4. The two individuals consider themselves to be members of each other's
immediate family.
5. The two individuals agree to be responsible for each other's basic living
expenses.
This bill increases the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) benefits for
educational support personnel, who are school district employees other than
teachers, librarians, or administrators, in the following ways:
1. Under current law, for coverage under the WRS, an individual must work
at least one-third of what is considered full-time employment, as determined by
rule. For WRS participants, other than teachers, librarians, and administrators,
DETF defines full-time employment as 1,904 hours per year and one-third
employment as 600 hours per year. For teachers, librarians, and administrators,
DETF defines full-time employment as 1,320 hours per year and one-third
employment as 440 hours per year. This bill requires that educational support
personnel and teachers, librarians, and administrators be treated the same, with
full-time employment for educational support personnel set at 1,320 hours per year.
2. Under current law, for early retirement purposes, a WRS participant, other
than a teacher, librarian, or administrator, with at least 0.75 of a year of creditable
service in any annual earnings period is treated as having one year of creditable
service for that annual earnings period. To be eligible for this treatment, the
participant must have earned only a partial year of creditable service in at least five
of the ten annual earnings periods immediately preceding termination. This bill
provides that, for early retirement purposes, a participant's amount of creditable
service in any annual earnings period must be treated as the amount of creditable
service that a teacher, librarian, or administrator would earn for that annual
earnings period. Because DETF defines full-time employment to be 1,320 hours per
year for a teacher, librarian, or administrator, this bill reduces the number of hours
required for early retirement purposes for all other WRS participants, to qualify for
a year of creditable service, from 1,428 hours to 1,320 hours per year.
Current law generally provides that state employee positions may be created
or abolished only by law or in budget deliberations, by JCF, or by the governor with
respect to positions funded with federal revenue. This bill authorizes the secretary
of employee trust funds to create or abolish any position funded from the public
employee trust fund. The secretary must notify the governor and JCF of his or her
proposed action. If, within 14 working days after the notification, the governor
objects or the cochairpersons of JCF notify the secretary that the committee has
scheduled a meeting for the purpose of reviewing the proposed action, the position
changes may be made only upon JCF approval. Otherwise, changes may be made
as proposed by the secretary.
Current law permits GIB to contract with DHS and other public or private
entities for data collection and analysis services related to health maintenance
organizations and insurance companies that provide health insurance to state
employees. This bill permits GIB to contract for any other consulting services related
to plans it offers.
Current law, with important exceptions, prevents GIB from modifying or
expanding group insurance coverage to materially affect the level of premiums paid
by the state or its employees, or the level of benefits to be provided, under any plan.
This bill provides that this restriction does not prevent GIB from encouraging
participation in wellness or disease management programs.
shared revenue
This bill reduces the amount of county and municipal aid payments in 2010 by
1 percent. The reduction in total payments is allocated to counties and
municipalities in proportion to the equalized value of the property located in the
county or municipality. In 2011, and in each subsequent year, the amount of the
county and municipal aid payment that each county and municipality receives is the
same as the amount received in 2010.
Under current law, the public utility aid payment that a municipality receives
may not exceed an amount equal to $300 times the municipality's population.
Beginning in 2009, the maximum payment for a municipality increases annually by
$125 per person. Under this bill, beginning with payments in 2009, the public utility
aid payment that a municipality receives may not exceed an amount equal to $425
times the municipality's population.
Under current law, the public utility aid payment that a county receives may
not exceed an amount equal to $100 times the county's population. Beginning in
2009, the maximum payment for a county increases annually by $25 per person.
Under this bill, beginning with payments in 2009, the public utility aid payment that
a county receives may not exceed an equal to $125 times the county's population.
Under current law, county and municipal aid payments (shared revenue) are
made from the general fund. Under the bill, a portion of the shared revenue
payments are made from the wireless 911 fund.
state government
State building program
This bill makes various changes in state building construction procedures to
grant DOA, the Building Commission, and other state agencies increased authority
to award state building construction contracts notwithstanding current statutory
requirements and without obtaining certain approvals required under current law.
