EMINENT DOMAIN
Under both the current state eminent domain law and the federal Uniform
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (the
Uniform Act), a person that exercises eminent domain authority must make certain
relocation assistance payments for items including moving expenses and losses of
personal property, and certain replacement housing payments, which must be in the
manner and amount determined under whichever law applies. Programs and
projects that receive federal financial assistance may be subject to both state
eminent domain law and the Uniform Act, which may differ in terms of the
procedures that apply and the amount of compensation that must be paid for those
payments.
This bill provides that, in the case of a program or project receiving federal
financial assistance, a condemnor must, in addition to any such payment required
to be paid under the state eminent domain law, make any additional payment
required to comply with the Uniform Act.
Employment
Unemployment insurance
Under federal law, a state may require a claimant to submit to a test for the
unlawful use of controlled substances (drug test) as a condition of receiving
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits if the claimant is an individual for whom
suitable work, as defined under a state's UI law, is only available in an occupation
that regularly conducts drug testing, as determined in regulations issued by the
United States Secretary of Labor (federal regulations). As of January 27, 2015, final
federal regulations have not been issued.
This bill requires DWD to establish a program to require claimants who apply
for regular UI benefits to submit to drug tests. The bill requires DWD to determine,
when a claimant applies for regular UI benefits, whether the claimant is an
individual for whom suitable work is only available in an occupation described in the
federal regulations. If DWD determines that the claimant is such an individual,
DWD must conduct a screening on the claimant to determine whether the claimant
should be required to submit to a drug test. If the screening indicates that the
claimant should be required to submit to a drug test, DWD must require the claimant
to submit to such a test.
The bill provides that, if the claimant declines to submit to such a test, the
claimant is ineligible for UI benefits for 52 weeks or until a subsequent claim for
benefits, whichever is later. If the claimant submits to the drug test, but does not test
positive for any controlled substance without a valid prescription, the claimant may
receive UI benefits if otherwise eligible and may not be required to submit to any
further drug test until a subsequent claim for benefits. If the claimant submits to
the drug test and tests positive for one or more controlled substances without a valid
prescription, the bill provides that the claimant is ineligible for UI benefits for 52
weeks or until a subsequent claim for benefits, whichever is later, except that
following the positive test, the claimant may maintain his or her eligibility for UI
benefits by enrolling in a state-sponsored substance abuse treatment program and
undergoing a state-sponsored job skills assessment. The claimant remains eligible
for benefits for each week the claimant is in full compliance with any requirements
of the substance abuse treatment program and job skills assessment.
The bill also requires DWD to promulgate rules to identify occupations for
which drug testing is regularly conducted in this state and to apply the above
provisions for claimants for whom suitable work is only available in one of the
occupations identified by DWD.
In addition, the bill allows an employing unit to voluntarily submit to DWD the
results of a drug test that was conducted on an individual as preemployment
screening or that an individual declined to submit to such a test. If the results of the
test indicate that the individual has tested positive for one or more controlled
substances without a valid prescription, or if the individual declined to submit to
such a test, the bill provides that there is a presumption, rebuttable as provided in
rules promulgated by DWD, that the claimant has failed to accept suitable work
when offered. If the presumption is not rebutted, the claimant is ineligible for UI
benefits as if the claimant had tested positive in or declined to submit to a drug test
conducted by DWD, beginning with the week in which DWD receives the report.
Current law places various conditions upon the receipt of UI benefits, including
that claimants conduct a reasonable search for suitable work and that claimants
accept suitable work when offered. Current law does not define suitable work, but
DWD has defined it by rule to mean work that is reasonable considering the
claimant's training, experience, and duration of unemployment as well as the
availability of jobs in the labor market. This bill specifically requires DWD to define
by rule what constitutes suitable work for claimants, and requires that the rule
specify different levels of suitable work based upon the number of weeks that a
claimant has received benefits in a given benefit year.
Current law establishes penalties for certain violations under the UI law,
including for knowingly making a false statement or representation to obtain UI
benefits, for which the penalty is a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 or
imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both. This bill instead provides that the
penalties for knowingly making a false statement or representation to obtain UI
benefits range from the penalties for a Class A misdemeanor to a Class G felony,
depending on the value of the benefits obtained.
