Under the bill, a person sentenced after October 1, 2009, but before the effective
date of the bill, and who earned positive adjustment time during that period may
petition the sentencing court for an early release to extended supervision. If the
sentencing court agrees to reduce the confinement portion of the person's sentence
by the number of positive adjustment time days he or she earned, the sentencing
court must increase the term of extended supervision by the same number of days.
Under the bill, a person who was sentenced to a risk reduction sentence after October
1, 2009, but before the effective date of the bill and who complied with the program
plan developed by DOC may be released to extended supervision after he or she
serves at least 75 percent of the confinement portion of his or her sentence.
Juvenile correctional system
Under current law, DOC must allocate various state and federal moneys 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 according to per person daily cost assessments
specified by law (the "daily rate").
This bill increases the daily rates for care in a juvenile correctional facility and
for care for juveniles transferred from a juvenile correctional institution and
decreases the daily rates for corrective sanctions and after care services. The bill
eliminates the statutory daily rates for care for juveniles in a residential care center
for children and youth, group home, or foster home, and instead provides that the
daily rate is the amount the provider of that care charges DOC.
This bill also decreases by 10 percent from the 2009-11 fiscal biennium the total
amounts that DOC must allocate to counties for state-provided juvenile correctional
services and local delinquency-related and juvenile justice services in the 2011-13
fiscal biennium.
Under current law, sum certain amounts are appropriated to DOC for juvenile
correctional services, juvenile residential aftercare services, and juvenile corrective
sanctions services. This bill provides that, if there is a deficit in the juvenile
correctional services appropriation account at the end of a fiscal year, certain
unencumbered balances in the juvenile residential aftercare services and juvenile
corrective sanctions services appropriation accounts, up to the amount of the deficit
and less any amounts required to be remitted to counties or deposited in the general
fund, are transferred to the juvenile correctional services appropriation account.
courts and procedure
Circuit courts
Under current law, with a few exceptions, a person who files a civil action, a
small claims action, or a wage garnishment action, or against whom a civil forfeiture
is assessed pays a $21.50 justice information surcharge. Of that amount, some
moneys remain in the general fund and some moneys are credited for certain specific
purposes.
Under the bill, $700,000 of the moneys from the justice information surcharge
remain in the general fund. The balance is credited to an appropriation account and
DOA is required to transfer the balance to various agencies for the following
purposes: to provide grants for law enforcement officers; to fund child advocacy
centers; to provide victim notification services; to pay for court interpreters; to pay
for assistant district attorney positions; to fund state and local information and
technology and administrative costs associated with traffic stop data collection; to
administer an interoperable public safety communications system; and to
administer an automated justice information system.
The bill eliminates the funding for the OJA to gather and analyze statistics and
for the provision of civil legal services to indigent persons; and requires district
attorney offices to work with the Office of State Employment Relations to allocate the
money transferred for assistant district attorneys.
Education
Primary and secondary education
Under current law, each school district must hold school for 180 days each
school term and must schedule at least 437 hours of direct pupil instruction in
kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades one to six, and
at least 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades seven to twelve. With some
exceptions, the state superintendent of public instruction must withhold state aid
from a school district if the school district fails to hold school for 180 days.
This bill eliminates the requirement that a school district hold school for 180
days each year and requires the state superintendent to withhold state aid from a
school district that fails to provide the hours of direct pupil instruction specified
above.
Under current law, the board of Milwaukee Public Schools determines the
school calendar and vacation periods for the regular day school period each school
year, but may not schedule more than 200 teaching days in that period in any school
year. This bill eliminates the requirement that no more than 200 teaching days be
scheduled in the regular day school period.
Current law generally limits the increase in the total amount of revenue per
pupil that a school district may receive from general school aids and property taxes
in a school year to the amount of revenue increase allowed per pupil in the previous
school year increased by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. In the
2011-12 school year, the increase is limited to $275 and in the 2012-13 school year
to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. This bill reduces the revenue
limit for all school districts by 5.5 percent in the 2011-12 school year. For the
2012-13 school year, a school district may not increase its per pupil revenues above
the amount it received in the 2011-12 school year.
