Current law provides a process for negotiation and arbitration between a person who wishes to construct or expand a landfill or a hazardous waste facility and a committee representing those affected municipalities and counties that choose to participate in the process. An affected municipality or county is one in which a facility is proposed to be located or one whose boundary is within 1,500 feet of the area in which waste would be treated, stored or disposed of. Other municipalities may participate in the negotiation and arbitration process with the agreement of all parties to the process. Under current law, a town, city or village in which all or part of the facility is proposed to be located may appoint four members to a committee or the number of members appointed by the county and other affected municipalities plus two, whichever is greater.
Under this bill, a town, city or village in which all or part of a landfill or a hazardous waste facility is proposed to be located may appoint four members to a committee or the number of members appointed by the county, other affected municipalities and any municipalities added by agreement of the parties plus two, whichever is greater.
Under current law, DNR may require tests related to programs administered by DNR to be conducted by laboratories certified or registered by DNR or DATCP or certified or registered by another state or a federal agency that recognizes laboratory certification by DNR and that uses standards equivalent to this state's standards.
This bill authorizes DNR to apply to the federal environmental protection agency to be approved to accredit laboratories under a national environmental laboratory accreditation program. If DNR is approved to accredit laboratories under the national program, an accredited laboratory may conduct tests that currently must be conducted by a certified or registered laboratory, this state must accept test results from laboratories accredited by other accrediting authorities and other accrediting authorities must accept test results from laboratories accredited by DNR.
Under current law, DNR, the department of commerce and the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System are required to promote hazardous pollution prevention, which means changes in processes or raw materials that reduce or eliminate the use or production of hazardous substances, toxic pollutants and hazardous waste. This bill requires DNR, the department of commerce and the board of regents of the UW System to promote pollution prevention, which means an action that prevents waste from being created, reduces the amount of waste that is created or changes the nature of waste being created in a way that reduces the hazards to public health or the environment posed by the waste.
Gambling
Under current law, the compensation paid to a retailer who sells lottery tickets is 5.5% of the retail price of the lottery tickets. In addition, under current law, the compensation paid to a retailer who sells scratch-off or instant games is 6.25% of the retail price of scratch-off or instant games. This bill authorizes the department of revenue to establish, by rule, a program to provide for additional compensation to be paid to retailers who meet certain performance goals. Under this program, the total compensation provided to retailers who meet the performance goals may not exceed 1.0% of gross lottery revenues.
Under current law, the department of health and family services may award grants to individuals or organizations in the private sector to conduct compulsive gambling awareness campaigns. These grants are funded from the lottery fund, from revenues generated by pari-mutuel wagering and from moneys paid to the state under Indian gaming compacts. This bill provides that the grants must be funded entirely from moneys paid to the state under Indian gaming compacts.
health and human services
Long-term care; family care
Current law
Currently, home and community-based long-term care is provided to persons who are elderly, physically or developmentally disabled, chronically mentally ill or chemically dependent as a benefit under one or more programs administered by the department of health and family services (DHFS). These programs are funded by federal, state or, in some instances, county moneys, and each program has individualized eligibility criteria and benefit restrictions. For elderly and disabled persons, these programs include medical assistance (MA), the long-term support community options program (COP), three community integration programs (CIPs) and community aids. MA is a comprehensive jointly funded federal-state health program for persons with low income and few assets. COP provides assessments of functionality and home and community-based care to, among others, elderly and disabled persons as an alternative to institutionalized care; one part of COP is funded by state moneys and the other part is funded under a joint federal-state program under a waiver of federal medicaid laws. Under other joint federal-state programs under waivers of federal medicaid laws, CIPs provide home and community-based services and continuity of care for persons relocated from institutions, including state centers for the developmentally disabled, and persons who meet requirements for MA reimbursement in nursing homes.
