This bill allows DOC to take custody of a person who is on extended supervision
under a life sentence in order to investigate an alleged violation of a condition of
extended supervision. The bill also provides that, if a person on extended supervision
admits that he or she has violated a condition or rule of extended supervision, DOC
may, as a sanction for the violation, confine the person for not more than 90 days in
a DOC regional detention facility or, with the consent of the sheriff, in a county jail.
In addition, the bill changes the procedure for revoking extended supervision by
requiring that a court determine how long to send a person back to prison after his
or her extended supervision is revoked. Under the bill, DOC or the administrative
law judge who made the revocation decision must make a recommendation to the
court concerning the amount of time for which the person should be returned to
prison. The court then reviews the recommendation and makes the final decision as
to the amount of time for which the person is returned to prison. Both the
recommendation and the court's final decision must provide for the person to be
returned to prison for at least five years.
Court-ordered drug treatment
The bill provides a new sentencing option of court-ordered drug treatment.
Under this new option, if a court imposes a sentence or places a person on probation
for any offense committed on or after July 1, 2000, the court may order the person
to participate in a drug treatment program as a condition of probation or, in the case
of a person given a bifurcated sentence, while the person is in prison or as a condition
of extended supervision or both. The court may also require DOC to pay for the cost
of the court-ordered drug treatment.
Basis for sentencing decisions; modification and review of sentencing
decisions
The bill requires a sentencing court to make explicit findings of fact on the
record to support each element of its sentencing decision, including its decision as to
whether to impose a bifurcated sentence or to place a person on probation and its
decision as to the length of a bifurcated sentence, including the length of each
component of the bifurcated sentence, the amount of a fine and the length of a term
of probation.
In addition, the bill requires the director of state courts (director) to promulgate
rules that establish a procedure by which a sentencing court may modify a bifurcated
sentence and that specify the factors that a court may consider when deciding
whether to modify a bifurcated sentence. The rules must provide that a court may
modify a bifurcated sentence on its own motion, on a motion of DOC or on a motion
of the person serving the sentence. The rules must also provide that a court and DOC
may make a motion to modify a bifurcated sentence at any time and that a person
serving a bifurcated sentence may make a motion to modify the bifurcated sentence
that he or she is serving if at least 12 months have elapsed since the bifurcated
sentence was imposed or since the most recent motion to modify the person's
bifurcated sentence was made. If a court modifies a bifurcated sentence under the
procedure established by the director, the court may do so only by reducing the term
of confinement in prison portion of the sentence and lengthening the term of
extended supervision imposed so that the total length of the bifurcated sentence
originally imposed does not change.
Finally, the bill provides that in an appeal from a court's sentencing decision,
the appellate court that is reviewing the sentencing decision must reverse the
sentencing decision if it determines that there is not substantial evidence in the
record to support the sentencing decision.
Sentencing commission
The bill creates a sentencing commission (commission) consisting of 17 voting
members and three nonvoting members, all of whom serve three year terms. (The
membership of the commission under the bill differs slightly from the membership
proposed by the criminal penalties study committee.) Under the bill, the commission
is responsible for studying sentencing practices throughout the state. Using the
information it obtains, the commission must adopt advisory sentencing guidelines
for use by judges when imposing sentences for felonies committed on or after
December 31, 1999. The commission must also assist the legislature in assessing the
cost of changes in statutes affecting criminal sentencing and provide information
regarding sentencing to judges, lawyers, state agencies, the legislature. In addition,
the commission must study whether race is a basis for imposing sentences in
criminal cases and submit a report and recommendations on this issue to the
governor, the legislature and the supreme court. The duties of the commission end
on December 31, 2004.
Joint review committee on criminal penalties
The Wisconsin Constitution permits each house of the legislature to establish
the rules of its own proceedings. Under the current rules, each house generally refers
a bill that relates primarily to criminal law to a standing committee responsible for
considering legislation in that area before the bill is considered by the full body.