State employment
This bill provides that, if the secretary of administration determines that state
operations may be performed more efficiently and effectively by the reassignment of
employees among executive branch state agencies, the secretary may reassign
employees from one state agency to another state agency. Under the bill, reassigned
employees receive the same salary and fringe benefits they would otherwise receive
and remain employees of the state agency from which they were reassigned for all
purposes, including the payment of their salaries and fringe benefits and continuous
service benefits.
This bill authorizes the secretary of administration to abolish any position in
any executive branch state agency if that position has been vacant for more than 12
months, and to reduce authorized expenditure levels for those executive branch state
agencies by the amounts of salary and fringe benefits for the abolished positions.
This bill creates a Division of Legal Services in DOA, which is authorized to
provide legal services to executive branch state agencies, other than DOJ and DPI.
The bill also creates an unclassified chief legal advisor position in DOA, DATCP,
DCF, DOC, DHS, DNR, DOT, and DWD. The chief legal advisor position is one not
currently in the state civil service system.
This bill authorizes OSER to provide state agencies with any services and
materials and to charge state agencies for the services and materials. Currently,
OSER may charge other state agencies only for employment services and materials.
The bill also requires the secretary of administration, before July 1, 2011, to abolish
all human resources positions in executive branch state agencies, other than the
Board of Regents of the UW System, and authorizes the secretary of administration
to transfer human relations employees from these agencies to OSER.
This bill authorizes the secretary of administration to abolish building
maintenance positions in any executive branch state agency and to transfer
employees holding these positions to DOA.
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, as affected by
2007 Wisconsin Act 5, provides that 13.0
FTE attorney positions in executive branch state agencies are to be eliminated on
June 30, 2009. This bill provides that the secretary of administration must eliminate
up to 13.0 FTE attorney the positions on June 30, 2011.
State finance
This bill requires the secretary of administration to lapse or transfer to the
general fund an amount equal to $160,000,000 during the 2009-11 fiscal biennium.
State agencies in all branches of government, except for the Investment Board and
DETF, are subject to the lapse and transfer provisions. The bill also eliminates
lapses and transfers for the 2009-11 fiscal biennium that were required under
2007
Wisconsin Act 20.
Currently, any time after enactment of the biennial budget act, if the secretary
of administration determines that authorized expenditures will exceed revenues in
the current or forthcoming fiscal year by more than 0.5 percent of estimated general
purpose revenue (GPR) appropriations for that fiscal year, the governor must submit
a bill making recommendations for correcting the imbalance between projected
revenues and authorized expenditures. This bill increases the threshold to 2 percent.
Currently, the secretary of administration may temporarily reallocate moneys
to the general fund from other state funds in an amount not to exceed, at any one
time, five percent of total GPR appropriations for that fiscal year. This bill increases
that percentage to ten percent.
Current statutes contain a rule of proceeding governing legislative action on
certain bills, which provides that no bill affecting GPR may be adopted if the bill
would cause the estimated general fund balance on June 30 of any fiscal year to be
less than a certain amount of the total GPR appropriations for that fiscal year. For
fiscal year 2009-10, the amount is $65,000,000; for fiscal year 2010-11, the amount
is $65,000,000; and for each fiscal year thereafter, the amount is two percent of total
GPR appropriations for that fiscal year.
This bill provides that for fiscal years 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13, the
amount is $130,000,000; and for 2013-14 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount
is two percent of total GPR appropriations for that fiscal year.
Currently, every fiscal biennium, one-third of state agencies prepare a base
budget review report that contains a description of each programmatic activity of the
state agency; an accounting of all expenditures in the prior three fiscal years and, for
each programmatic activity of the state agency, an accounting of all expenditures,
arranged by revenue source and expenditure category in the last two quarters in
each of the prior three fiscal years. This bill eliminates base budget review reports.
Under current law, the governor must distribute a copy of the biennial state
budget report, as well as the budget-in-brief, to each member of the legislature. This
bill permits the governor to post the biennial state budget report and the
budget-in-brief on the Internet in lieu of distributing copies to members of the
legislature.