Currently, under a pilot project, DHFS contracts with a public or private entity to serve as a clearinghouse of information for individuals who are interested in home or community-based long-term support services or institutional long-term care services and to perform assessments to determine an individual's functional abilities, disabilities, personal preferences and need for home or community-based services or institutional services. Under a second pilot project, DHFS may contract with counties or federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands to demonstrate the ability of counties or tribes or bands to manage all long-term care programs under a long-term care management organization.
Currently, nursing homes are prohibited from admitting patients until a physician has completed a plan of care and the patient has been assessed under COP or the long-term care pilot project or has waived the assessment.
Creation of family care benefit, resource centers and care management organizations
This bill establishes a program of financial assistance for long-term care and support items, called a family care benefit, for persons who are eligible and are enrolled in a care management organization, an entity whose attributes are established in this bill. The family care benefit is funded by general purpose revenue appropriated for MA, COP and community aids. DHFS must request from the federal secretary of health and human services any waivers of federal medicaid laws necessary to permit the use of federal moneys to provide the family care benefit to recipients of MA; however, regardless of whether a waiver is approved, DHFS may implement the family care benefit. Persons are eligible for, but not necessarily entitled to, the family care benefit if they are at least 18 years of age, do not have a primary disabling condition of mental illness, substance abuse or developmental disability and meet certain functional and financial eligibility criteria. A person is entitled to the family care benefit and may enroll in a care management organization if he or she is financially eligible, meets cost-sharing requirements and meets any of several functional eligibility requirements or if he or she has a primary disabling condition of developmental disability and was a resident of a county or member of a tribe or band that operated a care management organization under a pilot project. Divestment prohibitions, prohibitions on treatment of certain trusts, provisions on protection of income and resources of a couple for maintenance of a spouse in the community, and estate recovery provisions, all of which correspond to similar prohibitions and provisions under MA, apply to enrollees. A client may contest denial of eligibility, the determination of cost sharing, denial of entitlement, failure to provide timely services and support items in the plan of care, reduction of services or support items, development of an unacceptable plan of care and termination of the family care benefit, by filing a written request for a hearing within 45 days after receipt of notice of the contested matter.
The bill establishes requirements for a resource center, which, among other things, must provide information and referral services, determine functional and financial eligibility for the family care benefit, assist persons to enroll in a care management organization and determine eligibility for certain other benefits, including MA. Within six months after the family care benefit is available to all eligible persons in the area of the resource center, the resource center must provide information about its services to all older persons and persons with physical disabilities who reside in nursing homes, community-based residential facilities, adult family homes and residential care apartment complexes in the area of the resource center. A resource center must have a governing board that reflects the ethnic and economic diversity of the geographic area served by the resource center, and at least one-fourth of the governing board's members must be older persons or persons with physical or developmental disabilities or family members, guardians or other advocates of such persons.
The bill establishes requirements for a care management organization, which must accept the enrollment of persons who are entitled to the family care benefit, as well as the enrollment of persons who are eligible for the family care benefit and for whom funding is available. Under a contract with DHFS, the care management organization must, among other things, conduct a comprehensive assessment for each enrollee, develop a comprehensive care plan for the enrollee and provide or contract for the provision of necessary services. DHFS may, by contract, require solvency protections for a care management organization. A care management organization must have a governing board that is subject to requirements that are similar to those for the governing board of a resource center. The bill specifically exempts a care management organization from requirements for licensure as a home health agency.
Under the bill, DHFS must prescribe and implement a per person monthly rate structure for costs of the family care benefit. DHFS also must prescribe and enforce performance standards for the operation of resource centers and care management organizations, conduct ongoing evaluations of the system implementing the family care benefit and ensure that independent organizations conduct reviews of the quality of management and service delivery of resource centers and care management organizations.
Family care district
This bill authorizes county boards of supervisors to create, on a single county or multicounty basis, family care districts. Under the bill, a family care district is a separate local unit of government, the primary purpose of which is to operate a resource center or a care management organization, but not both. The jurisdiction of the family care district is the county or counties of the county board or boards of supervisors who created the district. The family care district's board is appointed by the county board or boards of supervisors and must consist of 15 persons for a single county and, for a multicounty family care district, an additional member for each county in excess of two. Board members must be residents of the family care district's jurisdiction and must satisfy certain additional requirements.