Separate from the criminal penalties described above, under current law, if a
claimant for UI benefits conceals any material fact relating to his or her eligibility
for UI benefits or conceals any of his or her wages or hours worked (act of
concealment), the claimant is ineligible for benefits in an amount ranging from to two
to eight times the claimant's weekly benefit rate and is liable for an additional
administrative penalty in an amount equal to 15 percent of the benefit payments
erroneously paid to the claimant. This bill raises the administrative penalty
described above to an amount equal to 40 percent of the benefit payments
erroneously paid to the claimant.
Worker's compensation
Under current law, DWD performs certain administrative functions relating to
worker's compensation. Those administrative functions include enforcement of the
requirement that employers are insured for their worker's compensation liability;
granting exemptions from that duty to insure to self-insured employers; and
administering certain funds, from which DWD pays benefits to the injured
employees of insolvent self-insured employers, the injured employees of uninsured
employers, and certain injured employees with permanent total disability. This bill
transfers the administrative functions of DWD relating to worker's compensation to
OCI.
Under current law, DWD performs certain adjudicatory functions relating to
worker's compensation. Those adjudicatory functions include adjudicating disputed
worker's compensation claims, adjudicating health care fee disputes, and
adjudicating necessity of treatment disputes. This bill transfers adjudication of
disputed worker's compensation claims to the Division of Hearings and Appeals in
DOA (DHA) and adjudication of fee and necessity of treatment disputes to OCI. The
bill also permits DHA to record testimony by electronic means rather then by a
stenographer and to provide notices by electronic delivery in addition to providing
notices by mail.
Under current law, an injured employee who is receiving the maximum weekly
worker's compensation benefit for total disability resulting from an injury that
occurred before January 1, 2001, is entitled to receive certain supplemental benefits
in addition to the employee's regular benefits. Those supplemental benefits are
payable in the first instance by the employer or insurer, but the employer or insurer
then is entitled to reimbursement for those supplemental benefits paid from the
work injury supplemental benefit (WISB) fund, which is a fund that, among other
things, is used to pay supplemental worker's compensation to injured employees
with permanent total disability.
This bill terminates reimbursement from the WISB fund for supplemental
benefits paid by an employer or insurer beginning on the effective date of the bill and
terminates reimbursement altogether for supplemental benefits paid for an injury
that occurs on or after January 1, 2016. For supplemental benefits paid by an insurer
for an injury that occurs before January 1, 2016, the bill provides that
reimbursement of those benefits is from the worker's compensation operations fund
and not from the WISB fund.
Under current law, if an employee of an employer that is not insured for
worker's compensation (uninsured employer) suffers an injury for which the
uninsured employer is liable, DWD, from the uninsured employers fund, or, if DWD
obtains excess or stop-loss reinsurance from a reinsurer, the reinsurer pays benefits
to the injured employee that are equal to the worker's compensation owed by the
uninsured employer.
This bill requires DWD to pay a claim of an employee of an uninsured employer
in excess of $1,000,000 from the uninsured employers fund in the first instance, but
provides that if the claim is not covered by excess or stop-loss reinsurance, the
secretary of administration annually must transfer from the worker's compensation
operations fund to the uninsured employers fund an amount equal to the amount by
which payments from the uninsured employers fund on all such claims in the prior
year are in excess of $1,000,000 per claim, subject to a $500,000 annual limit on the
amount that the secretary of administration may transfer.
Currently, a student of a public school or a private school who is performing
services for an employer as part of a school work training, work experience, or work
study program is considered to be an employee of a school district or private school
that elects to name the student as an employee for purposes of worker's
compensation coverage. This bill extends that coverage to a student of an institution
of higher education who is performing those services and who is named as an
employee by the institution.
Job training
Under current law, DWD awards workforce training grants, commonly referred
to as "Fast Forward grants," to public and private organizations for the training of
unemployed and underemployed workers and of incumbent employees of businesses
in this state. This bill permits an organization that is awarded a Fast Forward grant
to use the grant for the hiring and training of apprentices.