The bill also permits the secretary of administration to develop procedures to
permit electronic compliance with auditing of certain claims requirements and the
filing and preservation of documents relating to the claims.
This bill increases the authorized bonding authority of DVA to make mortgage
loans from $2,205,840,000 to $2,400,840,000.
Current statutes contain a rule of procedure governing legislative action on
certain bills affecting GPR. Generally, the rule provides that the amount
appropriated from GPR may not exceed the amount appropriated from GPR in the
prior fiscal year, increased by any percentage increase in this state's aggregate
personal income. This bill provides that any amount appropriated to pay debt service
on appropriation obligations issued to purchase tobacco settlement revenues is
excluded from this GPR appropriation limitation.
Currently, the National and Community Service Board, which assists persons
who operate service programs that address unmet human, educational,
environmental, or public safety needs, may assess certain state agencies for the
amount specified by the board to pay its administrative costs but the board may not
expend more than the amounts appropriated for this purpose. This bill permits the
board to expend all moneys that the board receives from these assessments imposed
on certain state agencies without limitation.
Public utility regulation
This bill allows an investor-owned electric or natural gas public utility (energy
utility) to apply to the PSC for authorization to administer, fund, or provide
administrative services for a program that invests in energy efficiency
improvements for customers in which the costs borne by a customer for the
improvements are offset by the energy savings resulting from the improvement. If
the PSC authorizes such a program, the energy utility must file a tariff specifying
the terms and conditions for billing customers, as well as contracts between the
energy utility and a property owner who is benefited by the improvement that
require the owner to do the following: 1) inform lessees that are liable for utility
service that the cost of the improvement will appear on the lessees' utility bills; and
2) inform a purchaser of the property that the purchaser, or any other person who
is liable for utility service at the property, is liable for the unpaid costs of the
improvement and that such costs will appear on utility bills for the property.
The bill also does the following: 1) allows an energy utility to include a separate
line item on customer bills that offsets certain costs of the program with energy
savings resulting from an improvement made under the program; 2) prohibits an
energy utility from recovering from ratepayers any bad debt related to nonutility
services provided under a program; and 3) requires an owner of residential property
to make a disclosure about an improvement made under a program on the real estate
conditions report that is required for property transfers.
Under current law, DOA awards grants from the utility public benefits fund
(UPBF) to assist low-income households to weatherize and perform other energy
conservation services, pay energy bills, and identify or prevent energy crises. DOA
determines the amount of a monthly low-income assistance fee that electric utilities
must charge customers. The fees are used to fund the grants. Some of the fees are
also used to help fund the Wisconsin Works program, which provides work
experience and benefits for low-income custodial parents. Under current law, the
monthly fee may not exceed the lesser of $750 or 3 percent of the customer's total
charges for the month. This bill provides that the monthly fee may not exceed the
lesser of $750 or the sum of the foregoing 3 percent and a percentage of the customer's
total charges for the month that is sufficient to generate the amounts used to help
fund the Wisconsin Works program.
Current law also requires DOA to promulgate rules establishing the amount of
the fee. For any fiscal year, DOA must establish the fee by subtracting a specified
sum from the amount needed for assisting low-income customers. One component
of the specified sum is the amount of funding received by the state under federal
programs that provide weatherization and energy assistance to low-income
customers. Under this bill, for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11, the amount of
funding received under the federal programs that is attributable to federal economic
stimulus funds must be deducted from the sum.
Current law requires that, in each fiscal year, DOA must ensure that the
amount awarded in grants for weatherization and other energy conservation
services is equal to 47 percent of the sum of the following: 1) the amounts received
under the weatherization and energy-assistance programs; 2) the amount spent by
certain electric and natural gas utilities assisting low-income households; 3) the
amount spent on all programs funded by the UPBF; and 4) the amount of monthly
low-income assistance fees that certain municipal electric utilities and electric retail
cooperatives are required to collect from their customers and members.