The bill grants to a family care district various local government powers, including the power to adopt and alter an official seal; adopt bylaws and policies and procedures to regulate its affairs; sue and be sued; negotiate and enter into leases and contracts; employ agents, employes or special advisers; and buy, sell or lease property. However, a family care district may not issue bonds or levy a tax or assessment. Under the bill, a family care district must appoint a director, who must manage the family care district's property, business and employes. The family care district must also develop and implement a personnel structure and other employment policies. With respect to the hiring of employes who formerly were county employes to perform the same or substantially similar functions that they previously performed, the family care district must perform certain tasks to ensure that the employes' compensation, benefits, seniority and status in class under county employment are not diminished. If the county has established its own retirement system the county must include family care district employes in participation and applicable benefits.
Numerous laws that apply to special purpose districts and local units of government apply to the family care district, including, among others:
1. The members of the family care district governing board and the director of the family care district are subject to the code of ethics for local government officials.
2. The family care district is exempt from the sales and use taxes.
3. The family care district is subject to public employe occupational safety and health laws.
4. The family care district is governed by unemployment compensation laws.
5. The family care district may participate in the local governmental property insurance fund.
6. The family care district is governed by municipal administrative procedures concerning constitutionally protected rights.
7. Persons attempting to sue the family care district are subject to limitations on actions that may be brought against it and limitations as to the filing of the notice of the injury and recoverable damages.
The bill also provides that a family care district:
1. Must adhere to the open records laws, except in certain circumstances.
2. Must adhere to the open meetings laws.
3. Is subject to auditing by the legislative audit bureau and review of its performance by the joint legislative audit committee.
4. Is an employer for all purposes of the municipal employment relations laws; as such, employes of the district may organize and seek to establish all terms of wages, hours and conditions of employment through collective bargaining.
5. Is subject to prohibitions on public funding for abortions and for abortion-related activities.
6. May participate in the local government pooled-investment fund.
7. Is exempt from local property tax and income tax.
8. Is subject to laws regulating buildings and safety.
9. Is governed by state minimum wage and hour and family and medical leave laws and is subject to worker's compensation laws.
10. May participate in programs of state retirement, health and long-term care benefits, disability benefits and survivor benefits, deferred compensation plans, employe-funded reimbursement accounts and health insurance premium credits and be included as a coverage group under social security.
11. Is an employer for the purposes of coverage for group and individual health benefits and for small employer health insurance.
12. Is a municipality for the purposes of laws relating to the publication of legal notices.
Under the bill, obligations and debts of a family care district are not the obligations or debts of the county that created the family care district. A family care district may be dissolved by joint action of the family care district board and the county board or boards of supervisors that created the district, subject to performance of its contractual obligations and approval by the secretary of health and family services. If the family care district was created by more than one county, the county boards of supervisors that created the district must agree on the apportioning of the district's property before dissolution may occur.
Expansion of pilot projects
This bill authorizes DHFS to continue contracting with counties or American Indian tribes or bands under the current pilot projects until July 1, 2001. After that date, DHFS may contract with one or more entities certified as meeting requirements for a resource center and for services of an entity as a care management organization. During the first 24 months in which a county has a contract with DHFS under which the county accepts a per person per month payment for each enrollee in the county's care management organization, the authority of DHFS to contract with another organization to operate a care maintenance organization in that county is restricted.
