The department of commerce currently awards grants and loans from the
Wisconsin development fund for various purposes generally related to technology
and product research and development and labor training. This bill provides that
in fiscal year 1999-2000 the department of commerce may provide up to $100,000
in assistance from the fund to a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to
organizations and individuals in urban areas.
Currently, WHEDA guarantees the repayment of loans made to businesses and
individuals for various specified purposes by private lending institutions. The loans
are guaranteed from the Wisconsin development reserve fund. This bill transfers
$2,000,000 from the Wisconsin development reserve fund to the environmental fund,
which funds such activities as environmental repair, groundwater management and
nonpoint source water pollution abatement. In addition, the bill reduces WHEDA's
loan guarantee authority for the remediation of brownfields.
Currently, moneys in the housing rehabilitation loan program administration
fund may be used to pay for WHEDA's expenses in administering the housing
rehabilitation loan program, which promotes housing rehabilitation through, among
other things, the purchase of housing rehabilitation loans from lenders. Moneys may
be transferred to the general fund if the moneys are no longer required for the
housing rehabilitation loan program. This bill eliminates the transfer of moneys to
the general fund and instead authorizes the transfer of moneys to the Wisconsin
development reserve fund, which WHEDA uses to fund loan guarantees under all of
its loan guarantee programs.
The bill also eliminates the cultural and architectural landmark loan
guarantee program, under which WHEDA may guarantee a loan to an organization
for acquiring, constructing, improving or rehabilitating a property that is an
architectural masterpiece and that has historical significance.
Under the statutes, records created and maintained by a governmental agency
are normally open to inspection by anyone who requests inspection or copies of the
records. Also under current law, a governmental agency is prohibited from selling
or renting a record containing an individual's name or address unless authorized by
statute. This bill allows the department of tourism to refuse to reveal names,
addresses and related demographic information from any lists maintained by the
department of persons who have requested travel information from the department.
In addition, if the department reveals information from any such list, the
department may charge a fee to recover its costs in compiling and providing the
information.
Under current law, the department of commerce awards grants to
community-based organizations for regional economic development, but is limited
in the amount that it may award in a fiscal year. This bill removes this limit so that
the department may use its discretion in the total amount of grants awarded.
Under current law, the department of commerce provides technical assistance,
or a grant for technical assistance, to individuals, nonprofit organizations and
businesses with fewer than 25 full-time employes for developing and planning the
start-up or expansion of a business that is expected to provide job opportunities for
persons with severe disabilities. This bill makes businesses with fewer than 100
employes eligible for such assistance.
Commerce
This bill allows a savings bank, a savings and loan association and a state bank
(a financial institution) to become certified by the division of banking in the
department of financial institutions (DFI) as a universal bank. If certified as a
universal bank, the financial institution may exercise certain additional powers.
In order to be certified as a universal bank, a financial institution must be
chartered or organized, and regulated, as a Wisconsin financial institution and be in
existence and continuous operation for at least three years; must be well-capitalized
or adequately capitalized; must not exhibit moderately severe or unsatisfactory
financial, managerial, operational and compliance weaknesses; and must not have
been the subject of any enforcement action within the 12 months preceding the
application.
A financial institution that the division of banking certifies as a universal bank
retains its original status and remains subject to all of the laws that applied to the
financial institution prior to its certification as a universal bank, except to the extent
that such laws are inconsistent with the powers and duties of universal banks.
The bill expands the powers of a financial institution that becomes certified as
a universal bank to include any activity authorized for any savings bank, savings and
loan association or state bank. In addition, the bill does all of the following with
respect to the powers that a universal bank may exercise:
1. The bill grants a universal bank the authority to exercise all powers that may
be exercised, either directly or through a subsidiary, by a national bank, a federally
chartered savings bank or a federally chartered savings and loan association.