Instead of requiring DOA to ensure that 47 percent of the foregoing sum is spent
in fiscal years 2009-10 to 2011-12 on grants for weatherization and other energy
conservation services, this bill requires DOA to ensure that at least $75,000,000 is
spent in each fiscal year on such grants. In addition, in fiscal years 2010-11 and
2011-12, DOA must increase the amount spent on such grants to reflect the
cost-of-living increase that occurred during the previous fiscal year. Beginning in
fiscal year 2012-13, DOA must ensure that 47 percent of the foregoing sum is spent
on such grants, as is required under current law.
Under current law, DOA also administers federal programs for providing
weatherization and energy assistance. Current law requires DOA to transfer in each
fiscal year 15 percent of the federal funding for the energy assistance program to the
weatherization program. This bill allows, but does not require, DOA to make the
transfer. In addition, the bill requires DOA to deduct its administrative expenses for
the program before making a transfer.
Under current law, DOA administers the federal and state programs described
above. This bill transfers administrative responsibility from DOA to the PSC
effective January 1, 2010.
Under current law, the PSC awards grants from the wireless 911 fund to
wireless companies and local governments to reimburse certain costs incurred in
complying with federal requirements regarding wireless 911 emergency telephone
service. Current law requires that costs must be incurred during a specified
reimbursement period in order to be eligible for reimbursement. At the conclusion
of the reimbursement period, the PSC must distribute to wireless companies any
funds remaining in the wireless 911 fund. A wireless company must credit customer
accounts in amounts that correspond to the distribution made to the wireless
company. This bill prohibits the PSC from making any distribution from the 911
wireless fund that is not a grant for reimbursement of the costs described above.
Under current law, DATCP enforces certain requirements that apply to
advertising, sales representations, and sales and collection practices of
telecommunications providers, including telecommunications utilities subject to
varying degrees of regulation by the PSC. DATCP's enforcement costs are funded,
in general, by general purpose revenues. Under this bill, DATCP's enforcement costs
are funded by annual assessments paid by certain telecommunications utilities. The
bill requires the PSC to assess telecommunications utilities in proportion to their
gross operating revenues.
Other state government
This bill provides requirements for forming a legal relationship of domestic
partnership. Under the bill, a domestic partnership may be formed by two
individuals who are at least 18 years old, are not married or in another domestic
partnership, share a common residence, are not nearer of kin than second cousins,
and are members of the same sex.
To form a domestic partnership, the individuals apply for a declaration of
domestic partnership to the county clerk of the county in which at least one of them
has resided for at least 30 days. Each applicant must submit identification and a
certified copy of his or her birth certificate, as well as any other document affecting
the domestic partnership status, such as a death certificate or a certificate of
termination of domestic partnership. The clerk must then issue a declaration of
domestic partnership, which the parties must complete and submit to the register
of deeds of the county in which they reside. The register of deeds must record the
declaration and send the original to the state registrar of vital statistics.
To terminate a domestic partnership, at least one of the domestic partners must
file with the county clerk a notice of termination of domestic partnership. If only one
of the domestic partners signs the notice, he or she must also file an affidavit stating
either of the following: 1) that he or she has served the other domestic partner with
notice that he or she is going to file a notice of termination of domestic partnership;
or 2) that he or she has been unable to locate the other domestic partner and has
published a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
latest common residence of the domestic partners is located. Upon receipt of a notice
of termination, the clerk issues a certificate of termination of domestic partnership,
which must be recorded in the office of the register of deeds, who sends the original
to the state registrar of vital statistics. Termination of the domestic partnership is
effective 90 days after the certificate of termination of domestic partnership is
recorded in the office of the register of deeds. However, if one or both domestic
partners enters into a marriage that is valid in the state, the domestic partnership
is automatically terminated on the date of the marriage.
The bill provides that domestic partners are joint tenants if they are named as
owners in a document of title or as transferees or buyers in an instrument of transfer,
just as husbands and wives are joint tenants under current law.
Under current law, if the head of a department or independent agency in state
government finds any arbitrary discrimination based on marital status, the head is
required to take remedial action. This bill requires a department or independent
agency head to take remedial action if he or she finds any arbitrary discrimination
based on domestic partnership status.
