[Bill Sections: 1593, 1594, 1596 and 1600 thru 1604]
7. MINIMUM AREA REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN INCORPORATIONS
Governor: Reduce the minimum area requirement to incorporate as a metropolitan village when the territory proposed for incorporation is within ten miles of a first class city or five miles of a second or third class city from four square miles to three square miles, effective upon passage of the bill. Current law requires circuit courts to apply the minimum area requirement before an incorporation petition can be referred to DOA. A metropolitan village is an existing or proposed village that is entirely or partially within a metropolitan community (the area with a density of 100 or more people per square mile that includes a city of 25,000 or more people or includes two incorporated municipalities within five miles of each other that have a combined population of 25,000 or more).
[Bill Section: 1595]
8. INTERPRETATION OF CONTRACTS AND OTHER LEGAL INSTRUMENTS --EUROPEAN CURRENCY
Governor: Provide that, unless otherwise required, if a subject or medium of payment of a contract or other legal instrument entered into or executed in Wisconsin is the European currency unit (ECU) or a currency that has been replaced by the euro, the euro would be a commercially reasonable substitute for the ECU or other currency. The valuation of the ECU or other currency would be determined in accordance with any applicable regulations adopted by the council of the European Union. European currency unit (ECU) would be defined as the currency basket that is the monetary unit of account of the European Economic Community. Euro would mean the currency of participating members of the European Union who have adopted a single currency in accordance with the provisions of the 1992 Treaty on European Union. No person could discharge or otherwise excuse performance under any contract or other legal instrument, nor unilaterally alter the terms of, or terminate, any contract or other legal instrument as a result of the requirement. These provisions would only apply to a contract or other legal instrument entered into or executed in Wisconsin or to a contract or other legal instrument that contained provisions requiring the contract or legal instrument to be interpreted according to Wisconsin law.
[Bill Section: 3114]
9. AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD ACCESS TO HOME ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYES
Governor: Authorize any state or local public body ("authority") subject to the open records law to withhold from inspection and copying any information on a record maintained by the body relating to the home address or home telephone number of its employes.
Under current law, a public body may not prohibit a person from inspecting, copying or receiving a copy of a public record, unless the record is specifically exempted or authorized to be withheld from access under state or federal law or the custodian of the record can demonstrate that the harm done by providing access would outweigh the strong public interest of providing the access. A recent Court of Appeals ruling [State ex rel. Journal/Sentinel, Inc. v. Arreola] has held that access to some personnel records of public employes, such as access to the home addresses of law enforcement officers, may be denied.
[Bill Section: 162]
10. LIMITATIONS ON GOVERNMENTAL LIABILITY FOR YEAR 2000 COMPUTER PROBLEMS
Governor: Create statutory language specifying that no person may bring a lawsuit against a state authority or local governmental unit, or an officer, employe or agent of a state or local governmental unit acting within the scope of his or her employment or agency, for the alleged failure of the authority, unit, officer, employe or agent to plan for, test, detect, disclose, prevent, report, reprogram, remediate or otherwise deal with the effects of the failure of a computer system to handle correctly and consistently any date, or the inability of a computer system to correctly interpret, produce, calculate, generate, utilize, manipulate, represent or account for any date, before, during or after the year 2000 or for any act or omission related to such an alleged failure for which there would otherwise be liability, if the authority, unit, officer, employe or agent made a good faith effort to address the alleged failure. Specify that any contract entered into on or after the effective date of the bill that contains a contrary provision is void. Further, specify that the state and local governments are not required to pay interest to vendors on late payments arising from a computational date error failure.
[Bill Sections: 77, 163, 164, 1618, 2342, 2930, 3065, 3113 and 9358(4)]
GOVERNOR
Budget Change Items
1. STANDARD BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
GPR $44,000
PR - 131,800
Total - $87,800
Governor: Provide $ 22,000 GPR and -$65,900 PR annually for standard budget adjustments for: (a) removal of noncontinuing elements from the base (-$65,900 PR); (b) full funding of continuing salaries and fringe benefits ($21,300 GPR); (c) full funding of financial services charges ($700 GPR); and (d) minor off-setting transfers within the same appropriation.
2. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENTS WITH STATE AGENCIES
Funding Positions
PR $250,600 2.00
Governor: Authorize the Governor to enter into cooperative arrangements with any state agency under which the agency would assist the Governor in carrying out his or her responsibilities. State agencies to which this provision would apply are any office, department or independent agency in the executive branch, the Legislature and the courts. Establish a new, program revenue continuing appropriation under the Office into which state agencies could transfer funds under such cooperative arrangements for expenditure by the Governor's Office.
Provide expenditure authority of $105,000 in 1999-00 and $145,600 in 2000-00 and authorize 2.0 unclassified positions to staff unspecified special projects to be undertaken by the Governor through cooperative interagency agreements. The source of revenues for these expenditures is not identified. Although the Executive Budget Book indicates that the intent is that the new positions be authorized for a four-year period, under the budget the funding and associated position authority are provided on a permanent position basis.
[Bill Sections: 11, 474 and 593]
3. LITERACY INITIATIVES
Funding Positions
GPR - $50,000 - 0.30
PR 100,000 0.30
TOTAL $50,000 0.00
Governor: Partial Funding Conversion of Literacy Advocate Position. Shift $25,000 annually and 0.3 unclassified position from GPR to PR funding to reflect the partial funding conversion of the Office's existing literacy advocate position. The PR funding would derive from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant through a cooperative agreement between the Governor's Office and the Department of Workforce Development under which the literacy advocate would undertake literacy program activities targeted to TANF-eligible families. The PR funds are included in the new appropriation created under Item #2.
Literacy Aids to Libraries. Provide expenditure authority of $25,000 PR annually to support literacy aids to libraries. The PR funding would derive from the TANF block grant referenced above. Although this use of TANF funds by the Office of the Governor is not explicitly stated in the Executive Budget book, the State Budget Office indicates that this was the Governor's intent. The PR funds are included in the new appropriation created under Item #2.
[Bill Section: 474]
4. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT GIFTS AND GRANTS
Governor: Authorize the Governor to accept gifts, grants and bequests and to expend such monies to carry out the purposes for which the funds are received. Modify the expenditure purposes of an existing PR continuing gifts and grants appropriation for the Office to authorize the use of such monies to carry out any purpose for which the funds are received. Under current law, the Governor may accept gifts, grants and bequests only to fund advocacy activities concerning problems of members of ethnic minority groups, women and the family, including family literacy advocacy. No increased expenditures are budgeted in this appropriation as a result of the proposed change.
[Bill Sections: 8 and 592]
HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES
Budget Change Items
Departmentwide and Management and Technology
1. STANDARD BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
Funding Positions
GPR - $449,400 - 2.90
FED - 3,649,900 - 52.30
PR - 12,016,800 - 6.90
SEG 48,000 0.00
Total - $16,662,100 - 62.10
Governor: Provide -$169,000 GPR and -2.90 GPR positions, -$1,539,100 FED and -12.30 FED positions, -$6,254,900 PR and -4.90 PR positions and $24,000 SEG in 1999-00 and -$280,400 GPR and -2.90 GPR positions, -$2,110,700 FED and -52.30 FED positions, -$6,355,900 PR and -6.90 PR positions and $24,000 SEG in 2000-01 to adjust the Department’s base budget for: (a) turnover reduction (-$1,745,900 GPR, -$885,600 FED and -$2,575,100 PR annually); (b) removal of noncontinuing items (-$1,681,400 GPR and -2.90 GPR positions, -$3,171,500 FED and -12.30 FED positions, -$7,322,800 PR and -4.90 PR positions and -$400 SEG in 1999-2000 and -$1,690,900 GPR and -2.90 GPR positions, -$3,749,100 FED and -52.30 FED positions, -$7,424,200 PR and -6.90 PR positions and -$400 SEG in 2000-01); (c) full funding of salaries and fringe benefits ($1,143,800 GPR, $2,371,500 FED, -$1,7867,800 PR and $23,200 SEG in 1999-00 and $1,021,700 GPR, $2,371,500 FED, -$1,768,600 PR and $23,200 SEG in 2000-01); (d) full funding of financial services charges ($18,700 GPR, $30,300 FED, $31,800 PR and $1,200 SEG annually); (e) overtime ($1,095,700 GPR and $2,905,800 PR annually); (f) night and weekend salary differentials ($908,700 GPR, $8,000 FED and $2,431,900 PR annually); (g) fifth vacation week as cash for certain long-term employes ($52,100 GPR, $31,700 FED and $41,300 PR in 1999-00 and $53,500 GPR, $32,800 FED and $42,500 PR in 2000-01); and (h) full funding of lease costs and increases in space rentals due to relocations required by DOA ($39,300 GPR and $76,400 FED in 1999-00 and $58,100 GPR and $81,400 FED in 2000-01).