2. A universal bank may deal in loans or extensions of credit for any purpose.
Like state banks, the limitations imposed on a universal bank's lending generally
focus on the total amount of liabilities of any one lender at any one time. Although
the limit varies, the general rule is that the total liabilities of any one person to a
universal bank may not exceed 20% of the capital of the universal bank. In addition,
the bill grants a universal bank additional authority to lend an aggregate amount
to all borrowers not to exceed 20% of the bank's capital. The division of banking may
suspend this additional authority based upon factors including the universal bank's
capital adequacy, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk.
3. To the extent consistent with safe and sound banking powers, a universal
bank may purchase, sell, underwrite and hold certain investment securities in an
amount up to 100% of the universal bank's capital. A universal bank may not invest
greater than 20% of its capital in any one obligor or issuer. Subject to certain limits,
the bill also allows a universal bank to purchase, sell, underwrite and hold equity
securities. Universal banks may also invest in certain housing properties and
projects and profit-participation projects. The bill provides that a universal bank
also may invest without limitation in several specific types of securities. The
universal bank may invest in risk management instruments, including financial
futures transactions, financial operations transactions and forward commitments,
solely for the purpose of reducing, hedging or otherwise managing its interest rate
risk exposure. In addition, a universal bank may invest in other financial
institutions. However, the bill contains specific provisions governing the purchase
by a universal bank of its own stock and of stock in banks and bank holding
companies.
4. The bill grants a universal bank the authority to establish the types and
terms of deposits that the universal bank solicits and accepts. A universal bank may
pledge its assets as security for deposits and, with the approval of the division of
banking, may securitize its assets for sale to the public. In addition, a universal bank
may exercise certain safe deposit and trust powers.
5. A universal bank may exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect
the purposes for which the universal bank is organized or to further the businesses
in which the universal bank is lawfully engaged. In addition, the bill allows a
universal bank to engage in activities that are reasonably related or incident to the
purposes of the universal bank. The bill specifies numerous activities that are either
reasonably related or incidental powers, including real estate-related services;
insurance services, other than insurance underwriting; securities brokerage;
investment advice; securities and bond underwriting; mutual fund activities;
financial consulting; and tax planning and preparation. A universal bank may also
engage in any activity permitted to be engaged in by bank holding companies under
the federal Bank Holding Company Act.
Under Wisconsin's version of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (UUPA), the
holder of certain types of intangible property that is presumed to be abandoned must
report and deliver the property to the state treasurer. If the presumption that the
property is abandoned is incorrect, the holder must file a statement with the state
treasurer explaining the error in the presumption. The UUPA defines intangible
property to include a sales credit reflected in a vendor's bookkeeping. This bill
excludes from the definition of intangible property a balance credited by a business
association to a commercial customer's account in the ordinary course of business.
Thus, the bill eliminates the requirement that a vendor either report and deliver to
the state treasurer a sales credit issued to a commercial customer's account or file
a statement with the state treasurer explaining why the sales credit is not reportable
as abandoned property.
Under current law, certain articles and substances, including toys containing
mercury, are statutorily banned from being sold or distributed in this state. This bill
expands the ban to include fever thermometers that contain mercury.
Under current law, a person who owns a meter used to sell or deliver liquefied
petroleum gas must comply with certain requirements to ensure the accuracy of the
meter and the price charged to the purchaser. These requirements include
registering the meter with the department of agriculture, trade and consumer
protection (DATCP) and having the meter inspected annually by a meter servicing
company that is licensed by DATCP. The meter service company then must file with
DATCP a report of the test results.
This bill changes the registration requirement to a licensing requirement and
imposes the requirement on the operator of the meter instead of the owner. The bill
also imposes the requirement that the meter be inspected on the operator instead of
on the owner.
Current law imposes fees on meter owners for failing to comply with these
registration and testing requirements and on meter servicing companies for failing
to comply with the reporting requirements. This bill authorizes DATCP to suspend
or revoke operator licenses for and meter and servicing licenses for these failures.