This bill requires DCF, DHS, DWD, and DOA to develop a plan, by July 1, 2010,
for streamlining their processes, coordinating their computer systems, and
developing compatible billing methodologies for the purpose of coordinating the
administration of the public benefit programs administered by the departments and
implementing a system in which a single smart card may be used for all of those
programs. If statutory changes are necessary, the departments must prepare
proposed legislation by July 1, 2010.
This bill requires the UW Hospital and Clinics Authority to pay, no later than
June 30, 2009, $49,000,000 to the state for deposit into the general fund.
This bill directs the secretary of regulation and licensing to form a dedicated
work unit in DRL to support the work of the Medical Examining Board (MEB) and
the affiliated credentialing boards attached to the MEB by performing all aspects of
credential processing, examination, and complaint investigation, for any credential
issued or renewed by the MEB or any affiliated credentialing board.
Under current law, if a state agency enters into or renews a contract for services
that involves an estimated expenditure of more than $25,000, the agency must
conduct either a uniform cost-benefit analysis, for a new contract, or a continued
appropriateness review, for a contract renewal. This bill eliminates the requirement
that an agency conduct either a uniform cost-benefit analysis or a continued
appropriateness review.
Currently, DOA may sell certain state property if the Building Commission
authorizes the property to be sold during the period beginning on October 27, 2007,
and ending on June 30, 2009. Sales may be either on the basis of public bids or
negotiated prices, and need not reflect fair market value. Sales may be with or
without the approval of the state agency that has jurisdiction over the property.
This bill permits DOA to sell certain state property under the same terms and
conditions as those specified under current law if an offer of sale is approved by the
commission during the period beginning on the day this bill becomes law and ending
on June 30, 2011. With certain exceptions, proceeds of the sales are deposited in the
general fund. The bill does not apply to property under the jurisdiction of the Board
of Regents of the UW System, but the bill requires any sales of such property by the
Board of Regents to be used for the operation of the UW System.
Currently, under the federal coastal zone management program, the U.S.
Department of Commerce awards administrative grants as well as resource
management and coastal zone enhancement grants to eligible states to implement
a state's coastal zone management program. This bill transfers the administration
of this state's program from DOA to DNR. The bill does not transfer any positions
or employees.
Under current law, DATCP issues annual licenses to operators of vehicle scales.
DATCP is authorized to adjust the $60 license fee by rule, and may impose a $200
license fee surcharge on an applicant who has operated a scale without a license.
Currently, no person may construct or relocate a scale without a permit from DATCP,
but DATCP is not authorized to charge a permit fee. DATCP may grant a variance
from its scale construction standards, but DATCP is not authorized to charge a
variance fee.
This bill permits DATCP to adjust the $200 license fee surcharge by rule. The
bill also permits DATCP to establish and charge a fee for a permit to construct or
relocate a scale or for a variance from DATCP construction standards.
Under current law, an operator of a liquid petroleum (LP) gas meter must
register the meter with DATCP and pay a one-time registration fee of $25.
Operators must test LP gas meters annually or face a $100 testing surcharge.
Under this bill, DATCP issues annual licenses to operators of gas meters and
may charge a license fee in an amount DATCP sets by rule. DATCP may also impose
a surcharge in an amount set by rule on an applicant who has operated a gas meter
without a license, and may adjust the $100 testing surcharge by rule. The bill
requires DATCP to promulgate testing, reporting, and record-keeping standards for
gas meter operators, and permits DATCP to promulgate standards for gas meter
construction, operation, and maintenance.
Current law requires that a person who delivers fuel oil or certain other liquid
fuels from a vehicle equipped with a pump and metering device to equip the pump
and metering device with a delivery ticket printer that can print data including the
volume of fuel delivered.
The bill requires an operator of a vehicle tank meter (used to measure a delivery
of fuel oil or certain other liquid fuels) to obtain an annual license from DATCP.
DATCP may charge a license fee and may impose a license fee surcharge on an
applicant who operates a tank meter without a license. DATCP may set the amount
of the license fee and the license fee surcharge by rule and may promulgate standards
for tank meter construction, operation, and maintenance. Under the bill, a tank
meter operator must have the tank meter tested annually, and must report the
results to DATCP or pay a DATCP-imposed surcharge.