Current law exempts a school district from the revenue limit if its per pupil
revenue is less than a statutory revenue ceiling, which is set at $9,000 in 2010-11
and $9,800 thereafter. This bill decreases the per pupil revenue ceiling to $8,900 for
the 2011-12 school year and for any subsequent school year.
Current law provides that, if a school district's revenue limit, as calculated
before any adjustments, is less than the district's base revenue from the previous
school year, the district's initial revenue limit is set at the prior year's base revenue.
This bill eliminates this provision.
Current law permits a school board to increase its revenue limits by the amount
spent by the school district in the second previous school year to pay the salary and
fringe benefit costs of school nurses, by the costs of school safety equipment and the
compensation costs of security officers, and for pupil transportation costs. This bill
eliminates these revenue limit adjustments.
Effective July 1, 2012, this bill eliminates a number of categorical school aid
programs, including the Preschool to Grade 5 Program; grants for alcohol and other
drug abuse prevention and intervention programs; the Children at Risk Program;
grants for nursing services; supplemental aid; grants for advanced placement
courses; grants for English instruction for Southeast Asian children; grants for
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs; grants to
Milwaukee Public Schools for improving pupil academic achievement; and grants for
alternative education programs.
Under current law, each school year a school district is guaranteed an amount
of general state aid equal to at least 85 percent of the amount it received in the
previous school year. This bill guarantees a school district in the 2011-12 school year
an amount equal to at least 90 percent of the amount it received in the 2010-11 school
year. The percentage reverts to 85 percent in each school year thereafter.
Under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), a pupil who resides
in the city of Milwaukee may attend a participating private school (MPCP school) in
the city at state expense if, among other requirements, the pupil is a member of a
family that has a total family income that does not exceed 175 percent of the federal
poverty level. A pupil attending an MPCP school whose family income increases up
to not more than 220 percent of the poverty level may continue to attend the school
under the MPCP.
This bill eliminates the family income requirement for a pupil who wishes to
attend an MPCP school beginning in the 2011-12 school year if the pupil did not
attend an MPCP school in the 2010-11 school year. Also under the bill, an MPCP
school may charge tuition and fees to a pupil admitted under the MPCP over and
above the payment the private school receives for the pupil from the state, but only
if the pupil's family income does not exceed 325 percent of the poverty level.
Under current law, only private schools located in the city of Milwaukee may
participate in the MPCP and the number of pupils who may attend a private school
under the MPCP is capped at 22,500. This bill provides that any private school
located in Milwaukee County may participate in the MPCP and eliminates the cap.
Under current law, MPCP schools must annually administer examinations
approved by the state superintendent to pupils attending the school under MPCP
and enrolled in grades four, eight, and ten and examinations in reading and
mathematics required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act to pupils enrolled
in grades three to eight and grade ten. This bill requires, instead, that MPCP schools
annually administer a nationally normed standardized test in reading,
mathematics, and science to pupils attending the school under the MPCP and
enrolled in grades four, eight, and ten.
Under current law MPCP schools must annually submit to DPI evidence of
sound fiscal practices and financial viability, as prescribed by DPI by rule. This bill
establishes circumstances that would indicate that an MPCP school does not possess
sound fiscal practices or the financial ability to continue educational programming
operations.
This bill requires DPI to notify each MPCP school, and the parents and
guardians of pupils attending a private school under the MPCP, of any changes to the
MPCP prior to the school year in which the change is to take effect.
Generally, under current law the state pays MPCP schools the lesser of the
private school's educational costs per pupil or the sum of the amount paid per pupil
in the previous school year increased by the percentage change in the amount of
general state school aids. However, for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, the
state's per pupil payment is equal to the lesser of the private school's educational
costs per pupil or $6,442. This bill extends this payment exception through the
2012-13 school year.