This bill creates a joint review committee on criminal penalties (joint
committee). Under the bill, if a bill that is introduced creates a new crime or revises
a penalty for an existing crime and is referred to a standing committee in the house
in which it is introduced, the chairperson of the standing committee may request that
the joint committee prepare a report regarding the following: 1) the costs or savings
that will result from the bill; 2) the consistency of the bill with existing criminal
penalties; 3) alternative language needed to conform the penalties in the bill to
existing criminal penalties; and 4) whether acts prohibited under the bill are
prohibited under existing criminal statutes. The standing committee may not vote
on whether to recommend the bill for passage nor may the bill be passed by the house
in which it is introduced before the joint committee submits its report or before 30
days after the report is requested, whichever is earlier.
The joint committee consists of one majority party and one minority party
member from each house, the attorney general or his or her designee, the secretary
of corrections or his or her designee, the state public defender or his or her designee,
two reserve judges and two gubernatorial appointees, one of whom shall have law
enforcement experience and one of whom shall be an elected county official. The joint
committee may hold hearings to assist it in preparing its reports.
(The bill's provisions regarding the joint committee were not part of the
legislation proposed by the criminal penalties study committee.)
District attorneys
Assistant district attorney positions
Under current law, the state pays for the salaries and various benefits for
district attorneys, deputy district attorneys, assistant district attorneys and other
state employes of the district attorney's office. This bill adds the following assistant
district attorney positions to the following counties, effective July 1, 2000: 0.25
position for Adams County; 1.0 position for Burnett County; 0.25 position for
Chippewa County; 0.5 position for Columbia County; 2.5 positions for Dane County;
0.25 position for Jefferson County; 0.5 position for Kenosha County; 0.5 position for
LaCrosse County; 1.0 position for Manitowoc County; 1.0 position for Marathon
County; 7.0 positions for Milwaukee County; 0.5 position for Oneida County; 0.5
position for Outagamie County; 1.0 position for Polk County; 0.5 position for Portage
County; 0.75 position for Rock County; 1.0 position for Sauk County, to serve
Marquette and Sauk counties; 0.5 position for Sheboygan County; and 1.25 positions
for Winnebago County. (The bill's provisions regarding assistant district attorney
positions were not part of the legislation proposed by the criminal penalties study
committee.)
Sex offender registry
Under current law, with certain exceptions, a person must register as a sex
offender if he or she has been convicted of certain sex offenses, found not guilty of
certain sex offenses by reason of mental disease or defect or adjudicated delinquent
on the basis of certain sex offenses. The sex offender registry is maintained by DOC
and contains specific information about persons required to register, including
information concerning the person's offense, the person's address and place of
employment and the name and location of any school in which the person is enrolled.
A person registered as a sex offender must also provide updated information to DOC
if the information originally provided to the registry changes.
Generally, the information in the sex offender registry is confidential. However,
when a person first registers as a sex offender or when a registered sex offender
updates information in the registry, DOC must make the information available to
local law enforcement agencies. If the person registering as a sex offender is being
released into the community from custody in prison or some other secure institution
and the person has been convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions
or has been found to be a sexually violent person, the agency releasing the person
(either DOC or the department of health and family services (DHFS), depending on
the reason the person was in custody) must provide a special written bulletin to law
enforcement agencies in the communities in which the person will be living, working
or going to school. The special bulletin must notify the law enforcement agencies that
the person is being released and must provide them with the information in the sex
offender registry concerning the person and with any other information that DOC
or DHFS determines is necessary to assist law enforcement officers or to protect the
public.
A local law enforcement agency may in turn release information from the
registry that it has received from DOC or DHFS (other than information concerning
children who are required to register and information concerning juvenile
adjudications for sex offenses) if the local law enforcement agency believes that
release of the information is necessary to protect to the public. In addition, DOC may
release certain information from the registry to specified community organizations,
including public and private elementary and secondary schools, and to members of
the general public if an organization or a member of the general public requests the
information.
This bill creates a new method by which a parent, guardian or legal custodian
of a child may request information from the sex offender registry concerning
registered sex offenders who are subject to special bulletin notification because they
have been convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions or have been
found to be a sexually violent person. Under the bill, a parent, guardian or legal
custodian of a child may request the information under any of the following
situations:
1. If the child is enrolled in a public school, the parent, guardian or legal
custodian may ask the school district administrator for the information.