This bill prohibits a state employee from using a privately owned aircraft to
travel outside of this state for the conduct of state business. Currently, the use of a
privately owned aircraft for out-of-state travel is permitted if it is more efficient and
economical for the conduct of state business than commercial transportation.
taxation
Income taxation
Under current law, there are four income tax brackets for single individuals,
certain fiduciaries, heads of households, and married persons. The brackets are
indexed for inflation. The current rate of taxation for the lowest bracket is 4.6
percent of taxable income; the rate for the second bracket is 6.15 percent; the rate for
the third bracket is 6.5 percent; and the rate for the highest bracket is 6.75 percent.
The highest bracket applies to taxable income exceeding $112,500 for single
individuals, certain fiduciaries, and heads of households; $150,000 for married
persons filing jointly; and $75,000 for married separate filers.
This bill creates a fifth tax bracket with a taxation rate of 7.75 percent. For
single individuals, certain fiduciaries, and heads of households, this bracket applies
to taxable income exceeding $225,000. For married persons, this bracket applies to
taxable income exceeding $300,000 for joint filers and $150,000 for separate filers.
The bracket is indexed for inflation starting with taxable year 2010.
Under current law, an eligible claimant may recover a certain amount of
property taxes paid through the refundable farmland preservation tax credit. A
refundable tax credit may be paid to an eligible claimant by check if the amount of
the credit which is otherwise due the claimant exceeds the claimant's tax liability,
or if there is no outstanding tax liability.
A current eligibility requirement for the farmland preservation tax credit is
that the farmland to which the claim relates be subject either to a farmland
preservation agreement (FPA) or to a county exclusive agricultural use zoning
ordinance. An FPA and an exclusive agricultural use zoning ordinance impose
certain soil and water conservation standards. The term of an FPA is generally 10
to 25 years, although the parties may agree to relinquish the agreement under
certain circumstances.
The credit is computed based on property taxes accrued on the claimant's
farmland in the preceding year; the claimant's household income; and the
agreement, planning, or zoning provisions that cover the farmland. The maximum
credit is $4,200, and the minimum credit is $600, although the maximum credit may
be reduced based on the zoning ordinances in the county where the farmland is
located.
Under this bill, no new claims may be filed for taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2009, but an otherwise eligible claimant who is subject to an FPA that
is in effect on January 1, 2010, may continue to file a claim for the credit until the
agreement expires.
The bill also creates a new refundable farmland preservation credit. The credit
is funded from the lottery fund, up to approximately $15,000,000 of claims. Excess
claims, up to approximately $12,280,000, are paid from the general fund. The
maximum amount of credits that may be claimed each year may not exceed
$27,280,000. If the total amount of eligible claims exceed $27,280,00, DOR must pay
the excess claims in the subsequent fiscal year and prorate the per acre amounts (see
below) to account for prior year claims being paid in the year subsequent to that year.
If a claimant's payment is so delayed, the claimant may not receive any interest on
his delayed payment, or any other refund.
The new farmland preservation credit is calculated by multiplying a claimant's
qualifying acres by one of the following amounts: $10, if the acres are in a farmland
preservation zoning district and are subject to a new FPA (an FPA that was entered
into after the effective date of the bill); $7.50 if the acres are located in a farmland
preservation zoning district, but are not subject to a new FPA; or $5.00 if the acres
are subject to a new FPA, but are not located in a farmland preservation zoning
district.
Under the bill, qualifying acres are determined using several factors, including
the number of acres of farm that correlate to a claimant's percentage of ownership
interest in a farm, the extent to which the farm is covered by a new FPA, and whether
the farm is in farmland preservation zoning district. For a description of the
requirements of a new FPA, see "AGRICULTURE."