On January 1, 1999, 11 members of the European Union (Germany, France,
Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Ireland, Austria and
Luxembourg) adopted the euro as their single currency. Beginning on January 1,
1999, there is a three-year period for the conversion of the currencies of the members
to the euro. On January 1, 2002, euro notes and coins will be introduced and on July
1, 2002, the member currencies will be withdrawn from circulation.
This bill provides a general mechanism for interpreting contracts or other legal
instruments that are entered into or executed in this state or that contain provisions
that require the contract or other legal instrument to be interpreted according to the
laws of this state and that use currencies or other monetary units affected by the
introduction of the euro. Generally, under the bill, any contract or other legal
instrument that uses a currency or other monetary unit that is affected by the euro
must use the euro as a commercially reasonable substitute for the currency or
monetary unit. The bill also provides that no person may discharge or otherwise
excuse performance under any contract or other legal instrument, or unilaterally
alter the terms of, or terminate, any contract or other legal instrument, as a result
of the requirement that the euro be a commercially reasonable substitute for the
currency or monetary unit.
This bill changes the name of the division of savings and loan in DFI to the
division of savings institutions.
This bill authorizes DFI to charge members of the public a fee for accessing or
using DFI's databases or computer systems.
Buildings and safety
Under current law, the department of commerce regulates private sewage
systems. A private sewage system is a sewage treatment system with a septic tank
or an alternative sewage system approved by the department of commerce, such as
a holding tank. Under current law, a person who is responsible for a point source of
pollution (pollution from a pipe or similar conveyance into the surface water or
groundwater of this state) is generally required to obtain a water pollution discharge
permit from the department of natural resources (DNR).
Under this bill, the department of commerce regulates small sewage systems
rather than private sewage systems. A small sewage system either is a wastewater
treatment and disposal system that discharges below the surface of the ground and
that has a design flow that does not exceed a maximum established by the
department of commerce or is a holding tank. The bill authorizes DNR to exempt
small sewage systems from the requirement to obtain a water pollution discharge
permit.
Current law charges governmental units (counties in which small sewage
systems are located or, for counties with a population of at least 500,000, the cities,
villages or towns in which such systems are located) with certain regulatory duties
concerning private sewage systems. Governmental units may delegate these
regulatory duties to town sanitary districts or certain public inland lake protection
and rehabilitation districts if these districts consent. This bill permits governmental
units to delegate these regulatory duties to the department of commerce if the
department consents.
Under current law, one statute authorizes governmental units to issue sanitary
permits for the installation of small sewage systems and another statute authorizes
both the department of commerce and governmental units to issue sanitary permits.
The department's practice has been to issue sanitary permits for the installation of
small sewage systems on state-owned property only. This bill permits both the
department and governmental units to issue sanitary permits for the installation of
small sewage systems on either private or state-owned property.
Current law prohibits a governmental unit from issuing a sanitary permit for
the installation of a small sewage system if the department of commerce finds that
the governmental unit has not adopted a small sewage system ordinance, as required
by law, or if the governmental unit fails to carry out its regulatory duties concerning
small sewage systems. This bill provides instead that the department may order the
governmental unit to remedy its failure to adopt a small sewage system ordinance
or to carry out its regulatory duties.
Under current law, the department of commerce administers a grant program
for the replacement or rehabilitation of certain types of failing small sewage systems.
Generally, a covered system is one that discharges sewage into surface water,
groundwater or bedrock or to drain tile or the surface of the ground. Under the
program, the department awards grants to eligible local governmental units which,
in turn, award grants to eligible individuals and businesses. A person is generally
eligible for a grant to replace or rehabilitate a failing sewage system if, among other
things, he or she owns a principal residence that was constructed and inhabited
before July 1, 1978, and that is served by a covered system and if the person's annual
Wisconsin adjusted income does not exceed $45,000. If there is insufficient funding
for all eligible individuals and businesses, the grants are prorated.