Current law requires DPI to award career and technical education incentive
grants to school districts in the amount of $1,000 per each pupil who, in the prior
school year, obtained a diploma and successfully completed an industry-recognized
certification program approved by DPI. This bill eliminates that grant program and
instead permits DWD to provide grants to school districts for the development of
programs that are designed to mitigate workforce shortages in industries and
occupations that are experiencing a workforce shortage, as determined by DWD, and
to assist pupils in graduating with industry-recognized certifications in those
industries and occupations.
Environment
Hazardous substances and environmental cleanup
Under current law, DNR administers a program to reimburse owners of certain
petroleum product storage tanks for a portion of the costs of cleaning up discharges
from those tanks. This program is commonly known as PECFA.
Under this bill, a person is not eligible for PECFA reimbursement for costs of
cleaning up a discharge if the person does not notify DNR of the potential for
submitting a PECFA claim before February 3, 2015. Also under the bill, a person is
not eligible for PECFA reimbursement for clean-up costs if the person does not
submit a PECFA claim for those costs before July 1, 2017.
Water quality
Under the environmental improvement fund, this state provides financial
assistance to local governmental units through three programs: the clean water fund
program provides financial assistance for projects to control water pollution, such as
sewage treatment plants; the safe drinking water loan program provides financial
assistance for projects to construct or modify public water systems that help comply
with national drinking water regulations; and the land recycling loan program
provides financial assistance for projects to clean up contaminated land. The
environmental improvement fund is jointly administered by DOA and DNR.
Financial assistance is typically provided as a loan at a subsidized rate.
Under current law, the legislature sets a limit, in the budget act for the
biennium, on the amount of subsidy that may be provided during that biennium,
called the present value subsidy limit, which has the effect of limiting the amount
of financial assistance that may be provided through these programs during the
biennium.
This bill eliminates the present value subsidy limit. Under the bill, the
legislature does not set a limit on how much financial assistance may be provided in
a biennium. During the biennium, if a sufficient amount is available to provide
financial assistance for a project under these programs, that amount must be
allocated for the project. As part of the budget process, DOA and DNR must still
prepare a biennial finance plan, which under this bill must include the amount DOA
determines will be available to provide financial assistance for projects under these
programs during the biennium.
Under the clean water fund program, financial assistance may only be provided
to construct water systems in an unsewered municipality if at least two-thirds of the
initial flow from the new system will be for wastewater from residences that have
been in existence since October 17, 1972. This bill instead requires at least
two-thirds of the initial flow to be from wastewater from residences in existence for
at least 20 years.
In addition, connection laterals and sewer lines that transport wastewater from
structures to municipally owned or individually owned wastewater systems are not
currently eligible for financial assistance under the clean water fund program.
Under this bill, connection laterals and sewer lines may be eligible if water other
than wastewater is entering the connection lateral or sewer line and interfering with
a publicly owned treatment work's compliance with a wastewater discharge permit.
This bill also provides that, if an amount has been allocated for a project under
the clean water fund program, but no amount has been distributed for the project by
the end of the fiscal year immediately following the biennium when the application
was submitted, the allocation is rescinded, and the applicant must reapply.
Currently, only local governmental units are eligible under the safe drinking
water loan program. This bill extends eligibility to certain businesses or nonprofit
organizations whose water systems are used by members of the public.
This bill also increases the general obligation bonding authority for the safe
drinking water loan program by $7,500,000 for the 2015-17 biennium.
Current law authorizes DNR to pay a portion of the costs of a project to remove
contaminated sediment from Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, or a tributary of
either lake, if the project is in a body of water that DNR has identified under the
federal Clean Water Act as being impaired and the impairment is caused by
contaminated sediment. This bill expands this eligibility to sediment removal
projects in any waters of the state.
This bill also increases the general obligation bonding authority for sediment
removal projects by $5,000,000.
Under current law, DNR administers a program that provides financial
assistance for projects that control pollution that comes from diffuse sources rather
than a single concentrated discharge source (nonpoint source water pollution). This
bill increases the general obligation bonding authority for these programs by
$7,000,000.
Under current law, DNR administers programs that provide financial
assistance for projects that manage urban storm water and runoff and for flood
control and riparian restoration projects. This bill increases the general obligation
bonding authority for these programs by $5,000,000.