Under current law, school boards may enter into contracts with individuals,
groups, businesses, or governmental bodies to establish charter schools, which
operate with fewer constraints than traditional public schools. Current law also
permits UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, the Milwaukee Area Technical College, and
the city of Milwaukee to operate charter schools (independent charter schools)
directly or to contract for the operation of charter schools. Currently, and through
the 2010-11 school year, the operator of an independent charter school receives per
pupil state aid in an amount equal to the amount paid per pupil in the previous school
year, increased by an amount that is tied to the increase in the per pupil state aid
received by an MPCP school. Under current law, beginning in the 2011-12 school
year, the per pupil payment made to independent charter schools is tied to the per
pupil revenue limit adjustment for public schools. Under this bill, the per pupil
payment to independent charter schools through the 2012-13 school year remains
tied to the method for determining the per pupil payment received by an MPCP
school.
This bill allows any four-year institution within the UW System to operate or
contract for the operation of a charter school with the approval of the Board of
Regents. The bill also allows the UW-Madison to operate or contract for the
operation of a charter school.
Currently, if UW-Milwaukee establishes a charter school, it must be located in
the city of Milwaukee. UW-Parkside may establish only one charter school and it
must be located in the Racine school district or in an adjacent county, it may not enroll
more than 480 pupils, and it may not operate high school grades. This bill eliminates
all of these restrictions.
Currently, the Racine school district receives additional state aid if
UW-Parkside establishes a charter school. This bill eliminates this payment.
Currently, any person who seeks to teach in a public school, including a charter
school, must hold a license or permit issued by DPI. This bill exempts teachers in
independent charter schools from this requirement and instead requires such a
teacher to have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher
education.
Under current law, state aid to independent charter schools is funded by a
reduction in general school aid, applied on a prorated basis to all school districts.
Beginning in the 2011-12 school year, instead of reducing general school aid by the
amount of charter school aid paid in the same school year, general school aid is
reduced by the amount of charter school aid paid in the 2010-11 school year. This
bill eliminates this cap on the reduction in general school aid.
This bill prohibits a school board from requiring, as a condition of employment,
that a teacher reside within the school district.
Current law requires that each school district employ a reading specialist to
develop and coordinate a comprehensive reading curriculum. This bill eliminates
this requirement.
Under current law, moneys are appropriated from the normal school fund to
DPI for an environmental education consultant. This bill eliminates this
appropriation.
Under current law, DPI must award to each person employing an initial
educator a grant for providing a mentor for the initial educator. This bill eliminates
the initial educator grant program beginning in the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Under current law, the Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools Task Force
must make recommendations to DPI for the development of a model management
plan for maintaining indoor environmental quality in public and private schools.
DPI must, in turn, establish a model management plan and practices. Each school
board and the governing body of each MPCP school must implement such a plan.
This bill eliminates the requirement that DPI establish a model management
plan and practices and also the requirements that each school board and the
governing body of each MPCP school implement such a plan.
Current law directs DPI to award grants to nonprofit organizations,
cooperative educational service agencies, and the Milwaukee Public Schools for
gifted and talented pupils.
This bill allows DPI to award grants to the UW-Madison as well, but requires
that all grants must provide services and activities not ordinarily provided in a
regular school program to allow gifted and talented pupils to fully develop their
capabilities.
Under current law, no more than 5,250 pupils may attend virtual charter
schools under the Open Enrollment Program (OEP) in any school year. This bill
eliminates this limit.
Under the OEP, a pupil may apply to attend a public school in a school district
other than the pupil's resident school district (nonresident school district) if certain
conditions are met. Current law establishes a time line for filing and processing an
application under the OEP. An application to attend a school in a nonresident school
district is due between the first Monday in February and the third Friday following
the first Monday in February and the resident and nonresident school boards must
take certain actions to review and accept or reject the application within a specified
time period. By June 30, the nonresident school board must report the name of each
pupil accepted under the OEP to the pupil's resident school board.
This bill extends the time line for filing and processing applications under the
OEP. Under the new time line, an application is due between the first Monday in
February and the last weekday in April. The pupil must inform the nonresident
school board whether he or she will attend a school in the nonresident school district
by the last Friday in June. By July 7, the nonresident school board must report the
name of each pupil accepted under the OEP to the pupil's resident school board. The
bill requires a resident school district to provide to a nonresident school district
records pertaining to disciplinary proceedings involving a pupil who has applied
under the OEP.