Under this bill, in a year in which the department of commerce must prorate
funds under the program, a local governmental unit that received a prorated grant
may apply for a no-interest loan to increase the prorated grants provided to eligible
individuals and businesses. To obtain a loan, a local governmental unit must enter
into a financial assistance agreement with the department of administration and the
department of commerce. In addition, the bill provides that a person is eligible for
a grant if the system serving the principal residence was installed before July 1,
1978, the person's federal adjusted gross income does not exceed $45,000 and the
person meets the other eligibility requirements.
Current law requires small sewage systems to be inspected every three years
by, among others, persons licensed by DNR to service septic tanks (pumpers). This
bill eliminates pumpers as a class of approved inspectors for small sewage systems
and adds small sewage system inspectors certified by the department of commerce.
The bill also eliminates the three-year inspection requirement and requires instead
that the department of commerce establish a schedule for the inspection or pumping
of systems.
Current law requires cities and metropolitan sewerage districts to report to the
department of commerce each failure of a state licensed plumber to qualify as a
journeyman or master plumber and each wilful violation of any plumbing regulation.
This bill eliminates this reporting requirement.
Correctional system
Adult correctional system
This bill provides that the department of corrections (DOC) may not enter into
any contract or other agreement if, in the performance of the contract or agreement,
a prisoner would perform data entry or telemarketing services and have access to any
information that may serve to identify a minor or have access to an individual's
financial transaction card numbers, checking or savings account numbers or social
security number. Under the bill, a financial transaction card means an instrument
or device issued to the cardholder for obtaining anything on credit, for certifying or
guaranteeing the availability of funds sufficient to honor a draft or check or for
gaining access to an account.
Under current law, DOC may, until July 1, 1999, operate the juvenile secured
correctional facility at Prairie du Chien as a state prison for nonviolent offenders who
are not more than 21 years of age. This bill extends that authority to July 1, 2001.
This bill requires DOC to establish a probation and parole holding and alcohol
and other drug abuse treatment facility in Milwaukee, a medium security
correctional institution in Redgranite and a medium security correctional facility in
New Lisbon.
Juvenile correctional system
Under current law relating to community youth and family aids (generally
referred to as "youth aids"), various state and federal funds are allocated to counties
to pay for state-provided juvenile correctional services and local
delinquency-related and juvenile justice services. DOC charges counties for the
costs of services provided by DOC. This bill provides new per person daily cost
assessments upon counties for juvenile placements during the 1999-2001 fiscal
biennium as follows:
-
See PDF for table 
Under current law, DOC may operate or contract for the operation of secured
correctional facilities for holding in secure custody juveniles who have been
adjudicated delinquent and placed in a secured correctional facility under the
supervision of DOC by the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the juvenile
justice code (juvenile court). Current law also permits DOC to license child welfare
agencies to operate secured child caring institutions (secured CCI's) for holding in
secure custody juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent and referred to the
child welfare agency by the juvenile court or by DOC. A juvenile court may place a
juvenile in a secured correctional facility or a secured CCI only if the juvenile has
been adjudicated delinquent for committing an act that would be punishable by a
sentence of six months or more if committed by an adult and has been found to be a
danger to the public and in need of restrictive custodial treatment.
This bill permits the county board of supervisors of not more than one county
to establish, and DOC to license, a secured group home for holding in secure custody
juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent for committing an act that would be
punishable by a sentence of six months or more if committed by an adult, who have
been found to be a danger to the public and in need of restrictive custodial treatment
and who have been placed under the supervision of DOC by the juvenile court.