Under the bill, a county, an American Indian tribe or band, a family care district or an organization may not directly operate both a resource center and a care management organization. If a county board of supervisors and the county executive or county administrator apply to DHFS for a contract to operate a resource center, the county board may create a family care district to apply to DHFS for a contract to operate a care management organization; if the county board and the county executive or administrator apply for a contract to operate a care management organization, the county board may create a family care district to apply to DHFS for a contract to operate a resource center. If the governing body of an American Indian tribe or band elects to apply for a contract to operate a resource center, the tribe or band members may form a separate corporation to apply for a contract to operate a care management organization; if the governing body elects to apply for a contract to operate a care management organization, the tribe or band members may form a separate corporation to apply for a contract to operate a resource center. A county or family care district may apply jointly with a tribe or band or tribal or band corporation for a contract to operate a care management organization or resource center.
The bill authorizes a county department of social services, human services, developmental disabilities services or community programs or an aging unit authorized by the applicable county board of supervisors to apply to DHFS to operate a resource center or a care management organization. The bill also authorizes the secretary of health and family services, in order to facilitate the transition to the family care benefit system, to grant a county limited waivers to certain COP and CIP statutes and rules promulgated under those statutes.
Requirements of care facilities
This bill requires the secretary of health and family services to certify to each county, nursing home, community-based residential facility, adult family home and residential care apartment complex the date on which a resource center that serves the area of the county, home, facility or complex is first available to provide a functional and financial screen to specific groups of eligible individuals or for specified facilities. Each affected nursing home, community-based residential facility, adult family home and residential care apartment complex must inform prospective residents of the facility about the services of the resource center, the family care benefit and the availability of a functional and financial screen to determine eligibility. Also, these facilities and hospitals must refer to the resource center any person who seeks admission and who is aged at least 65 years or has a physical disability, unless the person has received a screen for functional eligibility within the previous six months, is entering the facility only for respite care or is an enrollee of a care management organization. Failure to comply with these requirements subjects the facility to an administrative forfeiture. Current prohibitions on the admittance to nursing homes of persons without a COP or other assessment do not apply to persons for whom the secretary of health and family services has certified that a resource center is available.
Council on long-term care and board on aging and long-term care
This bill creates in DHFS a 15-member council on long-term care that terminates on July 1, 2001. The council must assist DHFS in developing policy related to long-term care issues. The council also must review and make recommendations to DHFS concerning the DHFS standard contract provisions for resource centers and care management organizations, the family care benefit and other matters, and must monitor patterns of complaints, persons on waiting lists and patterns of enrollments and disenrollments.
The bill makes several changes to the membership of the board on aging and long-term care and requires the board to contract with organizations to provide advocacy services, including negotiation, mediation and assistance in administrative hearings or judicial proceedings, to potential or actual recipients of the family care benefit or their families or guardians.
Other long-term care
Under current law, a county may not use COP or CIP funds to provide services to an individual who resides in a community-based residential facility unless the individual receives, before admission, an assessment of his or her functional abilities, disabilities and need for medical and social long-term community support services.
Current law also requires a community-based residential facility, prior to admitting a person, to prepare a statement of financial condition for a person who intends to pay for residence in the facility from private funds. The statement of financial condition must estimate a date, if any, by which the person's assets and other private funding would be depleted if he or she were to reside continuously in the community-based residential facility. If that date is less than 24 months after the date of the statement of financial condition, the community-based residential facility must provide the statement to the county department of social services.
This bill allows a county, in accordance with guidelines established by DHFS, to waive the requirement to conduct a functional assessment prior to a person's admission to a community-based residential facility. However, if a person applies for admission to a community-based residential facility on or after the date that this bill becomes law and his or her statement of financial condition indicates that, if the individual were to reside in the community-based residential facility, his or her assets and other private funds would be depleted within 12 months, the community-based residential facility must refer him or her to the county department of social services to determine whether an assessment should be conducted.
Currently, revenues received by DHFS from skilled nursing facility violation forfeiture assessment surcharges and interest pay for certain costs that are associated with the violations, such as resident relocation to another facility and reimbursement for misappropriated property. This bill permits DHFS to use a portion of the penalty assessment surcharge and interest revenues for innovative projects that aim to protect health and property of residents of skilled nursing facilities.