The bill also requires the resident school district to forward a copy of the
individualized education program (IEP) prepared for a child with a disability who
applies to the nonresident district under the OEP. If the resident school district fails
to comply with this requirement, the nonresident school district may charge the
resident school district for any actual, additional costs incurred by the school district
to provide the special education and related services to the child. The nonresident
school district must prepare an estimate of the costs to implement an IEP prepared
for a child with a disability who applies to the nonresident school district, and to
provide the resident school district with a copy of the estimate. If the nonresident
school district fails to provide the information, the nonresident school district may
not charge the resident school district for the costs to provide the special education
and related services to the child.
The bill also creates an alternative application process, with a separate time
line, under the OEP for a pupil who satisfies one of the following criteria: 1) the pupil
has been the victim of a violent criminal offense; 2) the pupil is or has been a homeless
pupil; 3) the pupil has been the victim of repeated bullying or harassment; 4) the
place of residence of the pupil's parent or guardian and of the pupil has changed as
a result of military orders; 5) the pupil has moved into this state; 6) the place of
residence of the pupil has changed as a result of a court order or custody agreement
or placement in or removal from a foster home; or 7) the parent of the pupil and the
nonresident school board agree that attending school in the nonresident school
district is in the best interests of the pupil.
A nonresident school district that receives an application under the alternative
time line must immediately forward a copy to the resident school board and must
notify the applicant, in writing, whether it has accepted the application no later than
20 days after receiving it.
This bill permits a school district to increase the revenue limit applicable to the
school by the amount of any reduction to the school district's payment from DPI in
the previous year for a pupil who was not included in the calculation of the number
of pupils enrolled in that school district in the previous year.
Current law generally requires a school district to provide transportation to
and from school for a pupil attending a private school that is located at least two miles
from the pupil's residence. If the estimated cost of transporting a pupil to a private
school is more than 1.5 times the school district's average cost per pupil for bus
transportation, the school board may contract with the pupil's parent or guardian.
Except in a first class city school district (currently, only the Milwaukee Public
Schools), the contract must provide for an annual payment for each pupil. In a first
class city school district, if two or more pupils reside in the same household and
attend the same private school, the contract may provide for a total annual payment
of the amount described above for all of the pupils instead of for each of the pupils.
This bill extends this provision to all school districts.
Under current law, no school bus driver, school district employee, or volunteer
may administer medications, including prescription and nonprescription drug
products, unless the person has received training approved by DPI. This bill
eliminates the requirement that DPI approve the training.
Under current law, a school nurse is defined to mean a registered nurse licensed
either under state law or in a party state under the Nurse Licensure Compact who
also meets qualifications established by DPI by rule. This bill eliminates the
requirement that a school nurse meet qualifications established by DPI.
This bill directs DPI, working with the office of the governor, to establish a
student information system to collect and maintain information about public school
pupils, including their academic performance and demographic information,
aggregated by school district, school, and teacher. DPI may not spend any moneys
appropriated for the system unless its annual expenditure plan is approved by the
governor. The bill requires DPI to charge a fee to any school district that uses the
system and authorizes DPI to charge a fee to any other person that uses the system.
This bill creates an appropriation to fund the work of a task force to be created
by the governor to assess and improve literacy in elementary school children.
Higher education
Currently, the UW System consists of 13 four-year institutions, including the
UW-Madison, 13 two-year colleges, and the UW-Extension. The UW System is
governed by the Board of Regents, which consists of the state superintendent of
public instruction, the president of the technical college system, 14 citizen members,
and two students. The latter 16 members are appointed by the governor and
confirmed by the senate. There is a shared, hierarchical system of governance for
the UW System: the Board of Regents has primary responsibility, followed by the UW
System president, the chancellors of the institutions, the faculty, and the academic
staff and students. Three boards are created in or attached to the UW System: the
Environmental Education Board, the Laboratory of Hygiene Board, and the
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
This bill creates an authority called the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
consisting of the current UW-Madison. The board of Trustees, which governs the
authority, consists of 21 members, 11 of whom are appointed by the governor, and the
chancellor, who serves as a nonvoting member. The Board of Trustees appoints the
chancellor to serve at its pleasure as the chief executive officer of the authority. The
bill establishes a shared, hierarchical governance system for the authority,
consisting of the Board of Trustees, followed by the chancellor, the faculty, and the
academic staff and students.