Under current law, various laws apply to juveniles who are placed in a secured
correctional facility or a secured CCI. Those laws relate to such subjects as sex
offender registration, the commitment of sexually violent persons, a
deoxyribonucleic acid data bank of sex offenders, human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) testing when certain persons have been significantly exposed to HIV, adult
jurisdiction and criminal penalties for certain persons who commit assault, transfers
to a state treatment facility, aftercare planning, escape, notification of victims and
witnesses when a juvenile is released or escapes from correctional custody, taking
runaways into custody, strip searches and an exception to the open records law when
disclosing a record would endanger the security of an institution. This bill applies
those laws to juveniles who are placed in a secured group home in the same manner
as those laws apply to juveniles who are placed in a secured correctional facility or
a secured CCI.
Under current law, DOC provides a corrective sanctions program for juveniles
who have been placed under the supervision of DOC. Under the corrective sanctions
program, DOC must place a participant in the community, provide intensive
surveillance of the participant and provide an average of $5,000 per year per slot to
purchase community-based treatment services for participants. This bill reduces
the amount that DOC must provide to purchase community-based treatment
services for corrective sanctions program participants to $3,000 per year per slot.
courts and procedure
Circuit courts
Current law provides for limited payment of attorney fees by the unsuccessful
litigant to the successful litigant in all civil actions. In a civil action concerning
money damages or property, the successful litigant is entitled to attorney fees based
on the following schedule:
-
See PDF for table
This bill changes the amount of attorney fees allowed in these cases as follows:
-
See PDF for table
The bill also increases the amount of attorney fees recoverable in civil cases that
do not involve money damages or property from a maximum of $100 to a maximum
of $500.
Under current law, in civil cases certain disbursements, such as those made for
the costs of certified copies of public papers or records, postage and depositions, are
recoverable by the successful litigant, but are limited to $50 for each item. This bill
expands the list of disbursements that are recoverable to include such items as
overnight delivery and facsimile transmissions and increases the limit to $100 for
each item. The bill also increases the amount that a successful litigant may recover
for the cost of each expert witness testifying on behalf of the successful litigant from
$100 to $300 and for filing a motion from $50 to $300.
Under current law, when the clerk of circuit court collects a fee from a person
commencing a civil action, including garnishment, small claims and forfeiture
actions, the clerk is also required to collect a $7 justice information system fee.
Four-sevenths of the $7 fee is used to pay the costs incurred by the department of
administration to develop and operate the automated justice information system.
Two-sevenths of the $7 fee is used to pay the costs incurred by the director of state
courts for the operation of the circuit court, court of appeals and supreme court
automated information systems and for the payment of interpreter fees. The
remaining $1 of the fee does not have a specified purpose.
This bill raises the justice information system fee from $7 to $9 and uses the
additional $2 of each fee to pay the costs incurred by the director of state courts for
the operation of the circuit court, court of appeals and supreme court automated
information systems and for the payment of interpreter fees.
Public defender
Under current law, the state public defender (SPD) provides legal
representation to indigent persons in criminal, delinquency and certain related
cases. The SPD assigns cases either to staff attorneys in the agency's trial division
or local private attorneys. A staff attorney working in the trial division is expected
to meet an annual caseload standard. This bill provides that, beginning on July 1,
2000, the SPD may exempt up to ten staff attorneys in the trial division from the
annual caseload standards based on the need of those attorneys to perform other
assigned duties.
Other courts and procedure
Under current law, the department of agriculture, trade and consumer
protection (DATCP) administers and enforces certain consumer protection and trade
practices laws. These laws include laws prohibiting or regulating methods of
competition, fraudulent representations, fraudulent drug advertising, prize notices,
mail-order sales, purchases of vegetables and dairy products from farmers and
advertising of telecommunication services. They also include laws relating to
weights and measures. A person found to have violated one of these laws is subject
to a forfeiture or a fine.
This bill requires a court to impose an assessment equal to 15% of the fine or
forfeiture if the court imposes a fine or forfeiture for a violation of any of these laws
or local ordinances enacted pursuant to these laws. The assessments that are
collected are appropriated to the department of agriculture, trade and consumer
protection to pay for providing consumers with information and education.