2. If the child is enrolled in a private school, the parent, guardian or legal
custodian may ask for the information from the school district administrator of the
school district in which the child resides or the school district administrator of the
school district in which the private school is located.
3. If a parent, guardian or legal custodian of a child intends to move to a new
residence that is located in a different school district or intends to enroll his or her
child in a private school, the parent, guardian or legal custodian may ask for the
information from the school district administrator of the school district in which the
new residence is located or the school district administrator of the school district in
which the private school is located.
When a school district administrator receives a request from a parent, guardian
or legal custodian for information concerning registered sex offenders who are
subject to special bulletin notification, the school district administrator must in turn
request information concerning the persons from the police chief of the community
in which the school district is located or the sheriff of the county in which the school
district is located. Upon receiving a request from a school district administrator, the
police chief or sheriff must immediately provide in writing to the school district
administrator information concerning each person who is residing, employed or
attending school in the community or county and about whom the police chief or
sheriff has received a special bulletin notification. The information that the police
chief or sheriff must provide includes the name and address of the person who is
registered as a sex offender, the offense the person committed, the person's place of
employment and the location of any school the person is attending. The information
provided will include information about children who are required to register as sex
offenders and information concerning juvenile adjudications for sex offenses. Upon
receiving the information from the police chief or sheriff, the school district
administrator must provide the information to the parent, guardian or legal
custodian who asked the school district administrator for the information.
Courts and procedure
Tobacco product manufacturers
On November 23, 1998, Wisconsin and other states agreed to a settlement of
lawsuits brought against the major U.S. tobacco product manufacturers, the "master
settlement agreement". As part of that agreement, each state may enact model
legislation that would affect tobacco product manufacturers that did not originally
join in the master settlement agreement. This bill enacts the model legislation in
Wisconsin. Under this bill, a tobacco product manufacturer that sells cigarettes in
this state is given the choice of joining in the master settlement agreement and
performing the obligations under that agreement or placing money into an escrow
fund, based on the number of cigarettes sold each year. The amount of money to be
placed into escrow per cigarette increases each year until the year 2007, when the
amount is $.0188482. The amount paid into escrow, under the bill, is intended to
ensure that tobacco product manufacturers that do not participate in the master
settlement agreement have funds available to satisfy judgments on the types of
claims that were asserted in the state's tobacco lawsuit. Under the bill, any interest
in money in the escrow account accrues to the tobacco product manufacturer that put
the money into escrow and any money remaining in the escrow account after 25 years
is returned to the tobacco product manufacturer that put the money into escrow.
The bill permits the attorney general to bring a civil action against a tobacco
product manufacturer that fails to put money into escrow as required. If a court finds
that a tobacco product manufacturer failed to place the money into escrow, the bill
permits the court to impose a penalty of up to 5% of the amount improperly withheld
from escrow for each day of the violation, up to 100% of the amount improperly
withheld. If the court finds that a tobacco product manufacturer knowingly failed
to place the money into escrow, the bill permits the court to impose a penalty of up
to 15% of the amount improperly withheld from escrow for each day of the violation,
up to 300% of the amount improperly withheld. The bill also provides that if a tobacco
product manufacturer failed to place the money into escrow on two or more occasions,
the court is required to prohibit the manufacturer from selling cigarettes in this state
for up to two years. The bill requires the court to award the attorney general costs
and reasonable attorney fees if he or she prevails in the lawsuit.
The bill requires the department of administration (DOA) to provide a copy of
the master settlement agreement to each public library system in the state and
requires the revisor of statutes to publish the master settlement agreement in the
Wisconsin Administrative Register.
education
Primary and secondary education
In the 1996-97 and 1998-99 school years, school boards with a certain
percentage of low-income pupils could enter into five-year student achievement
guarantee contracts (SAGE contracts) with the department of public instruction
(DPI) to reduce class size and improve academic achievement in grades kindergarten
to three in exchange for receiving state aid. Beginning in the 2000-01 school year,
a school board may enter into a SAGE contract regardless of the school board's
percentage of low-income pupils, but the school board must satisfy other eligibility
requirements that also pertain to SAGE contracts entered into in 1996-97 and
1998-99 school years. One of these requirements is that a school board that was
eligible to participate in the SAGE program in the 1996-97 and 1998-99 school years
must have participated in the SAGE program in either school year.