Public assistance
Under current law, a county department of human services or social services (county department) or, in Milwaukee County, DHFS must make payments of $215 per month to a relative of a child who is providing care and maintenance for the child if certain conditions are met (kinship care and long-term kinship care). Under this bill, a county department or DHFS may, but is not required to, make those payments if certain conditions are met. The bill also provides that, notwithstanding fulfillment of the conditions of eligibility for the receipt of those payments, a relative who is providing kinship care or long-term kinship care for a child is not entitled to receive those payments.
Under current law, a parent who receives federal supplemental security income (SSI), or a state supplemental payment, receives a monthly supplemental payment of $100 for each dependent child with whom the parent lives, if certain conditions are met. This bill increases that monthly supplemental payment to $150 per dependent child.
Current federal law permits states to establish a demonstration project under which certain low-income individuals may establish savings accounts, referred to as individual development accounts. The funds deposited into an individual development account may be used for certain expenses associated with postsecondary education, first home purchases, business capital expenses or medical expenses, to meet necessary living expenses following loss of employment or to make payments necessary to prevent the eviction of the individual from his or her residence or the foreclosure on the mortgage for the principal residence of the individual. An individual may only deposit earned income into the account. For every dollar that the individual deposits into the account, the administering state or local agency or American Indian tribal governing body, or a qualified nonprofit agency, must deposit at least 50 cents and not more than four dollars into that account. The federal government makes a grant to the matching contributor that equals the lesser of the aggregate amount of funds committed as matching contributions from nonfederal funds or $1,000,000.
This bill allows the department of workforce development (DWD) to establish an individual development account demonstration project in this state in accordance with the federal law.
Under current law, DWD is required to recover benefit overpayments made under the aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) program and under the Wisconsin works (W-2) program (this state's welfare reform initiative which emphasizes work for benefits).
This bill permits DWD to recover overpaid AFDC or W-2 benefit amounts from former benefit recipients by issuing a warrant directed to the clerk of circuit court. The warrant is considered a perfected lien upon the person's right, title and interest in all real and personal property. DWD may then file an execution commanding the sheriff of any county in which property of the person is found to collect and sell sufficient property to pay the amount stated in the warrant.
The bill also allows DWD to collect the overpaid AFDC or W-2 benefits by levy upon any property of the person to whom the benefits were paid. Under the bill, such a person who refuses to surrender the property is subject to enforcement proceedings. A third party who fails to surrender property that is subject to a levy is liable for up to 25% of the amount the debt. The bill sets forth the process for serving the levy and releasing the levy. The bill also exempts certain wages, the first $1,000 in a bank account and certain other property from a levy.
Under current law, DWD must allocate certain moneys for various public assistance programs. This bill eliminates the requirement that moneys be allocated for some of the programs and adds the following new programs to the list of those for which moneys must be allocated:
1. A program to fund efforts to provide an emotionally and intellectually stimulating environment for certain low-income children under the age of five.
2. A literacy program targeted at certain low-income individuals.
3. A competitive grant program to fund programs that improve social, academic and employment skills of certain low-income youth.
4. A program to assist low-income workers to maintain their jobs and to improve their basic skills.
5. A program to match retirees with youth to provide the youth with workforce mentoring.
6. A program to encourage the positive involvement of fathers in their children's lives.
7. A grant program under which DWD may award up to $1,000,000 to counties and private entities to provide community-based alcohol and other drug abuse treatment that is targeted to certain low-income individuals.
The bill also permits DWD to transfer funds received under the federal temporary assistance for needy families block grant program to other agencies for various programs.
Under current law, a county department of social or human services must certify eligibility for and issue food coupons to needy households, except that a Wisconsin works (W-2) agency is required, to the extent permitted under federal law or waiver, to certify eligibility for and issue food coupons to eligible participants in the W-2 program.
This bill requires a W-2 agency, to the extent permitted under federal law or waiver, also to certify eligibility for and issue food coupons to: 1) persons who may be required to participate in the food stamp employment and training program; and 2) other persons who are under the age of 61 and who are not disabled.
