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.
Health
Under current law, DHS administers the Senior Care program, which provides
assistance to the elderly in the purchase of prescription drugs. To be eligible for
Senior Care, a person must be a resident of the state, be at least 65 years of age, not
be a recipient of prescription drug coverage through Medical Assistance, have a
household income that does not exceed 240 percent of the federal poverty line, and
pay a program enrollment fee. This bill adds as a requirement for eligibility for
Senior Care that the person must apply for and, if eligible, enroll in Medicare Part
D, which is a federal prescription drug assistance program.
Currently, DHS administers community-based, long-term care programs
including: the Family Care program which provides long-term care to frail elders
or adults with physical or developmental disabilities in certain counties; the
self-directed services option known as IRIS; the Community Options Program
(COP); and the Family Care Partnership Program (FCPP) and the Program of
All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). In addition to long-term care services,
FCPP and PACE also provide primary and acute health care services.
Family Care currently operates under a waiver of federal Medicaid law and is
funded jointly by the federal government and the state MA program. A care
management organization (CMO) enrolls individuals in the Family Care program
and administers the Family Care benefit under a contract with DHS. DHS may
contract with a county, a long-term care district, a governing body of a tribe or band
or the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, a joint association of those entities, or a
private organization to be a CMO.
The bill requires DHS to obtain the necessary federal approval to implement
changes to Family Care, FCPP, and PACE including all of the following changes:
eliminating long-term care districts; allowing DHS to add primary and acute health
care services to the Family Care benefit, allowing CMOs to provide services
statewide and not only in a specified geographic area; allowing DHS to contract with
any applicants that it certifies as meeting the requirements to be a CMO and
eliminates the requirement that DHS solicit proposals for contracts; generally
allowing Family Care enrollees to switch CMOs only in an open enrollment period;
and requiring administration of Family Care statewide. The bill eliminates the
separate IRIS program but specifies that individuals may self-direct their services
within the Family Care program. The bill also eliminates the requirement that
CMOs obtain a permit from OCI but specifies that when the Family Care program
begins to operate statewide CMOs are insurers and may be regulated as insurance
by OCI. Once Family Care operates statewide, DHS is allowed to discontinue
enrollment in certain other long-term care programs as specified in the bill.
Resource centers currently provide information and referral services among
other functions, including determining eligibility and assisting individuals to enroll
in a CMO. Currently, resource centers are required to provide all services specified
by law. The bill allows DHS to contract with a resource center or a private entity for
some or all of the services. The bill also eliminates the requirement that a resource
center has a governing board and eliminates the requirement to create long-term
care advisory committees.
COP is one of the programs that DHS may discontinue once Family Care is
available. The bill also creates a Children's Community Options Program
(Children's COP) that provides long-term community support services to
individuals up to age 22 who have a disability. Children who seek services are
assessed for Children's COP and a county department or private nonprofit agency
will create a case plan and arrange for services. The bill requires DHS to create a
scale for assessment of a fee for Children's COP based on ability to pay. DHS seeks
a waiver of federal Medicaid law to obtain federal funding for Children's COP. The
bill eliminates the Family Support Program.
Under current law, DHS must, after the start of each fiscal year, estimate the
total amount of its expenditures for department operations for that fiscal year. Based
on that estimate, DHS assesses certain health care providers for the estimated total
amount, less certain amounts received for administrative purposes. This bill
eliminates the authorization for DHS to charge assessments to health care
providers.
Other health and human services
The bill transfers oversight of restaurants, lodging, and recreation from DHS,
which currently regulates those areas, to DATCP. In addition, the bill transfers
oversight of tattooing, body piercing, and tanning from DHS to the new Department
of Financial Institutions and Professional standards.
Under current law, for cases in which the payee is receiving services under
DCF's child and spousal support and establishment of paternity and medical support
liability program or in which the state is a real party in interest as specified under
current law, DCF must certify to DOR, for purposes of collection through intercepting
state income tax refunds, delinquent payments of child support, family support,
maintenance, past support, medical expenses, birth expenses, and centralized
receipt and disbursement fees, which must be paid annually by persons who are
obligated to pay support or maintenance. This bill provides that DCF must also, at
least annually, certify to DOR delinquent payments of centralized receipt and
disbursement fees that are owed by all other persons not already subject to the
certifications.
Under current law, if a person who owes child support under a court order is
delinquent in the payment of support, the amount of the delinquent support is
entered on the statewide support lien docket and becomes a lien in favor of the DCF.
DCF may enforce the lien by sending a notice of levy to a financial institution at
which the person has an account. DCF may also send to a financial institution a
request from another state to enforce a child support lien in favor of the other state.
Under this bill, in addition to sending child support to another state to enforce the
other state's lien in response to a request sent by DCF, a financial institution is
required to honor a notice of levy or request to enforce a lien in favor of another state
that it receives directly from the other state.
Under current law, DWD assists individuals with disabilities in gaining
employment through its vocational rehabilitation (VR) program, which is funded
through a combination of state and federal matching dollars. In addition, DWD
receives certain moneys from the federal government as reimbursement for the fact
that individuals who gain employment with assistance from the VR program no
longer receive certain benefits from social security. DWD must allocate $600,000 of
those reimbursement dollars and, using the moneys so allocated, make grants to
independent living centers for providing nonresidential services to severely disabled
individuals. Also under current law, DHS must make general purpose revenue
(GPR)-funded grants to independent living centers for providing nonresidential
services to severely disabled individuals. An independent living center, in order to
receive a grant from either DWD or DHS, must comply with certain requirements
under state and federal law. Also, under federal law, states may receive financial
assistance for purposes including providing, expanding, and improving independent
living services.