This bill repeals this eligibility requirement. The bill also permits DPI to renew
an existing SAGE contract for five years and to enter into new SAGE contracts after
the 2000-01 school year if funding for contract renewals and the new contracts is
available. In making payments for contract renewals and the new contracts, DPI
must give priority to schools that have the highest percentage of low-income pupil
enrollment.
Public broadcasting
Under current law, the following are responsible for providing certain types of
public broadcasting in this state: the educational communications board (ECB), the
board of regents of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System and the Milwaukee
Area Technical College. This bill increases the general fund supported bonding
authority of the building commission by the following amounts: $13,220,800 for a
digital television conversion project for the ECB; $1,700,000 for a digital television
conversion project for the UW System; and $3,500,000 for a digital conversion project
for the Milwaukee Area Technical College. The bill enumerates the authorization of
these projects in the 1999-2001 authorized state building program.
Gambling
Under current law, the general program operations of the state lottery, lottery
retailer compensation, fees that are paid to lottery vendors for on-line and instant
ticket services and supplies, the farmland tax relief credit, costs of the
administration of the lottery and gaming credit and a portion of the department of
justice's (DOJ's) gaming law enforcement activities are funded with general purpose
revenue in fiscal year 1999-2000. There is currently no funding for these programs
in fiscal year 2001-02.
This bill appropriates general purpose revenue to fund the general program
operations of the state lottery, lottery retailer compensation, fees that are paid to
lottery vendors for on-line and instant ticket services and supplies, the farmland tax
relief credit, costs of the administration of the lottery and gaming credit and to
partially fund DOJ's gaming law enforcement activities in fiscal year 2001-02.
Health and human services
Prescription drug assistance
This bill creates an entitlement program for prescription drug assistance for
elderly persons in DHFS and a sum sufficient appropriation of general purpose
revenues for the program. Under the program, beginning April 1, 2001, state
residents who are aged at least 65 years, who are ineligible for medical assistance
and whose gross incomes, if single, are not more than $50,000 or, if married, are not
more than $75,000 per couple, as annually indexed for inflation, may apply for
assistance of up to $10,000 per year in paying for prescription drugs. Prescription
drugs for which a program participant may receive coverage are those prescription
drugs that are covered under the medical assistance program. Participants in the
prescription drug assistance program must pay 25% of the cost of the prescription
drug, at the rate under which pharmacists are reimbursed under the medical
assistance program, plus copayments of $5 for each generic prescription drug and
$10 for each brand-name drug. Under the program, DHFS is the payer of last resort
for coverage for prescription drugs and must reimburse pharmacist providers at the
rate under which pharmacists are reimbursed under the medical assistance
program. DHFS must also maintain or contract for the maintenance of a toll-free
telephone number to provide application information about the prescription drug
assistance program. In order for drugs manufactured by a manufacturer doing
business in this state to be included in the program, the manufacturer must enter
with DHFS into a rebate agreement that is modeled on rebate agreements under
federal medicaid law. The rebate agreement must provide that the manufacturer
make payments to DHFS each calendar quarter or as scheduled by DHFS and that
the rebate payment amounts be determined by the method specified in federal
medicaid law. The bill appropriates $1,000,000 in general purpose revenues in fiscal
year 1999-2000 to the general program supplementation appropriation account of
the joint committee on finance (JCF) and requires DHFS to submit to JCF a plan for
expenditure of these funds for administration of the prescription drug assistance
program. If the cochairpersons of JCF do not notify the secretary of health and family
services of the committee's intent to schedule a meeting to review the plan, JCF must
supplement the DHFS general program operations appropriation account as
provided in the DHFS plan. If the cochairpersons of JCF notify the secretary of
health and family services that JCF intends to schedule a meeting to review the plan,
the DHFS appropriation account may be supplemented only as approved by JCF.
Badger care health care program
Under current law, DHFS administers the badger care health care program.