Health and human services
Public assistance
Under current law, DCF administers the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program
in Milwaukee County and the Transitional Jobs program outside of Milwaukee
County, which provide work experience for unemployed individuals by providing a
subsidy for wages and other employment expenses to employers that employ the
individuals. Under the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program, DCF may provide job
search assistance, placement in a subsidized job, or a stipend for up to four months
to certain noncustodial parents. Also under current law, DCF may contract with any
county, tribal governing body, or W-2 agency to administer a work experience and
job training program for noncustodial parents who have failed to pay child support
due to unemployment or underemployment. Such individuals may be ordered by a
court to register for a work experience and job training program.
This bill requires every individual who applies to participate in the Transform
Milwaukee Jobs program or the Transitional Jobs program, who applies for W-2
services and benefits for noncustodial parents, or who applies for or is ordered by a
court to register for a work experience and job training program (collectively, a
program), to complete a questionnaire that screens for the abuse of a controlled
substance. If, based on the answers to the questionnaire, DCF or the administrating
agency with which DCF has contacted determines that there is a reasonable
suspicion that an individual is abusing a controlled substance, the individual must
undergo a test for the use of a controlled substance. If the test results are positive
and the individual does not present satisfactory evidence that he or she has a valid
prescription for the controlled substance, the individual must participate in
substance abuse treatment to remain eligible for a program. If, at the end of
treatment, the individual tests negative, or positive with a valid prescription for the
controlled substance, he or she will have satisfactorily completed the substance
abuse screening and testing and treatment requirements for the program.
Under current law, DHS pays, within specified limits, funeral, burial, and
cemetery expenses for decedents who, during life, received certain public assistance
benefits, such as W2 benefits or Medical Assistance benefits, and whose estates at
death are insufficient to pay those expenses. This bill provides that, if an eligible
decedent, or the decedent's spouse or another person, owns a life insurance policy
insuring the decedent's life and the face value is more than $3,000, any amount that
DHS would otherwise pay for the decedent's funeral, burial, or cemetery expenses
will be reduced by one dollar for each dollar that the insurance policy exceeds $3,000.
The bill also requires DHS to pursue recovery of the amount of funeral, burial,
and cemetery expenses provided on behalf of a decedent by making a claim in the
decedent's estate and in the estate of the decedent's spouse. As with estate recovery
for other types of public assistance benefits, DHS may recover from all property of
the decedent or the decedent's spouse, and there is a presumption that all property
in the spouse's estate was marital property held with the decedent and that 100
percent of the property in the spouse's estate is subject to the claim of DHS. Unlike
estate recovery for other types of public assistance benefits, however, the claim for
funeral, burial, and cemetery expenses must be allowed even if the decedent in whose
estate the claim is made has a surviving spouse or a surviving child who is under the
age of 21 or disabled and DHS is not permitted to waive recovery if DHS determines
that recovering the amount paid on the decedent's behalf would work an undue
hardship in a particular case.
Under current law, the federal food stamp program, now known as the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and called FoodShare in this
state, assists eligible low-income individuals (recipients) to purchase food. SNAP
benefits are paid entirely with federal moneys. The cost of administration is split
between the federal and state governments. The program is administered in this
state by DHS. Under current law, DHS may require a recipient of SNAP benefits who
is able and who is 18 to 60 years of age to participate in the FoodShare employment
and training program (FSET) to be eligible for SNAP benefits, unless the recipient
is participating in a Wisconsin Works employment position, is the caretaker of a child
under the age of six years, or is enrolled at least half time in school or in a training
program or an institution of higher education.
This bill requires DHS to submit to the secretary of the federal Department of
Agriculture (USDA) a request for a waiver that would authorize DHS to screen and,
if indicated, test participants in the FSET program for illegal use of a controlled
substance without presenting evidence of a valid prescription. If the waiver is
approved, DHS must then screen and, if indicated, test FSET participants for illegal
use of a controlled substance without presenting evidence of a valid prescription.
The bill also requires that if the waiver is approved in the 2015-17 fiscal biennium,
DHS must address any future fiscal impact resulting from the requirements in its
biennial budget request for the 2017-19 fiscal biennium.