In addition, transfer funds within various DHFS appropriations such that the (all funds) net effect would be to: (a) reduce permanent position salaries by $1,000 in 1999-00 and $40,300 in 2000-01; (b) increase project position salaries by $39,200 in 2000-01; (c) increase supplies and services funding by $14,600 in 1999-00 and $14,700 in 2000-01; and (d) reduce permanent position salaries by $13,600 annually.
2. DEBT SERVICE REESTIMATE
GPR $1,886,300
Governor: Provide $492,600 in 1999-00 and $1,393,700 in 2000-01 to reflect anticipated changes in debt service costs associated with facilities operated by the Division of Care and Treatment Facilities ($493,100 in 1999-00 and $1,395,300 in 2000-01) and the workshop for the blind (-$500 in 1999-00 and -$1,600 in 2000-01).
3. GPR STATE OPERATIONS REDUCTIONS
Funding Positions
GPR - $2,581,000 - 5.61
FED 221,200 1.00
PR 536,600 2.61
Total - $1,823,200 - 2.00
Governor: Provide -$1,290,500 GPR and -5.61 GPR positions, $110,600 FED and 1.00 FED position and $268,300 PR and 2.61 PR positions annually to make permanent GPR state operations funding reductions required under 1997 Wisconsin Act 27. The Governor recommends that these annual funding reductions be allocated as follows:
Division of Public Health. Delete 0.50 GPR physician position (-$75,700 GPR and –0.50 GPR position).
Division of Health Care Financing. Reduce funding for the administration of the medical assistance (MA) program by $402,200 GPR to reflect: (a) the completion of work needed to prepare the long-term care redesign proposal in 1998-99 (-$261,800 GPR); (b) reduced costs of the peer review contract (-$75,000 GPR); (c) a reduction in funding required to support incentives for counties to report health insurance coverage of MA recipients (-$50,000 GPR); and (d) reduced costs to reimburse insurers for production of insurance files (-$15,400 GPR).
Division of Children and Family Services. Reduce funding by $81,600 GPR to reflect savings associated with consolidating the state adoption center contract into the state adoption information exchange contract (-$25,000 GPR and $25,000 FED), assessing a new fee for sending out start-up materials for new family or group child care providers (-$20,000 GPR and $20,000 PR), substituting drug abuse program improvement surcharge revenues for GPR to support substance abuse activities in the Bureau of Community and Family Development (-$12,000 GPR and $12,000 PR) and reducing funding for supplies and services (-$24,600 GPR).
Division of Supportive Living. Provide $75,000 PR from TANF funds transferred from DWD and $47,600 FED in MA administration funds and reduce funding by $355,000 GPR to reduce support for the administration of the SSI caretaker supplement, to reflect that the SSI caretaker supplement is funded primarily with TANF funds and to claim federal MA costs for determining eligibility for state-only SSI recipients.
In addition, transfer support for : (a) 1.61 GPR surveyor positions in the Bureau of Quality Assurance from GPR to health facility license fee revenue (-$95,600 GPR and $95,600 PR); and (b) 1.0 GPR position in the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services from GPR to drug abuse improvement surcharge revenue (-$65,700 GPR and $65,700 PR). Finally, reduce funding by $27,300 GPR and delete 0.50 GPR position.
Departmentwide Services. Reduce funding for DHFS general administration by $187,400 GPR and increase funding by $38,000 FED to: (a) delete 1.0 equal opportunity officer position (-$47,500 GPR and –1.0 GPR position); (b) reduce supplies and services funding for the Division of Management and Technology (-$80,900 GPR); (c) transfer support for a position in the billings and collections unit from 100% GPR to 40% GPR (-$13,500 GPR); (d) convert two .0.5 GPR positions from GPR to FED (-$38,000 GPR and –1.0 GPR position and $38,000 FED and 1.0 FED position); and (e) reduce supplies and services funding for the Office of Program Review and Audit (-$7,500 GPR).
4. CAREGIVER BACKGROUND CHECKS