The bill transfers all assets and liabilities of the current UW-Madison,
including real property, and all incumbent UW-Madison employees to the authority.
Until July 1, 2012, the authority must adhere to the terms of any collective
bargaining agreement covering the employees, and the authority is considered an
agency under the state employment relations laws for all purposes. Beginning July
1, 2012, the authority must implement its own personnel system. Tenured faculty
at UW-Madison retain their tenure at the authority. The authority remains a
participating employer in the Wisconsin Retirement System and authority
employees retain health insurance and other benefits they had as state employees.
All contracts entered into by the Board of Regents that are primarily related to the
operation of the current UW-Madison, including the contracts with the Board of
Directors of the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority, are transferred to the
authority's Board of Trustees.
The bill requires the Board of Trustees to adopt rules relating to conduct on
university property and authorizes the Board of Trustees to condemn property.
Current law prohibits the Board of Regents of the UW System from increasing
resident undergraduate tuition beyond an amount sufficient to fund certain
specified costs and activities. This bill does not impose these restrictions on the
establishment of tuition by the Board of Trustees.
The bill appropriates general purpose revenue, program revenue, and moneys
from segregated funds to the authority. The authority is not required to deposit
moneys that it receives, such as tuition, gifts, grants, and federal revenue, into the
state treasury and may transfer gifts, grants, and donations to the UW Foundation.
However, it must transfer daily to the state treasurer for deposit into the local
government pooled-investment fund the collected cash balance from all sources
except gifts, grants, and donations.
The bill abolishes the Laboratory of Hygiene Board and the Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory Board and transfers their functions to the authority. The bill
directs the Board of Trustees to appoint the director of the laboratory of hygiene, the
director of the psychiatric institute, the state geologist, and the state cartographer.
The bill makes other changes regarding the UW-System and the
UW-Madison, including the following:
1. Transfers loan assistance programs for physicians and other health care
providers, but not dentist and dental hygienist programs, from the Board of Regents
to the Board of Trustees.
2. Adds one person associated with the authority to each of the following boards
and councils: the teachers retirement board in DETF, the natural areas preservation
council in DNR, the professional standards council for teachers in DPI, the Higher
Educational Aids Board, and the Technical College System Board.
3. Replaces certain Board of Regents members of the University of Wisconsin
Hospitals and Clinics Board and the board of directors of the University of Wisconsin
Hospitals and Clinics Authority with the Board of Trustee members.
The bill does the following regarding legal proceedings involving the authority:
1. Under current law, no one may sue a state officer, employee, or agent who
is acting in his or her official capacity for damages unless the person serves the
attorney general with a written notice of claim within 120 days of the event that
allegedly caused the damages. This bill applies the prohibition to actions against an
officer, director, employee, or agent of the Board of Trustees.
2. With a few exceptions, current law limits damages in a case against a state
officer, employee, or agent who is acting in his or her official capacity to $250,000.
This bill applies the limit to actions against an officer, director, employee, or agent
of the Board of Trustees.
3. Under current law, generally, if a public officer or a state employee is sued
in an official capacity or for actions undertaken within the scope of his or her
employment, the state or the political subdivision that employs the officer or
employee must provide legal counsel to the defendant officer or employee or cover
legal costs for the officer or employee. If damages are assessed against the officer or
employee, the state or political subdivision must pay the damages. Under this bill,
an officer, director, employer, or agent of the Board of Trustees is treated as a state
officer, director, employer, or agent for purposes of these requirements.
4. Under current law, DOJ represents the state, state agencies, and state
employees in certain legal proceedings, reviews, and actions. Under this bill, DOJ
represents the Board of Trustees as a department of state government and the
officials, employees, and agents of the board as state officials, employees, and agents
for the purpose of representation in civil and criminal proceedings, and, upon
request, for the purpose of appearing for and representing the board or its officials,
employees, or agents at an administrative or civil court proceeding.
This bill directs the Board of Regents of the UW System to submit a plan to the
secretary of administration by October 1, 2012, for the conversion of the
UW-Milwaukee to an authority.
Current law allows the Board of Regents to charge different tuition rates to
resident and nonresident students. Current law also includes nonresident tuition
exemptions, under which certain nonresident students pay resident tuition rates.
One of the exemptions applies to an alien who is not a legal permanent resident of
the United States and who: 1) graduated from a Wisconsin high school or received
a declaration of equivalency of high school graduation from Wisconsin; 2) was
continuously present in Wisconsin for at least three years following the first day of
attending a Wisconsin high school or immediately preceding receipt of a declaration
of equivalency of high school graduation; and 3) enrolls in a UW System institution
and provides the institution with an affidavit stating that he or she has filed or will
file an application for permanent residency with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services as soon as the person is eligible to do so. This bill eliminates the foregoing
nonresident tuition exemption.
Current law also provides that an alien described above is considered a resident
of this state for purposes of admission to and payment of fees at a technical college
in this state. This bill eliminates that provision.
This bill prohibits a technical college district board's tax levy for operations in
2011 and 2012 from being greater than its tax levy for operations in 2010. If a district
board's levy exceeds the allowable amount, the Technical College System Board must
reduce the district's state aid payments by the amount of the excess levy unless DOR
determines that the district board's excess levy was caused by a clerical error made
by DOR or a taxation district or county clerk.
Current law requires the UW System and each technical college to grant full
remission of fees for 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is longer, less the
amount of any fees paid under the federal Reserve Officer Training Corps Program,
the federal Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Act, or the federal Post-9/11 Veterans
Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to an eligible veteran or to the spouse,
unremarried surviving spouse, or child of an eligible veteran.
This bill requires the UW-Madison, the UW System, and a technical college to
grant full remission of fees for 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is longer,
without reduction for any fees paid under those federal programs.
Other educational and cultural agencies
Under current law, the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) awards
Wisconsin covenant scholar grants to undergraduates enrolled at least half time at
nonprofit public or private institutions of higher education or at tribally controlled
colleges in this state. Currently, the Office of the Wisconsin Covenant Scholars
Program in DOA (office) promotes attendance at nonprofit institutions of higher
education in this state and performs certain duties relating to the administration of
the program.
This bill eliminates the office and the promotional activities performed by the
office and transfers to HEAB the administrative duties currently performed by the
office. The bill also prohibits students from enrolling in the program after September
30, 2011.
Under current law, the Arts Board is attached to the Department of Tourism,
which means that, subject to certain exceptions, the Arts Board exercises its powers,
duties, and functions, including the duty of appointing an executive secretary,
independently of the secretary of tourism.
This bill places the Arts Board in the Department of Tourism so that the Arts
Board exercises all of its powers, duties, and functions under the direction and
supervision of the secretary of tourism, and requires the secretary of tourism to
appoint an executive director of the Arts Board to serve at the pleasure of the
secretary.
Current law generally requires at least 0.02 percent of the appropriation for the
construction, reconstruction, renovation, or remodeling of, or for an addition to, a
state building to be used to acquire works of art for the building (Percent for Art
Program). This bill eliminates the Percent for Art Program.
Environment
Recycling
Current law generally prohibits a person from disposing of certain materials,
such as aluminum containers, in a landfill or incinerator and requires a municipality
or county to operate a recycling or other program to manage solid waste in
compliance with the disposal restrictions. DNR administers a program that provides
financial assistance to local governments that operate recycling programs.
This bill eliminates the requirement that a municipality or county operate a
recycling or other program to manage solid waste in compliance with the disposal
restrictions, eliminates the financial assistance program for local governmental
recycling programs, and prohibits an individual from placing materials such as
aluminum containers with materials to be disposed of in a landfill or incinerator.
Under current law, the main sources of revenue for the segregated recycling and
renewable energy fund are the recycling tipping fee and the recycling surcharge.
Currently, the recycling tipping fee is $7 per ton of solid waste disposed of, other than
certain kinds of high-volume industrial waste.