This program provides health care coverage to certain low-income families and
certain low-income children who do not reside at home. Low-income is generally
defined as having an income at or below 185% of the federal poverty line.
This bill increases funding for the badger care health care program for the
1999-2001 fiscal biennium.
Grants to food pantries
This bill requires DHFS to award annual grants to food pantries that meet
certain conditions. Twenty-five percent of the total amount appropriated for the
grants is to be distributed to qualified rural food pantries in proportion to the number
of persons served by each of those food pantries. The remainder is to be distributed
among qualified food pantries statewide, also in proportion to the number of persons
served by each food pantry. No grant, however, may exceed $15,000. Each food
pantry may use the grant to purchase, store and distribute food to needy households,
to purchase equipment, for various hunger prevention programs and for the general
operations of the food pantry. The bill also directs DHFS to convene an advisory
committee composed of representatives of various hunger prevention organizations
and fields prior to promulgating any rules needed to implement the grant program.
insurance
This bill requires every health insurance policy (called "disability insurance
policy" in the statutes), including managed care plans, health care plans offered by
the state, and every self-insured health plan of the state or a county, city, town,
village or school district, to provide coverage of appropriate and necessary
immunizations, specified in the bill, from birth to age six, for a dependent child of the
insured if the policy or plan covers a dependent of the insured. (Under current law,
health insurance policies are required to cover a newly born child of the insured, even
if the policy did not provide coverage for dependents at the time of the birth.)
Generally, coverage of the specified immunizations may not be subject to any
deductibles, coinsurance or copayments under the policy or plan. Specifically
excluded from this coverage requirement are health insurance policies that cover
only hospital and surgical charges or only certain specified diseases, health care
plans offered by limited service health organizations or by preferred provider plans
that are not managed care plans, medicare replacement or supplement policies and
long-term care insurance policies.
natural resources
Current law grants the state the authority to bond for various conservation
purposes under the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson stewardship 2000 program
(stewardship program). The bill establishes the overall bonding authority of the
stewardship program at $460,000,000 and limits the annual bonding authority to
$46,000,000. The stewardship program begins on July 1, 2000, and is administered
by the department of natural resources (DNR). The stewardship program consists
of four subprograms: one for land acquisition, one for property development and local
assistance, one for bluff protection and one for the Baraboo Hills. Under the
stewardship program, there are specific maximum and minimum amounts that are
imposed, with limited exceptions, on the amount that may be bonded in each fiscal
year under each subprogram. Purposes for which bonding under the land acquisition
subprogram may be used include land acquisition for habitat and natural areas and
land acquisition that preserves or enhances the state's water resources. Bonding
under the property development and local acquisition programs may be used for
nature-based outdoor recreation, as defined in rules promulgated by DNR.
This bill changes these bonding amounts. It raises the overall bonding
authority to $600,000,000 and the annual bonding authority to $60,000,000 for each
fiscal year. It also increases the amounts that may or must be bonded in each fiscal
year under the land acquisition subprogram and the property development and local
assistance subprogram.
payments to Local governments
Shared revenue and property tax credits
Under current law, the state administers a shared revenue program that
distributes state tax revenues to counties and municipalities for the counties and
municipalities to use at their discretion. Under this bill, the amounts of the shared
revenue payments to counties and municipalities are annually adjusted to reflect
changes in the consumer price index.
Under current law, the state makes payments to municipalities for services
that the municipalities provide to certain state facilities that are located in the
municipality and that are exempt from local property taxes. Under the bill, these
payments are annually adjusted to reflect changes in the consumer price index.
Courts
Under current law, the director of state courts administers a program that
provides payments to counties to support the operation of circuit courts. Under the
bill, the amounts of those payments are annually adjusted to reflect changes in the
consumer price index.
Recycling
Under current law, DNR administers a program that provides grants to local
governmental units that are responsible for solid waste management (responsible
units) to pay a portion of the costs of operating recycling programs. This bill changes
the amount of funding for the responsible unit recycling grant program each year to
reflect changes in the consumer price index.