Wisconsin Works
The Wisconsin Works (W-2) program under current law, which is administered
by DCF, provides work experience and benefits for low-income custodial parents who
are at least 18 years old. Generally, under current law, to be eligible for a W-2
employment position and a job access loan, the total length of time in which an
individual or an adult member of the individual's family has participated in or
received benefits under certain W-2 programs may not exceed 60 months. A W-2
agency may extend this time limit if the agency determines that unusual
circumstances exist that warrant an extension of the participation period.
Under this bill, the time limit on participating in or receiving benefits under
these W-2 programs is 48 months. The bill allows a W-2 agency to extend this time
limit if it determines that the individual is experiencing hardship or that the
individual's family includes an individual who has been battered or subjected to
extreme cruelty.
W-2 provides work experience to participants through placement in one of a
number of different employment positions, including Trial Employment Match
Program jobs, community service jobs, and transitional placements. Current law
provides that a participant who refuses to participate in any employment position
is ineligible to participate in W-2 for three months. This bill makes the following
changes to the behaviors that constitute refusal to participate:
1. Currently, it is a refusal to participate if a participant expresses verbally or
in writing that he or she refuses to participate. The bill removes this behavior as an
option for demonstrating a refusal to participate.
2. Currently, it is a refusal to participate if a participant fails, without good
cause, to appear for an interview with a prospective employer or if a participant in
a transitional placement fails, without good cause, to appear for an assigned activity.
The bill makes it a refusal to participate to fail, without good cause, to appear for an
interview with a prospective employer, whether subsidized or not, or with a work
experience provider, for an assigned work activity, as defined under applicable
federal law, or for an activity assigned by a W-2 agency.
3. Currently, it is a refusal to participate if a participant voluntarily leaves
appropriate employment or training without good cause. The bill makes it a refusal
to participate if a participant leaves, without good cause, appropriate employment,
whether subsidized or not, or training or an appropriate assigned work experience
activity or a work experience site.
4. Currently, it is a refusal to participate if a participant loses employment as
a result of being discharged for cause. The bill also makes it a refusal to participate
if a participant is discharged from appropriate training for cause or from a work
experience site for cause.
Currently under W-2, a W-2 agency pays an employer that employs an
individual placed in a Trial Employment Match Program job a wage subsidy amount
negotiated between the W-2 agency and the employer, that may not be less than the
federal or state minimum wage that applies to the individual. The employer must
pay the individual at least the minimum wage that applies to the individual. Also
under current law, DCF pays an employer that employs an individual participating
in the Transform Milwaukee Jobs Program or Transitional Jobs Program a subsidy
equal to the wages that the employer pays the individual for hours actually worked,
up to 40 hours per week at the federal or state minimum wage that applies to the
individual. The employer must pay the individual not less than the applicable
federal or state minimum wage for hours actually worked, but the employer may pay
the individual more than the amount of the wage subsidy that DCF pays to the
employer.
This bill authorizes a W-2 agency to negotiate with the employer of an
individual in a Trial Employment Match Program job, and DCF to negotiate with the
employer of an individual in a job under the Transform Milwaukee Jobs Program or
Transitional Jobs Program, a wage subsidy amount that the W-2 agency or DCF will
pay to the employer that may not be more than the minimum wage. The employer
must still pay the individual for hours actually worked at not less than the federal
or state minimum wage that applies to the individual.
Currently under W-2, an individual who is the parent of a child under the age
of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the age of 19, who needs child care services to
participate in various educational or work activities, and who satisfies other
eligibility criteria may receive a child care subsidy for child care services under the
W-2 program. This child care subsidy program is known as Wisconsin Shares.
Under current law, in all areas of the state except Milwaukee County, DCF must
enter into a contract with a county department or agency to make an initial
determination about whether individuals who are in a particular geographic region
or who are members of a particular Indian tribal unit are eligible for the child care
subsidies under Wisconsin Shares. Also under current law, the same county
department or agency must administer Wisconsin Shares for that geographic region
or Indian tribal unit. Current law requires DCF, to the extent practicable and with
certain restrictions, to allocate funds for the administration of Wisconsin Shares in
a geographic region or Indian tribal unit in the same proportion as the geographic
region's or Indian tribal unit's proportionate share of all statewide child care subsidy
authorizations and eligibility redeterminations in the 12-month period prior to the
start of the contract period.
Under this bill, DCF has the option to make child care subsidy eligibility
determinations, to contract with a county department or agency to make these
determinations, or to contract with a county department or agency to share in
making these determinations. If DCF contracts with a county department or agency
for the eligibility determination function, the bill requires DCF to allocate funds for
this function under the contract.
The bill also requires DCF to allocate funds for a county department's or
agency's administration of Wisconsin Shares in the same proportion as the
geographic region's or Indian tribal unit's proportionate share of all funding
allocated for eligibility determination functions. Alternatively, the bill allows DCF
to elect to allocate these funds in the same proportion as the geographic region's or
Indian tribal unit's proportionate share of all children for whom a child care subsidy
was issued in the most recent 12-month period for which applicable statistics are
available prior to the start of the contract period.
Under current law, if a W-2 agency plans to take action against an individual
who participates in W-2 that would result in a 20 percent or more reduction in the
participant's benefits or in termination of the participant's eligibility to participate
in W-2, the agency must provide written notice of the proposed action and reasons
for the action and allow the participant a reasonable time after providing the notice
to rectify the deficiency, failure, or other behavior to avoid the proposed action. This
draft removes these notice and rectification requirements.
Under current law, the Learnfare program requires school age children of W-2
participants, with some exceptions, to meet certain school enrollment standards.
Current law requires certain individuals who are subject to the school attendance
requirement to participate in case management provided under the Learnfare
program, including minor parents, habitual truants, and dropouts. This bill also
requires a child who is subject to the school attendance requirement and whose W-2
group includes an individual who has been unable to participate in W-2 activities
due to the child's school-related problems to participate in case management
provided under the Learnfare program.
Under current law, DCF contracts with a W-2 agency to administer W-2 in a
geographical area. Within 60 days of being awarded a W-2 contract, a W-2 agency
is required to establish a community steering committee to focus on job creation, job
training, and other employment-related services for persons who are eligible for
trial employment match program jobs or community service jobs. Current law
requires the W-2 agency to recommend members of the committee to the chief
executive officer (CEO) of each county the agency serves, who then appoints
members to the committee in proportion to the population of that county relative to
the population of each other county served by the W-2 agency. Under this bill, a W-2
agency appoints the members of a community steering committee, following certain
requirements to allow representation of each county the agency serves.
Medical Assistance
Currently, DHS administers the Medical Assistance (MA) program, which is a
joint federal and state program that provides health and long-term care services to
individuals who have limited resources. Under current law, under an approved
waiver of federal law, DHS administers a demonstration project under MA that
provides health care coverage to low-income adults under the age of 65 who do not
have children and who are not otherwise eligible for MA.
This bill requires DHS to submit to the secretary of the federal Department of
Health and Human Services an amendment to the waiver that was already approved
that would authorize DHS to do all of the following under the demonstration project:
1) impose monthly premiums as determined by DHS; 2) impose higher premiums for
enrollees who engage in behaviors that increase their health risks, as determined by
DHS; 3) require a health risk assessment for all enrollees; 4) limit eligibility to no
more than 48 months; and 5) require a drug screening assessment and, if indicated,
a drug test as a condition of eligibility. DHS must implement any changes that are
approved. If the amendment is approved, in whole or in part, in the 2015-17 fiscal
biennium, DHS must identify any costs incurred or savings resulting from the new
requirements in the quarterly report on MA changes that DHS must submit to JCF
under current law, as well as address any future fiscal impact resulting from the
requirements in its biennial budget request for the 2017-19 biennium.
To be eligible for certain MA programs, especially those providing long-term
care services, including family care, an individual must satisfy certain income and
asset requirements. This bill provides that, when determining or redetermining an
individual's financial eligibility for an MA long-term care program, or any other MA
program that counts assets for determining or redetermining financial eligibility,
DHS must include as a countable asset a promissory note for which the individual
or his or her spouse provided the goods, money loaned, or services rendered, that is
entered into or purchased on or after the effective date of the 2015-17 budget act,
that is negotiable, assignable, and enforceable, and that does not contain any terms
making the note unmarketable. The bill provides that a promissory note is presumed
to be negotiable and that its value is the outstanding principal balance at the time
of the individual's application or redetermination of eligibility for MA, unless the
individual shows by credible evidence from a knowledgeable source that the note is
nonnegotiable or has a different current market value, which will then be considered
the note's value.
Under current law, with certain exceptions, if an institutionalized, or
noninstitutionalized, individual or his or her spouse transfers assets for less than
fair market value on or after a specific date (which is generally 60 months before the
individual applies for MA), the institutionalized or noninstitutionalized individual
is ineligible for certain MA services for a specified period of time. Under current law,
the purchase by an individual or his or her spouse of a promissory note is a transfer
of assets for less than fair market value that triggers a period of ineligibility for MA
unless all of the following apply: the repayment term is actuarially sound; the
payments are to be made in equal amounts during the loan's term with no deferral
and no balloon payment; and the loan's terms prohibit cancellation of the balance
upon the death of the lender. This bill provides that if an individual or his or her
spouse enters into or purchases a promissory note on or after the effective date of the
2015-17 budget act, it is a transfer of assets for less than fair market value that
triggers a period of ineligibility for MA unless all of the following apply to the
promissory note: it satisfies the previously stated requirements under current law;
and it is negotiable, assignable, and enforceable and does not contain any terms
making the note unmarketable.
Currently, some MA services are provided through programs that operate
under a waiver of federal Medicaid laws, including services provided through the
BadgerCare Plus (BC+) program. Under current law, certain individuals are
ineligible for BC+ for three months while they have access to certain health
insurance coverage during specified time periods. Certain other individuals are also
subject to three months of ineligibility under current law if the federal Department
of Health and Human Services approves. This bill eliminates the three months of
ineligibility for all of those individuals whose access to other health insurance has
ended.
Subject to any necessary federal approval, this bill adds licensed midwife
services, as well as substance abuse treatment services provided by a medically
monitored treatment service or a transitional residential treatment service to other
services paid for currently under the MA program. This bill also requires, subject
to federal approval, DHS to provide MA reimbursement to pharmacists who meet
certain requirements specified by DHS for administering vaccines to people 6 to 18
years of age.
This bill makes additional changes to the MA program, including: 1) requiring
DHS to increase the MA reimbursement rate in Brown, Polk, and Racine counties
to providers of pediatric dental care and adult emergency dental services, if DHS
receives any necessary federal approval for the increased rate; 2) allocating moneys
for the fiscal biennium for DHS to make supplemental payments to certain hospitals
that have a disproportionate share of low-income patients and setting specifications
for those payments; and 3) directing that the state share of payments for health care
services provided in a school to children who are eligible for MA in excess of a certain
amount be deposited in the MA trust fund and expended for reducing waiting lists
for children's long-term care services and other children's services.
Mental illness and developmental disabilities
Currently, a law enforcement officer or certain other persons, in counties other
than Milwaukee County, may take an individual into custody for emergency
detention if the officer or other person has cause to believe that the individual is
mentally ill, drug dependent, or developmentally disabled, and that the individual
shows other evidence of the standards for emergency detention. The county
department of community programs in the county in which the individual was taken
into custody must approve the need for detention, and for evaluation, diagnosis, and
treatment if permitted, before the law enforcement officer or other person delivers
the individual to the detention facility. In Milwaukee County, currently, the law
enforcement officer or other person must sign a statement of emergency detention
and delivers the statement of emergency detention along with the individual to the
detention facility. The treatment director of the facility must determine whether the
individual is detained or detained, evaluated, diagnosed, and treated. Currently, a
pilot program in Milwaukee County grants authority for a treatment director or
designee, or certain physicians or psychologists, to take an individual into custody
for emergency detention under the same standards as a law enforcement officer.
This bill eliminates the emergency detention procedure and the pilot program
in Milwaukee County and applies the existing procedure for emergency detentions
in other counties to Milwaukee County. The bill adds that a physician who has
completed a residency in psychiatry, a psychologist, or a licensed mental health
professional must perform a crisis assessment on the individual and agree with the
need for detention in order for the county department to approve the detention.
Under current law, if a skilled nursing facility or an intermediate care facility
is found to meet the classification of an institution for mental diseases, DHS must
pay for care in the community or in that institution for mental diseases for
individuals meeting certain criteria. Current law also requires DHS to pay for
relocations of certain individuals who have mental illness to the community. The bill
eliminates both of these requirements.
Children
Under current law, monthly subsidized guardianship payments may be made
to the guardian of a child who has been adjudged to be in need of protection or services
if certain additional conditions have been met. In addition, current law permits DCF
to provide payments to the adoptive parents of a child with special needs to assist in
the cost of care of the child (adoption assistance). Subject to certain exceptions,
subsidized guardianship payments and adoption assistance end when the child
attains 18 years of age.
This bill permits subsidized guardianship payments to be made or adoption
assistance to be provided until a child attains 21 years of age if the child is a full-time
student at a secondary school or its vocational or technical equivalent (full-time
student), an individualized education program (IEP) is in effect for the child, and the
subsidized guardianship or adoption assistance agreement for the child became
effective after the child attained 16 years of age. (An IEP is a written statement for
a child with a disability developed by an IEP team appointed by the child's local
educational agency that includes, among other things, the child's level of academic
achievement and functional performance, measurable goals for the child, the special
education and related services to be provided to the child, and how the child's
progress toward attaining those goals will be measured.)
Under current law, monthly kinship care payments may be made to a relative
of a child (kinship care relative) who is providing care for the child if certain
additional conditions have been met. Kinship care payments generally end when the
child attains 18 years of age, except that those payments may be made until a child
attains 21 years of age if the child is a full-time student and an IEP is in effect for
the child.
This bill requires, as an additional condition for eligibility for kinship care
payments under that exception, that the child be placed in the home of the kinship
care relative under an order of the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the
Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code (juvenile court) or under a voluntary
transition-to-independent-living agreement, which is an agreement under which
a child over 18 years of age may continue in out-of-home care and receive services
to assist the child in transitioning to independent living until the child attains 21
years of age, is granted a high school or high school equivalency diploma, or
terminates the agreement, whichever occurs first.
Under current law, a permanency plan must be prepared for a child who is
placed outside the home under a juvenile court order or under a voluntary
agreement. (A permanency plan is a plan designed to ensure that a child who is
placed outside the home is reunified with his or her family whenever appropriate or
that the child quickly attains a placement providing long-term stability.)
This bill requires a permanency plan to be prepared for a child who is placed
outside the home under a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement.
The bill also, with respect to voluntary transition-to-independent-living
agreements: 1) requires the juvenile court, by no later than 180 days after the date
of the agreement, to determine whether placement of the child in out-of-home care
under the agreement is in the best interests of the child; 2) provides that if DCF, DOC,
or a county enters into such an agreement with a child, the agreement must
specifically state that DCF, DOC, or the county has placement and care
responsibility for the child and has primary responsibility for providing services to
the child; and 3) grants to any person who is aggrieved by an agency's failure to enter
into such an agreement or termination of such an agreement the right to a contested
case hearing under the state administrative procedures laws.
Under current law, subject to certain exceptions, a facility where five or more
adults who do not require care above intermediate level nursing care reside and
receive care, treatment, or services that are above the level of room and board must
be licensed as a community-based residential facility (CBRF). This bill provides that
a facility licensed as a foster home, group home, or residential care center for children
and youth (facility) that provides care for a person 18 years of age or over, but under
21 years of age, who is placed in the facility under an order of the juvenile court, a
voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement, or the placement and care
responsibility of another state is not required to also be licensed as a CBRF.
Under current law, if an agency to which a report of child abuse is made
determines that a child is in need of services, the agency must offer to provide
appropriate services or make arrangements for the provision of services. This bill
appropriates general purpose revenues to DCF to purchase or provide treatment and
services for children who are the victims of sex trafficking. The bill requires DCF,
within the availability of that funding, to ensure that such treatment and services
are available to children in all geographic areas of the state, including both urban
and rural communities.
Under current law, DCF, a county, or an agency contracted with to certify child
care providers must require any person applying for issuance, continuation, or
renewal of a child care provider license, certificate, or contract to complete a
background information form. This bill exempts these persons from completing such
a form when applying to continue or renew a license, certification, or contract.
Under current law, every four years an entity that provides care for children
must require all of its caregivers and nonclient residents to complete a background
information form provided by DCF, except that a child care provider must require the
form to be completed every year. This bill exempts child care providers from the
four-year requirement and instead obligates them to require any new caregiver or
nonclient resident to complete the form.