Under current law, certain federal economic support programs require that a state maintain or increase its average annual expenditures for those programs. This is commonly referred to as a maintenance-of-effort requirement.
This bill allows DWD to expend moneys from its economic support programs appropriation for services to identify funds that may be used for the maintenance-of-effort requirement.
Currently, under the learnfare program, a child between the ages of 6 and 17 who is the dependent child of a recipient of benefits under the W-2 program must meet a school attendance requirement to avoid the imposition of certain sanctions. Currently, DWD may expend moneys for a study of the school attendance requirement under the learnfare program for children who are 6 to 12 years of age. This bill eliminates that expenditure authority.
Under current law, if a recipient of certain public assistance benefits dies and the estate of the deceased recipient is insufficient to pay for the funeral, burial and cemetery expenses, the county or applicable American Indian tribal governing body or the organization responsible for burial of the recipient must pay the cemetery expenses that are not paid by the deceased recipient's estate (but not more than $1,000) and must pay the funeral and burial expenses that are not paid by the deceased recipient's estate (but not more than $1,000).
Under this bill, a county, tribal governing body or organization responsible for burying the recipient is not required to make a payment for funeral, burial or cemetery expenses if the request for the payment is made more than 12 months after the recipient died.
Under current law, DWD administers a work experience program for noncustodial parents (parents who do not live with their children for substantial periods of time), commonly referred to as the children first program. A parent who fails to pay court-ordered child support or to meet the child's needs for support because of unemployment or underemployment is required to participate in the program, under which the person is provided with certain types of work experience, job training and job search assistance. Currently, DWD may contract with any county to administer the children first program. DWD pays the county $200 for each person who participates in the program in that county.
This bill permits DWD to contract with a W-2 agency or a county to administer the children first program. The bill requires DWD to pay the administering county or W-2 agency $400 for each person who participates in the program in the region in which the county or W-2 agency administers the program.
This bill provides that DHFS may use moneys derived from Indian gaming compacts to fund relief block grants to American Indian tribal governing bodies.
Wisconsin works
Under current law, two W-2 agencies in Milwaukee County are permitted to implement a program under which certain participants in community service jobs (wholly subsidized employment) may be paid wages rather than monthly grants. To qualify for a wage-paying community service job, the participant must already be engaged in unsubsidized employment for at least 15 hours per week. Currently, a W-2 agency may not require a person to work in a wage-paying community service job more than the lesser of 15 hours per week or the difference between 40 hours and the number of hours per week that the participant works in unsubsidized employment. If the participant qualifies for the federal earned income tax credit (EITC), current law qualifies the participant for the state EITC as well. Currently, the wage-paying community service job program is scheduled to sunset on October 1, 2001.
This bill eliminates the sunset date for the wage-paying community service job program and expands the program, beginning on January 1, 2001, to allow all W-2 agencies to implement it for any individual that the W-2 agency determines is capable of working in an unsubsidized job but who, despite reasonable efforts, is unable to secure full-time unsubsidized employment. However, the bill caps the number of slots for the program at 2,500 statewide. Under the bill, a participant in a wage-paying community service job is disqualified from the state EITC with respect to any wages earned under the wage-paying community service job. Additionally, under the bill, the participant need not be engaged in unsubsidized employment to qualify for a wage-paying community service job. Finally, the bill allows a W-2 agency to require a participant in a wage-paying community service job to work in a community service job for not more than 30 hours per week and to participate in job search activities for not more than ten hours per week.
This bill requires a W-2 agency to assess the educational needs of an individual whom the W-2 agency proposes to place in unsubsidized employment or a trial job. Under the bill, if the W-2 agency determines that the individual needs basic education, such as courses leading to the granting of the equivalent of a high school diploma, and if the individual wishes to pursue the basic education, the W-2 agency must make basic education a part of an employability plan that the W-2 agency develops for the individual. The bill requires the W-2 agency to pay for the basic education services.