Under current law, for claims filed in 2001 and thereafter, the homestead tax
credit threshold income is $8,000; the maximum property taxes, or rent constituting
property taxes, that a claimant may use in calculating his or her credit are $1,450;
and the maximum household income is $24,500. Currently, as a claimant's income
exceeds $8,000, the credit is phased out until the credit equals zero when income
exceeds $24,500, and if the household income is $8,000 or less, the credit is 80 percent
of the property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued. Using this
formula, the credit that may be claimed ranges from $10 to $1,160.
Under this bill, for claims filed in 2011 and thereafter, the maximum household
income is indexed for inflation. Also under the bill, as a claimant's income exceeds
the threshold income amount, the credit is phased out until the credit equals zero
when income exceeds the maximum income as adjusted for inflation.
Under current law, a corporation may claim an income and franchise tax credit
in an amount equal to 5 percent of its qualified research expenses, as defined by the
Internal Revenue Code, for research conducted in this state. In addition, a
corporation may claim an income and franchise tax credit equal to 5 percent of the
amount that it paid in the taxable year to construct and equip new facilities or
expand existing facilities used in this state for qualified research, as defined by the
Internal Revenue Code.
Under this bill, a corporation may also claim an income and franchise tax credit
equal to its qualified research expenses in the taxable year for research conducted
in this state that exceeds the amount equal to the average amount of the
corporation's qualified research expenses in the previous three taxable years
multiplied by 1.25. If the credit claimed by a corporation exceeds the corporation's
tax liability, the state does not issue a refund, but the corporation may carry forward
any remaining credit to five subsequent taxable years.
This bill allows a business to claim an income and franchise tax credit in an
amount up to 10 percent of the wages that the business paid in the taxable year to
certain full-time employees, as determined by Commerce. A business may also claim
a credit for the costs it incurred for certain job-related training. If the amount of the
taxpayer's credits exceed the taxpayer's tax liability, the taxpayer receives a refund.
This bill creates a refundable individual income tax credit for a beginning
farmer who enters into at least a three-year lease of an established farmer's
agricultural assets, other than land, and uses the assets for farming, and a
refundable individual and corporate income and franchise tax credit for the
established farmer whose assets are leased. If the amount of credit due a claimant
exceeds the claimant's tax liability, the excess is refunded to the claimant by check.
The credit first applies to taxable years beginning on January 1, 2011.
Under the bill, beginning farmer may claim a credit of up to $500 on a one-time
basis for the cost to enroll in a course in farm financial management that is offered
by an educational institution, such as the UW-Madison, UW-Extension, or the
Wisconsin Technical College System. An established farmer may claim a credit of 15
percent of the amount of payments received each year from the beginning farmer for
the lease of the farm assets, except that the credit may be claimed by the established
farmer only for the first three years of the lease.
A beginning farmer must have a net worth of less than $200,000 and have
farmed for fewer than ten years out of the preceding 15 years. An established farmer
must have engaged in farming for at least ten years.
Under current law, after December 31, 2009, individuals and certain entities,
including fiduciaries, corporations, and insurance companies, that are health care
providers may receive a credit on income taxes based on purchases of information
technology hardware and software for making and keeping electronic medical
records. This bill delays the effective date of the tax credit until after December 31,
2011.
Under current law, there is an income tax exclusion for individuals, fiduciaries,
members of limited liability corporations and partnerships, and shareholders of
tax-option corporations (claimants) for 60 percent of the net long-term capital gains
realized from the sale of assets held for at least one year. This bill reduces the
exclusion to 40 percent.
Also under this bill, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010, a
claimant may elect to defer the payment of income taxes on up to $10,000,000 of the
gain realized from the sale of any capital asset held more than one year (original
asset) that is treated as a long-term gain under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC),
if the claimant completes a number of requirements. The bill specifies that the basis
of the investment is the amount of the investment minus the gain generated by the
sale of the original asset. If a claimant defers the payment of income taxes on the
gain generated by the sale of the original asset, the claimant may not use that gain
to net the claimant's gains and losses as the claimant could do if the claimant did not
elect to defer the payment of taxes on the gain.
Under current law, 50 percent of the sales of the following tangible personal
property must be included in a taxpayer's sales factor for income and franchise tax
purposes:
