneficiary's initial enrollment in an institution of higher education, as specified in the contract.
SECTION 58. 16.24 (7) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (7), and 14.63 (7) (a) (intro.), 3., 4. and 5. and (b), as renumbered, are amended to read:
14.63 (7) (a) (intro.) Except as provided in sub. (7m), the department state treasurer shall do all of the following:
3. If a contract is terminated under sub. (6) (a) 4. or (b), refund to the person who entered into the contract an amount equal to 99% of the amount determined under subd. 2. If a contract is terminated under sub. (6) (a) 4., the department may not issue a refund for one year following receipt of the notice of termination and may not issue a refund of more than 100 tuition units in any year.
4. If a contract is terminated under sub. (6) (a) 5., refund to the person who entered into the contract the amount under subd. 2. or under subd. 3., as determined by the department state treasurer.
5. If the beneficiary is awarded a scholarship, tuition waiver or similar subsidy that cannot be converted into cash by the beneficiary, refund to the person who entered into the contract, upon the person's request, an amount equal to the value of the tuition units that are not needed because of the scholarship, waiver or similar subsidy and that would otherwise have been paid by the department state treasurer on behalf of the beneficiary during the semester in which the beneficiary is enrolled.
(b) Except as provided under par. (a) 3., the department The state treasurer shall determine the method and schedule for the payment of refunds under this subsection.
SECTION 59. 16.24 (7m) of the statutes is renumbered 14.63 (7m), and 14.63 (7m) (a) (intro.), (b) and (c), as renumbered, are amended to read:
