6. The bill provides that an individual who is eligible for a child care subsidy
under Wisconsin Shares may use the subsidy for child care that is provided by an
out-of-state provider. The rate at which the out-of-state provider is paid is based
on the maximum rate paid to a provider in the county in which the eligible individual
resides or the out-of-state provider's actual rate, whichever is lower.
W-2 provides work experience to a participant through placement in one of a
number of different employment positions, depending on the participant's skills,
training, and experience. For one of the employment positions, called trial jobs, a
W-2 agency pays a wage subsidy to a private employer that employs a W-2
participant. The bill terminates the trial job employment position and replaces it
with a trial employment match program (TEMP) that has the same features as the
trial job employment position, except for a few changes.
Under current law, a W-2 agency pays an employer a wage subsidy of not more
than $300 per month for full-time employment of a participant in a trial job. Under
the bill, in TEMP the W-2 agency and employer negotiate the wage subsidy, which
is be paid for every hour that the participant actually works, up to 40 hours per week,
at not less than the applicable minimum wage. In addition, the W-2 agency may
reimburse the employer for all or a portion of certain taxes and other costs associated
with employment of the participant. The bill changes the maximum time in a TEMP
job from up to three months to up to six months, with a possible three-month
extension. Currently, an employer that employs a participant in a trial job must
agree to make a good faith effort to retain the participant as a permanent
unsubsidized employee after the wage subsidy under the trial job ends. For TEMP
the bill adds that, if the employer does not retain the participant, the employer must
serve as an employment reference for the participant or must provide the W-2
agency with a written performance evaluation with recommendations for
improvement.
In addition to replacing trial jobs with TEMP, the bill repeals the real work, real
pay employment position in W-2, eliminates the subsidized private sector
employment program, and eliminates the workforce attachment and advancement
program.
Medical Assistance
Currently, DHS administers the Medical Assistance (MA) program, which is a
joint federal and state program that provides health services to individuals who have
limited resources. Some services are provided through programs that operate under
a waiver of federal Medicaid laws, including services provided through BadgerCare
Plus (BC+) and BadgerCare Plus Core (BC+ Core). Under current law, BC+ has a
standard plan with a larger set of benefits and a Benchmark plan with fewer
benefits.
Under current law, family income is the total gross earned and unearned
income received by all members of a family. Beginning on January 1, 2014, under
the bill, for purposes of determining eligibility for BC+ and BC+ Core, family income
is defined under a federal regulation that uses an income calculation based on
modified adjusted gross income. The bill also makes other changes to calculation of
income and family size for BC+ and BC+ Core on January 1, 2014, or sooner.
Under current law, certain individuals are eligible for benefits under the BC+
standard plan. Beginning in January 1, 2014, under the bill, a pregnant woman
must have an income that does not exceed 133 percent of the federal poverty line
(FPL) to be eligible for BC+ standard plan benefits. Also, beginning on January 1,
2014, the bill reduces the income eligibility level for the BC+ standard plan for
parents and caretaker relatives from not more than 200 percent of the FPL to not
more than 100 percent of the FPL before a 5 percent income disregard is applied. The
bill defines, beginning on January 1, 2014, for purposes of eligibility of a parent or
caretaker relative, a "dependent child." The bill also changes criteria for
presumptive eligibility, retroactive eligibility, and transitional MA.
The bill retains the current law ineligibility provisions for certain individuals
with health insurance coverage or access to coverage during certain times and adds,
with certain limitations, individuals to the types of individuals for whom access to
coverage results in ineligibility and specifies the types of insurance that result in
ineligibility. Under the bill, certain individuals are ineligible for BC+ if they have
private major medical insurance with a certain premium. The bill also adds certain
individuals to those who are ineligible for BC+ for three months for not maintaining
certain types of health coverage.
Beginning on January 1, 2014, the bill eliminates eligibility for the BC+
Benchmark plan for all of the following individuals: pregnant women whose family
income exceeds 200 percent but does not exceed 300 percent of the FPL and children
under one year of age of those women; certain other pregnant women; and parents
or caretaker relatives whose family income includes self-employment income and
does not exceed 200 percent of the FPL under a certain calculation. Under the bill,
beginning on January 1, 2014, an unborn child whose family income exceeds 200
percent of the FPL but does not exceed 300 percent of the FPL is eligible for
Benchmark but only for prenatal care benefits. On January 1, 2014, the bill
eliminates the ability for children whose family incomes exceed 300 percent of the
FPL to receive Benchmark plan benefits by paying the full member per month cost
of coverage.
If the federal Department of Health and Human Services (federal DHHS)
allows, under the bill, DHS may provide an alternate Benchmark plan to adult
individuals who are not pregnant, whose family incomes exceed 100 percent of the
FPL, and who are otherwise eligible for BC+. The alternate Benchmark plan, if
provided, provides coverage for benefits similar to those in a commercial, major
medical insurance policy and may charge higher copayments than are charged for
the standard plan, with certain limitations.
The bill allows DHS to administer medical home initiatives as service delivery
mechanisms to provide and coordinate care for individuals who are eligible for
services under a fee-for-service model of MA, including BC+ and BC+ Core.
Current law requires certain individuals to pay premiums for BC+. The bill
requires an adult parent or adult caretaker who is not pregnant, disabled, or
American Indian and whose family income exceeds 133 percent of the FPL and, if the
federal DHHS approves, a child who is not disabled and whose family income is at
a level determined by DHS but at least 150 percent of the FPL, to pay a premium for
BC+.
Under current law, if an individual does not pay a required premium or requests
termination of coverage under BC+, the coverage under BC+ is terminated and a
six-month ineligibility period begins. The bill changes the ineligibility period for an
adult to 12 months except for any month in which the former recipient's family
income does not exceed 133 percent of the FPL. For a child, the bill retains the six
month ineligibility period except for any month in which the child's family income
does not exceed 150 percent of the FPL; however, if the federal DHHS approves, the
ineligibility period becomes 12 months.
Under current law, DHS also administers BC+ Core, which provides basic
primary and preventive care to adults who are under age 65, who have family
incomes that do not exceed 200 percent of the FPL, and who are not otherwise eligible
for MA, including BC+. The bill requires certain childless adults with a family
income exceeding 133 percent of the FPL to pay a premium for BC+ Core benefits.
Beginning January 1, 2014, the bill allows only those individuals whose family
incomes do not exceed 100 percent of the FPL, before a 5 percent income disregard
is applied, to be eligible for BC+ Core.
The bill allows DHS to enroll a child who is receiving services through the early
intervention program in a special plan, if the federal DHHS approves.
Under current law, DHS is required to develop a purchasing pool, which is not
an MA program and is known as Badger Rx Gold, for pharmacy benefits and set
eligibility requirements to obtain prescription drug coverage through the purchasing
pool. The bill eliminates Badger Rx Gold.
Under current law, an individual who would be eligible for MA based on
eligibility for supplemental security income (SSI), but who is not eligible for SSI
because he or she is employed and has too much earned and unearned income to be
eligible, may pay premiums for coverage under MA if his or her family's net income
is less than 250 percent of the FPL and his or her assets do not exceed $15,000,
excluding certain assets. This program is known as the MA purchase plan (MAPP).
The bill makes a number of changes to the eligibility and premium
requirements under MAPP. Under current law, when determining an individual's
net income, certain disregards are deducted from the individual's and his or her
spouse's total earned income, then the individual's and his or her spouse's total
unearned income is added. Under the bill, the same disregards are deducted from
the individual's and his or her spouse's earned and unearned income combined, then
a new deduction of up to $500 per month of the individual's out-of-pocket medical
and remedial expenses and long-term care costs is applied. The bill requires that,
to be engaged in gainful employment, which is required for eligibility, an individual
must be paying, or having withheld, certain taxes, and requires that DHS verify,
through documentation provided by the individual, both the individual's income
from work activity and payment or withholding of taxes.
Currently, premiums for MA coverage under MAPP are calculated by adding
together all of the individual's unearned income, after certain specified amounts are
deducted, and then adding 3 percent of the individual's earned income. DHS waives
any premiums below $25 per month. In addition, DHS does not assess a premium
if the individual's total earned and unearned income is below 150 percent of the FPL
for a family the size of the individual's family. Under the bill, an individual whose
total earned and unearned income is at least 150 percent of the FPL
for an individual
is required to pay a premium. The premium is equal to 3 percent of the individual's
total earned and unearned income, after deducting the same amounts that are
deducted under current law from an individual's unearned income, and then
rounded down to the nearest $25. A minimum monthly premium of $50 is set,
however, for anyone whose calculated premium is below that amount.
Certain MA programs consider an individual's income and assets when
determining eligibility and any cost-sharing requirements. Under the bill, when
determining eligibility or cost-sharing requirements under various MA programs,
including Family Care and MAPP, DHS must exclude, to the extent approved by the
federal government, independence accounts and retirement benefits that
accumulated or were earned through employment income or employer contributions
while the individual was employed and receiving MA coverage under MAPP. An
independence account is a DHS-approved account that consists of savings from
income earned while an individual is covered under MAPP.
Under current law, an individual who divests income or assets, or disposes of
income or assets for less than fair market value, may be ineligible for MA for a certain
period of time. Current law specifies a method for determining the starting date for
an ineligibility period for MA resulting from a divestment. This bill specifies that the
current law method applies to applicants for MA. For recipients of long-term care
services through MA, the bill sets as the starting date for an ineligibility period the
first day of the month following the month in which the individual receives advance
notice of that ineligibility period.
Under current law, the purchase by an individual or his or her spouse of a
promissory note, loan, or mortgage is a transfer of assets for less than fair market
value that triggers an ineligibility period unless certain circumstances apply,
including that the loan's terms prohibit cancellation of the balance upon the death
of the lender. This bill specifies that a promissory note in which the debtor is a
presumptive heir of the lender or in which neither the lender nor debtor has any
incentive to enforce repayment is considered canceled upon the death of the lender
for purposes of divestment and eligibility for MA.
Current law provides for protection of certain income and resources for a spouse
who is not receiving long-term care services through MA, known as the community
spouse, of an institutionalized individual. This bill specifies that even though the
community spouse's resources are considered unavailable, the transfer of those
resources or other assets by the community spouse within the first five years of the
institutionalized spouse's eligibility for MA may result in a period of ineligibility for
MA. The bill also allows DHS to deny MA eligibility to an institutionalized spouse
if the institutionalized spouse and community spouse do not provide the total value
of their assets and information on income and resources to the extent required under
federal law or do not sign the MA application.
Current law allows a community spouse to have a minimum monthly
maintenance needs allowance (MMMNA) and the community spouse is allowed a
resource allowance to generate the income to provide the MMMNA. If either spouse
establishes at a fair hearing that the resource allowance determined outside the fair
hearing does not generate enough income to meet the MMMNA, DHS is required to
establish an amount that results in a sufficient MMMNA. The bill specifies on what
DHS must base the amount to be used to raise the income to the level of the MMMNA
and that any resource may be transferred to provide that amount.
Under current law, eligibility for the MA program for the medically indigent is
contingent on the applicant's property not exceeding certain parameters including
that the total face value of all life insurance policies that have a cash surrender value
is $1,500 or less. The bill changes this parameter such that those applicants are
eligible only if the combined cash surrender value of all life insurance policies with
cash surrender values, including riders and other attachments, is $1,500 or less.
One of the benefits provided under MA is psychosocial services provided by the
staff of a community-based psychosocial service program. This benefit, however, is
available to a recipient under MA only if the county in which the recipient resides
elects to make this benefit available under MA, in which case DHS reimburses a
provider of the services for the portion of the allowable MA charge that is provided
by the federal government and the county reimburses the provider for the remainder
of the allowable MA charge. The bill provides that, if a county delivers this MA
benefit on a regional basis, DHS will reimburse a provider both for the allowable MA
charge that is provided by the federal government and for the remainder of the
allowable charge.
Federal law requires that an MA recipient receive benefits in the state in which
he or she resides. With some exceptions, the bill requires DHS to electronically verify
the residence of an applicant for MA for purposes of determining eligibility and of a
recipient of MA for purposes of determining continued eligibility when a recipient's
eligibility is reviewed. If DHS is unable to electronically verify residence, an
applicant or recipient must then provide DHS with adequate proof of residency.
Under current law, if an MA recipient has health care coverage from another
source (third party), such as a health insurance policy or an employer's self-insured
health plan, DHS is entitled to be reimbursed by the third party for any MA
payments that DHS has made. This bill requires a third party to accept claims from
DHS electronically for reimbursement of payments made under MA.
Children
Under current law, if a county that investigates a report of child abuse or
neglect determines that a specific person has abused or neglected the child, the
person may appeal the determination in accordance with procedures established by
DCF by rule. This bill requires a county that makes an initial determination that
a specific person has abused or neglected a child to provide the person with an
opportunity for a review of that initial determination in accordance with rules
promulgated by DCF before the county may make a final determination. The bill also
grants the person the right to a contested case hearing on that determination and
judicial review of the final administrative decision following the contested case
hearing.
Subject to certain exceptions, current law requires DCF to maintain the
confidentiality of records kept or information received about an individual who is or
was in the care or legal custody of DCF. The bill permits DCF to provide to DOR
information concerning a recipient of payments for out-of-home care for a child
solely for the purposes of administering state taxes and collecting debts owed to
DOR.
This bill creates an Office of Children's Mental Health (office) in DHS and
requires the office to study and recommend ways, and coordinate initiatives, to
improve the integration across state agencies of mental health services provided to
children and monitor the performance of programs that provide those services.
Under the bill, the director of the office is appointed by the governor to serve at the
pleasure of the governor.
Under current law, a person who is licensed to operate a child care center,
certified as a child care provider for purposes of reimbursement under Wisconsin
Shares, or contracted by a school board to operate a child care program (collectively,
"child care provider") is eligible for reimbursement under Wisconsin Shares.
Current law, however, requires a person to undergo a background investigation
before becoming licensed, certified, or contracted or before becoming a caregiver or
nonclient resident of a child care provider. This bill requires a child care provider
that is receiving, or that wishes to receive, payment under Wisconsin Shares or an
adult nonclient resident or caregiver of such a child care provider to be fingerprinted
as part of his or her background investigation and permits the person to be charged
a fee for the fingerprinting.
Under current law, an order of the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under
the Children's Code (juvenile court) that places or continues the placement of a child
in an out-of-home placement terminates when the child reaches 19 years of age, if
the child is a full-time student at a secondary school or its vocational or technical
equivalent and is reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching 19
years of age, unless the juvenile court specified a shorter period or terminates the
order sooner.
This bill provides that such an order terminates when the child reaches 21
years of age if the child is a full-time student at a secondary school or its vocational
or technical equivalent and if an Individualized Education Program is in effect for
the child, unless the juvenile court specified a shorter period or terminates the order
sooner.
Under current law, the amount of a subsidized guardianship payment payable
to the guardian of a child in need of protection or services is equal to the foster care
payment received by the guardian for the month preceding the month in which the
guardianship order was granted, unless a lesser amount is agreed to by the guardian.
Similarly, the initial amount of adoption assistance payable to the adoptive parents
of a child with special needs is equivalent to the foster care or subsidized guardian
payments received by the adoptive parents at the time the adoption assistance
agreement was signed, and the initial amount of adoption assistance for a child who
was not in that care immediately prior to placement for adoption is the uniform foster
care rate applicable to the child at that time, unless a lesser amount is agreed to by
the adoptive parents.
This bill requires the amount of a monthly subsidized guardianship payment
or the initial amount of adoption assistance to be based on the circumstances of the
guardian or adoptive family and the needs of the child, but provides that those
amounts may not exceed the payments received by the guardian or adoptive parents
or the uniform foster care rate, whichever is applicable, for the month preceding the
month in which the guardianship order was granted or at the time the adoption
assistance agreement was signed.
Under current law, when the juvenile court or a tribal court enters an order
terminating parental rights to a child (TPR), the juvenile court or tribal court may
transfer guardianship of the child to DCF, which is then responsible for securing the
adoption of the child. This bill requires DCF, under those circumstances, to seek a
permanent adoptive placement for the child or to seek to enter into a subsidized
guardianship agreement with a proposed guardian of the child.
Current law requires DCF to distribute grants for children's community
programs to counties for the purpose of supplementing payments for the care of
certain individuals residing in foster homes so that those individuals may live in a
family home or other noninstitutional situation after attaining age 18.
This bill provides that a county is eligible to receive funding for that purpose
only if the county received such funding in fiscal year 2012-13. In addition, the bill
requires DCF to distribute grants for children's community programs to counties for
the purpose of assisting individuals who attain the age of 18 while residing in
out-of-home care to make the transition from out-of-home care to independent
living.
Under current law, DCF provides funding from various appropriations to the
Indian tribes of this state for various tribal family services, including tribal
adolescent services, domestic abuse services, child care services, and child welfare
services. This bill consolidates funding for those various tribal family services into
a single appropriation, permits DCF to distribute tribal family services grants from
that appropriation to the elected governing bodies of those Indian tribes, and permits
such an elected governing body to expend the grant moneys as determined by that
body.
Under current law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board (CANPB)
may award grants to organizations to fund programs that provide direct parent
education, family support, and referrals to other social services and outreach
programs (family resource center grants). Current law prohibits an organization
from receiving family resource center grants totaling more than $150,000 in any year
and prohibits the CANPB from allocating more than $150,000 in a fiscal year for
family resource center grants to organizations located in Milwaukee County. This
bill eliminates those caps.
Under current law, CANPB is attached to DCF for administrative purposes.
This bill transfers CANPB to DOA.
Current law specifies basic maintenance rates that are paid by the state or a
county to a foster parent for the care and maintenance of a child. This bill increases
those rates by 2.5 percent beginning on January 1, 2014, and by an additional 2.5
percent beginning on January 1, 2015.
Health
The bill requires DHS to distribute two types of grants for graduate medical
training programs (residency programs). First, DHS must distribute grants to assist
hospitals or groups of hospitals in procuring infrastructure and increasing case
volume in order to develop accredited residency programs. The bill requires
recipients of these grants to provide matching funds and limits the terms of the
grants to three years. Second, DHS must distribute grants to assist hospitals that
have existing residency programs in certain specialty areas with maintaining those
programs. The bill limits these grants to $50,000 per state fiscal year per hospital,
except that DHS must also award additional federal matching funds if DHS receives
those funds.
Under current law, DHS and DETF may contract with a data organization
(organization) to request health care claims information from health insurers and
insurance plan administrators. The organization must analyze and publicly report
this information with respect to the cost, quality, and effectiveness of health care;
provide DHS with health care claims information and reports upon request; and
maintain a centralized data repository. If DHS and DETF determine that the
organization is not fulfilling certain requirements, DHS must carry out these
functions itself. The bill requires the organization to take actions including all of the
following: 1) provide an Internet site to offer health care provider cost and quality
data and reports to consumers; 2) conduct statewide consumer information
campaigns to improve health literacy; and 3) provide software to allow providers to
validate data prior to its publication on the Internet site.
Under current law, DHS licenses community-based residential facilities
(CBRFs). DHS must inspect a CBRF before issuing a permanent license to operate
a CBRF and must also, for certain applicants, conduct a second inspection before
issuing the permanent license. Under the bill, for those applicants, DHS must
conduct the first inspection and then evaluate the CBRF before issuing a permanent
license to operate. DHS may, but is not required to, conduct the second inspection
for those applicants as part of that evaluation.
Mental illness and developmental disabilities
Under current law, the county board of a county or a federally recognized
American Indian tribe or band (tribe) may establish an initiative to provide
coordinated treatment, education, care, services, and other resources to children who
are involved in two or more defined systems of care and to their families (initiative).
A county or tribe that establishes an initiative must appoint a coordinating
committee and designate an administering agency. Initiatives satisfying certain
requirements may apply for state funding. The bill allows for the creation of
multi-entity initiatives, which include more than one county or tribe. An agreement
to establish a multi-entity initiative must specify a lead administrative county or
tribe, which must then appoint the membership of the coordinating committee. The
bill allows multi-entity initiatives to apply for state funding and permits DHS to
establish certain additional requirements for multi-entity initiatives, even if those
criteria conflict with the requirements for single-county and single-tribal
initiatives.
Under current law, DHS makes grants to certain community programs. The
bill allows DHS to also distribute moneys in each fiscal year, beginning in 2014-15,
to regional peer-run respite centers for individuals with mental health and
substance abuse concerns.
Other health and human services
Under current law, DHS must recover the amount of certain benefits
(recoverable public assistance benefits) provided to individuals under certain
programs (public assistance programs) by making claims against the estates of the
individuals or their spouses. Recoverable public assistance benefits include benefits
provided to individuals with hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, or kidney disease under the
disease aids program; benefits under certain long-term care programs, including
Family Care; and MA benefits provided to individuals residing in nursing homes.
Also under current law, DHS may collect the amounts of those recoverable public
assistance benefits provided to an individual or his or her spouse from the
nonprobate property of the individual by sending an affidavit to a person who
possesses the property. The bill makes some changes to those recoverable public
assistance benefits recovery programs.
The bill defines the property, both estate property and nonprobate property,
that is subject to recovery by DHS as all real and personal property to which the
individual who received the recoverable public assistance benefits under a public
assistance program (recipient) held any legal title, or in which the recipient had any
legal interest, immediately before death, including assets transferred to an heir or
a survivor, such as jointly owned property or property transferred by a living trust.
In addition, the property subject to recovery includes any real or personal property
in which the recipient's spouse had an ownership interest at the recipient's death and
in which the recipient had a marital property interest at any time within five years
before the recipient applied for the public assistance program or during the time that
the recipient was eligible for the public assistance program. The bill provides that
there is a rebuttable presumption that all nonprobate property, and all property in
the estate, of the recipient's deceased surviving spouse was marital property held
with the recipient and that 100 percent of that property is subject to recovery by
DHS. As under current law, however, DHS may not recover nonprobate property or
property in an estate if the deceased person has a surviving spouse or a child who is
under age 21 or disabled, in which case DHS receives a lien in the amount that it may
recover on any of the deceased person's real property.
The bill expands on the procedure under current law for recovery of nonprobate
property by specifying all of the following: what information must be provided in an
affidavit by DHS to a person who possesses property of a decedent; what costs will
be allowed if the property was real property and the person has sold the property;
that the person receiving an affidavit has the right to a fair hearing on the value of
the recipient's interest in the property and how the recipient's interest is determined;
and that DHS may bring an action or issue an order to compel transmittal of the
property if the person does not transmit the property to DHS after receiving an
affidavit.
The bill establishes procedures for DHS to follow with respect to real property
owned by a recipient, both before and after death. DHS must create three documents
for recording in the office of the register of deeds: 1) a REQUEST FOR NOTICE OF
TRANSFER OR ENCUMBRANCE AND NOTICE OF POTENTIAL CLAIM
(REQUEST); 2) a TERMINATION OF REQUEST FOR NOTICE OF TRANSFER OR
ENCUMBRANCE AND NOTICE OF POTENTIAL CLAIM (TERMINATION); and
3) a CERTIFICATE OF CLEARANCE (CLEARANCE). Whenever a recipient, upon
becoming eligible for a public assistance program or during the time that the
recipient is eligible for a public assistance program, has a current ownership interest
in real property, or has a spouse with a current ownership interest in real property
in which the recipient had a marital property interest at any time within the five
years before applying for the public assistance program or during the time that the
recipient is eligible for the public assistance program, DHS may record a REQUEST
with respect to the property. Thereafter, unless DHS has recorded a TERMINATION
or a CLEARANCE with respect to the property, any title insurance company or agent
conducting a title search must note that a REQUEST is recorded against the
property before issuing a certificate of title insurance for the property. In addition,
any person intending to transfer title to, encumber, or terminate an interest in, the
property must notify DHS. If the recipient is alive when the notice is given, the
person may transfer title to, encumber, or terminate an interest in, the property. If
the recipient is deceased and DHS determines that it has no claim for recoverable
public assistance benefits, DHS must issue a CLEARANCE to the person for
recording. However, if the recipient is deceased and DHS determines that it does
have a claim for recoverable public assistance benefits, DHS must send the person
a statement of claim and may recover against the property in an appropriate manner,
including by placing a lien on the property.
The bill sets out requirements that apply to DHS when enforcing liens on real
property for recovering recoverable public assistance benefits and provides that a
section of the statutes that, generally, imposes a 30-year statute of limitations on the
commencement of actions affecting the possession or title to real property applies to
liens that DHS has on real property for recovering recoverable public assistance
benefits.
The bill specifies that certain transfers of real property are voidable by DHS in
court actions, in which case title to the real property reverts to the grantor or his or
her estate. A transfer is voidable if: the transfer was made by a grantor who was
receiving or who received MA; the transfer was made while the grantor was eligible
for MA; DHS was unaware of the transfer; and the transfer was made to hinder,
delay, or defraud DHS from recovering MA paid on behalf of the grantor. The bill
provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that any transfer of the property for
less than fair market value or one in which the deed or other conveyance was not
recorded during the lifetime of the grantor was made to hinder, delay, or defraud
DHS from recovering MA if the transfer was made by a grantor who was eligible for
MA when the transfer was made.
The bill requires trustees of living trusts to notify DHS, within 30 days after the
death of the trust settlor and before any assets are distributed, if the trust settlor,
or his or her predeceased spouse, received any recoverable public assistance benefits.
If DHS sends the trustee a claim for the recovery of recoverable public assistance
benefits, the trustee must, within 90 days, pay DHS the amount that it may recover
or provide DHS with information about any property that was distributed and to
whom it was distributed. The bill requires a trustee of a special needs or pooled trust,
the beneficiaries of which receive MA, to provide notice to DHS within 30 days after
the death of a trust beneficiary, and to repay DHS, within 90 days after receiving a
claim from DHS, for the amount of MA paid on behalf of the beneficiary. If the trustee
fails to comply with the notice or repayments requirements, the trustee is personally
liable to DHS for any MA amounts paid on behalf of the beneficiary that DHS is
unable to recover. The bill also provides that, after the death of a beneficiary under
a pooled trust, the trustee may retain up to 30 percent of the balance in the deceased
beneficiary's account, unless the trustee fails to comply with the notice and
repayment requirements, in which case the trustee may not retain any of the balance
in the deceased beneficiary's account.
Under current law, DWD assists individuals with disabilities in gaining
employment through its vocational rehabilitation program. An individual with a
disability who gains employment with assistance from the vocational rehabilitation
program no longer receives certain benefits from social security. The federal
government reimburses some of the benefits it no longer has to pay to individuals to
DWD for the vocational rehabilitation program. Also under current law, DHS
provides grants to independent living centers that meet certain criteria to provide
nonresidential services to severely disabled individuals. Current law requires that
DWD transfer social security reimbursement funds to DHS in order to provide these
grants.
This bill eliminates the transfer from DWD to DHS for grants to independent
living centers. Instead, DWD must allocate the moneys received from the federal
Social Security Administration for reimbursement of grants to independent living
centers. The bill then requires DWD to make grants to independent living centers
that meet the same requirements as those imposed to receive grants from DHS.
Under current law, among other specified, limited disclosures, the state or a
local registrar may disclose certain information from a vital record to a federal, state,
or local agency for use in the conduct of the agency's duties and may disclose a social
security number on a vital record to DCF or a county child support agency for child
and spousal support purposes and establishment of paternity. This bill allows the
state or local registrar to disclose information on vital records, including a social
security number, to DOR, upon DOR's request, for certain purposes related to
administering state taxes and collection of debts referred to DOR.
Justice
Under current law, the Office of Justice Assistance (OJA) within DOA operates
several programs and administers several grants related to law enforcement,
communications between law enforcement and other public safety agencies
(interoperable communications), criminal justice, juvenile justice and child advocacy
services, crime prevention, rehabilitation and alternatives to incarceration,
reintegration into society of American Indians who have been incarcerated, crime
data collection and analysis, and homeland security.
This bill eliminates OJA and transfers its functions to DOJ, except that the
programs and appropriations related to reintegrating American Indians who have
been incarcerated are transferred to DOC, and the programs and appropriations
related to homeland security, except those related to interoperable communications,
are transferred to DMA.
Under current law, a victim of abuse, harassment, or threats may obtain a
temporary restraining order against the person who has committed the acts of abuse
or harassment, or has made a threat. The restraining order bars the person from
contacting the victim and requires the person to stay away from the victim's
residence and other places temporarily occupied by the victim until a court conducts
a hearing to determine whether the restraining order should be incorporated into a
longer-lasting injunction. If the court determines that the person has engaged in,
or may engage in, abusive or harassing acts against the victim, the court may issue
an injunction against the person.
Under
2011 Wisconsin Act 266 (the Act), if a person violates certain restraining
orders or an injunction, the court may require the person to submit, for the duration
of the restraining order or injunction, to global positioning system (GPS) tracking by
DOC. The Act requires the court to find, before ordering GPS tracking, that the
person who violated the restraining order or injunction is more likely than not to
cause serious bodily harm to the victim.
This bill requires DOJ to establish standards for a local unit of government or
law enforcement agency that wishes to administer its own GPS tracking program for
persons who are subject to a restraining order or injunction and creates a grant
program for that purpose. Under the bill, in a jurisdiction that operates a GPS
tracking program, if a court issues a restraining order or injunction, a court may
order the person to submit, for the duration of the restraining order or injunction,
to GPS tracking. The bill requires the court to make the same findings as are
required for a person who has violated a restraining order or injunction.
Under current law, if a court imposes a sentence or places a person on probation
following a criminal conviction, the court must impose a crime victim and witness
assistance surcharge of $67 for each misdemeanor conviction and $92 for each felony
conviction. Specified portions of the collected surcharge are allocated to fund
services for crime victims and witnesses and to fund grants for sexual assault victim
services. This bill allocates the entire surcharge to fund services for crime victims
and witnesses and creates a general purpose revenue appropriation to fund the
grants for sexual assault victim services.
Under current law, a court may extend a term of probation or issue a judgment
for unpaid funds if a person who is nearing the end of his or her probation term owes
restitution or reimbursement fees. This bill also allows a court to extend a probation
term or issue a judgment for unpaid funds if the person nearing the end of his or her
probation term owes any part of a crime victim and witness assistance surcharge.
Currently, DOJ maintains three crime laboratories whose employees perform
duties including DNA testing, firearms identification, and other forensic testing.
Current law requires that the laboratories be located in the cities of Madison,
Milwaukee, and Wausau. This bill removes this requirement.
Also under current law, when advertising an open position in the classified civil
service, the state may not require as a condition of application that the applicant be
a college graduate unless the position advertised requires a license, permit,
certificate, or other credential that a person may not acquire without a college
degree. Under the bill, when advertising an open position as a forensic scientist in
a state or regional crime laboratory, the state may require as a condition of
application that the applicant be a college graduate.
Under current law, DOJ issues grants to certain counties and to eligible
federally recognized American Indian tribes within this state to fund county or tribal
law enforcement operations. Current law directs DOJ to issue a $300,000 grant to
Forest County each fiscal year and $80,000 annually to the Lac Court Oreilles Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. This bill eliminates these specific
requirements.
This bill also requires DOJ to reduce certain allocations related to grants aimed
at diverting youth from criminal activity in fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15 and
eliminates biennial grants to programs within the city of Milwaukee that relate to
community policing and crime prevention in targeted neighborhoods that suffer from
high levels of violent and drug-related crime.
Local government
With some exceptions, this bill prohibits cities, villages, towns, counties, and
school districts (local governmental units) from requiring, as a condition of
employment, that any nonelective employee or prospective employee reside within
any jurisdictional limits. Exceptions to the general prohibition include certain
school board officials. The prohibition also does not affect any other state law
requiring residency for a municipal position or any state or municipal requirement
for state residency. If a local governmental unit has a residency requirement in effect
on the effective date of the bill, the residency requirement does not apply and may
not be enforced.
The bill prohibits a local governmental employer from bargaining collectively
with respect to a decision to impose a residency requirement.
Under current law, subject to a number of exceptions, no county may impose an
operating levy at an operating levy rate that exceeds 0.001 or the operating levy rate
in 1992, whichever is greater, although a county may exceed the limit under certain
circumstances. "Operating levy" is defined as the county purpose levy, less the debt
levy, and "operating levy rate" is defined as the total levy rate minus the debt levy
rate.
Under current law, the county operating levy rate limit is suspended such that
it does not apply to a county's levy that is imposed in December 2011 or December
2012. Under this bill, the county operating levy rate limit is sunset and does not
apply to any county levy that is imposed in December 2011 or any year thereafter.
Generally under current law, local levy limits prohibit cities, villages, towns, or
counties (political subdivisions) from increasing their property tax levies by the
greater of either zero percent or the percentage change in the political subdivision's
equalized value due to new construction, less improvements removed.
Current law contains a number of exceptions to the levy limit. This bill makes
permanent the exception allowing an increase of a current year levy limit when the
prior year's actual levy was less than the allowable limit. The increase must be
authorized by a supermajority vote of the political subdivision's governing body and,
for a town, a majority vote of the town meeting.
Current law authorizes two or more political subdivisions to enter into an
agreement to create a commission to issue types of municipal bonds referred to as
conduit bonds. Under current law, only one commission may be created in the state.
That commission currently exists and was created using the current law procedures
for intergovernmental or interstate cooperation agreements. Primarily, the
commission may issue bonds or refunding bonds to finance or refinance certain
projects. Currently, before the commission may issue any bonds on certain economic
development or housing projects, the commission must receive written approval
from WHEDA. This bill eliminates the requirement to receive this permission. The
bill also makes technical and definitional changes, and clarifies that a project may
be located outside of the United States under certain circumstances.
Under current law, a municipality may receive an expenditure restraint
payment if its municipal budget has not increased from the previous year by more
than the sum of an inflation factor and a valuation factor.
Under this bill, if a municipality makes payments to another governmental
unit for providing a service, the amount of the payments are included in the
municipality's budget for purposes of determining its eligibility for an expenditure
restraint payment.
Under current law, the state pays municipalities for municipal services
provided to state facilities. The state negotiates the payment amount with each
municipality. DOA must submit proposed negotiation guidelines to JCF, and JCF
must approve the guidelines, before negotiating payments. In addition, DOA must
report the results of its negotiations and the total amount of the proposed payments
to JCF under its passive review process. Under this bill, DOA is not required to
submit proposed negotiation guidelines to JCF for its approval prior to negotiating
payments for municipal services and DOA may make the payments without the
committee's approval.
military affairs
Under current law, an individual who is registered with a local unit of
government as an emergency management volunteer is considered an employee of
that local unit of government for worker's compensation purposes for an injury
suffered while providing emergency management services during a disaster,
imminent threat of disaster, or related training exercise. Under this bill, an
emergency management volunteer is considered an employee of the state, not the
local unit of government, for worker's compensation purposes.
natural resources