Health and human services
Under current law, DHFS distributes general purpose revenues and federal
revenues, as community aids, to counties to provide social, mental health,
developmental disabilities and alcohol and other drug abuse services. This bill
changes the amount of general purpose revenues that are appropriated for
community aids in each fiscal year to reflect changes in the consumer price index and
any loss of federal revenues for community aids since the previous fiscal year.
Juvenile correctional system
Under current law, DOC distributes general purpose revenues and federal
revenues, as community, youth and family aids (commonly referred to as "youth
aids"), to counties to pay for state-provided juvenile correctional services and local
delinquency-related and juvenile justice services. This bill changes the amount of
general purpose revenues that are appropriated for youth aids in each fiscal year to
reflect changes in the consumer price index and any loss of federal revenues for youth
aids since the previous fiscal year.
state government
Office of public intervenor
This bill recreates an office of public intervenor attached to DOJ, with the same
duties and authority that existed prior to
1995 Wisconsin Act 27 (the 1995-97
biennial budget act). That act transferred the office of public intervenor from DOJ
to DNR, eliminated the public intervenor's authority to formally commence or
intervene in lawsuits, and substituted an eight-member board (consisting of four
members nominated by the governor and approved by the senate and four members
each appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the senate and assembly) for
the seven-member to nine-member advisory committee (consisting of members
appointed by the attorney general). The office of public intervenor and its board were
eliminated by
1997 Wisconsin Act 27 (the 1997-99 biennial budget act).
The bill requires the attorney general to appoint an assistant attorney general
to serve as the public intervenor. The bill authorizes the public intervenor to do all
of the following:
1. Formally commence or intervene in proceedings before any court whenever
such intervention is necessary to protect the public rights in water and other natural
resources of this state, and requires the public intervenor to intervene in such
matters when requested to do so by a division administrator in DNR.
2. Act as an interested party in actions in which he or she intervenes, with full
power to present evidence, subpoena witnesses, cross-examine witnesses, file briefs
and do any other acts appropriate for a party to the proceedings.
3. Appeal administrative rulings to the courts.
The bill requires DNR personnel to notify the public intervenor of all
administrative proceedings under the environmental protection chapters and to
make such investigations, studies and reports to assist the public intervenor either
before or during such formal intervention.
The bill also requires the attorney general to appoint a public intervenor
advisory council consisting of seven to nine members who have a background in or
demonstrated experience or records relating to environmental protection or natural
resource conservation. In addition, at least one member must have working
knowledge of business and at least one member must have knowledge of agriculture.
The advisory committee must hold open, publicized meetings and must advise the
public intervenor consistent with his or her duties.
The bill requires DNR to transfer to DOJ all assets, liabilities and tangible
personal property, including records, of the public intervenor that were transferred
from DOJ to DNR by
1995 Wisconsin Act 27.
The bill authorizes two attorney positions in DOJ and appropriates $241,400
to DOJ for fiscal year 2000-01 for the purposes of the public intervenor.
Consumer protection
Under current law, the department of agriculture, trade and consumer
protection (DATCP) administers and enforces certain consumer protection and trade
practice laws. In administering and enforcing these laws, DATCP either has
exclusive authority or joint authority, with DOJ having a secondary role. These laws
include laws relating to fraudulent drug advertising, methods of competition and
trade practices, motor vehicle rustproofing warranties, telecommunications
services, sale of cleaning agents and water conditioners containing phosphorus, sale
of products containing or made with ozone-depleting substances, ticket refunds,
dating service contracts, fitness center and weight reduction center contracts,
pawnbrokers and secondhand article and jewelry dealers, prize notices, mail-order
sales, time-share ownerships, motor fuel dealerships, prepaid maintenance liens,
self-service storage facilities, rental of private passenger vehicles, future service
plans, and cable television subscriber rights.
This bill transfers either all of or part of the administrative and enforcement
authority for these laws that DATCP has under current law to DOJ. For those laws
for which DATCP and DOJ have joint authority under the bill, DATCP has a
secondary role in their enforcement and administration.
Board of agriculture, trade and consumer protection
Under current law, there are nine members on the board of agriculture, trade
and consumer protection, seven of whom have backgrounds in agriculture and two
of whom are consumer representatives. This bill eliminates the two consumer
representative members.