This bill, instead of requiring that DWD allocate $600,000 in social security
reimbursement funds to provide these grants, requires DWD to transfer $600,000 of
those moneys to DHS and allows DHS to provide grants using those moneys, as well
as the federal independent living center financial assistance moneys.
Insurance
Under current law, a local governmental unit may insure its property in the
local government property insurance fund (fund), which is managed by the
commissioner of insurance and provides protection for the property insured in the
fund against fire and extended coverage perils. The bill provides that no new
coverage may be issued under the fund on or after July 1, 2015; no coverage may be
renewed after December 31, 2015; no coverage may extend beyond December 31,
2016; all claims must be filed by July 1, 2017, or they will not be covered under the
fund; and any moneys remaining after all fund operations cease will be distributed
among the local governmental units that were insured on July 1, 2015.
Justice
This bill requires DOJ to provide grants to state agencies, local units of
government, and private organizations to support the investigation, prosecution, or
prevention of crime; to enhance public safety; to facilitate information sharing
among jurisdictions and among agencies; to support crime victims; and to reduce
recidivism and crime. DOJ must consult with local law enforcement, district
attorneys, the secretary of corrections, the director of state courts, and the public
defender to develop a strategic plan for the grants.
This bill transfers, from DOA to DOJ, the state prosecutor office, which
provides administrative and legal support to district attorneys statewide.
The bill allows the attorney general to appoint, in the unclassified service of the
state civil service system, a solicitor general and up to three deputy solicitors general
and to assign assistant attorneys general to assist the solicitor general.
Under the bill, DOJ transfers a portion of the moneys it receives from a crime
laboratory surcharge and from a deoxyribonucleic acid analysis surcharge paid by
persons who commit certain offenses to the appropriation account that pays for crime
laboratory equipment.
local government
This bill creates a sports and entertainment district (district) with powers and
duties to facilitate the construction of a basketball arena, as well as other sports and
entertainment facilities (facilities), in a county with a population of more than
500,000 that has a first class city (collectively, local units) in which a professional
basketball team's home arena is currently located. Generally, the district is governed
by a board of nine members nominated by the governor and confirmed by of the
senate. Also under the bill, the county executive and mayor of a local unit may each
appoint one additional member to the board if the local unit provides funding to the
district.
Board members must be Wisconsin residents, have executive and managerial
experience, and may not be elective office holders or candidates for elective office.
The district may not incur debt or impose taxes and may operate and manage the
basketball arena and other facilities. The bill permits the Bradley Center Sports and
Entertainment Corporation, which currently owns the Bradley Center, to transfer
the ownership and debt of the Bradley Center to the district.
The bill authorizes the state to issue or contract $220,000,000 in appropriation
obligations to be used as a grant to assist a district in the construction of facilities,
including the acquisition or lease of property. Under the bill, the state may only
provide such a grant if the district has secured additional funding for the project in
an amount at least equal to $300,000,000.
Any lease between the team and the district for the use of the facilities must
provide that, if the team fails to fulfill its obligations under the lease, the team will
pay the state an amount that is sufficient to pay off the appropriation obligations.
Generally under current law, if a municipality (a city, village, or town) changes
its boundaries or its name, or if it changes status, the municipality must file a
certified copy of the change with the secretary of state. Depending on the type of
municipal action taken, the secretary of state may be required to notify other state
agencies and may be required to issue a certificate of incorporation to the
municipality. Under this bill, certified copies of such changes, and related
certificates of incorporation changes, must be filed with, and issued by, the secretary
of DOA.
Under current law, a person who is convicted of a crime is generally ordered to
pay various surcharges that fund a variety of programs related to criminal justice.
The bill creates a surcharge of $20 for each felony and misdemeanor that the clerk
of court forwards to the county treasurer, for retention in a crime prevention fund.
Moneys from the fund are distributed as grants at the direction of a crime prevention
funding board (CPFB).
Under the bill, a CPFB is created in every county whose treasurer receives
funds from the surcharge. Each CPFB consists of seven members, who serve for a
term that is determined by the CPFB: the presiding judge of the circuit court, or his
or her designee; the district attorney, or his or her designee; the sheriff, or his or her
designee; the county executive, county administrator, or county board chairperson,
or his or her designee; the chief elected official of the city, village, or town with the
largest population in the county, or his or her designee; a person chosen by a majority
vote of the top law enforcement officials of the departments that are located in the
county; and a person chosen by the county's public defender's office. Members of a
CPFB may be reimbursed for expenses but may not receive any other compensation.
A CPFB may solicit grant applications from certain specified entities and may
award grants to such entities. At least one-half of the funds must go to one or more
private, nonprofit organizations that has as its primary purpose preventing crime,
providing a funding source for crime prevention programs, encouraging the public
to report crime, or assisting law enforcement agencies in the apprehension of
criminal offenders. A CPFB may direct that the rest of the funds be distributed to
a law enforcement agency that has a crime prevention fund, if the contribution is
credited to the crime prevention fund and is used for crime prevention purposes.
The bill requires that a CPFB and any entity that receives a grant from a CPFB
must submit an annual report to certain specified entities detailing the amounts
spent, the purposes for which the grants were spent, and contact information for the
entity and the entity's leaders. The reports must be distributed to the clerk of court
for the county that distributed the funds, the county board, and the governing bodies
of the cities, villages, and towns in the county.
Under current law, DOR may enter into debt collection agreements with the
courts and local units of government. This bill specifies that a county board may
enter into a debt collection agreement with DOR.
Under current law, a city, village, town, or county (political subdivision) may
establish a lean program to increase the value of the goods and services the political
subdivision provides with the fewest possible resources and may contract with a
business to help the political subdivision in establishing its lean program. This bill
repeals the lean program for political subdivisions.
This bill directs each municipal clerk to, no later than October 15 of each year
following the year of a federal decennial census, transmit to the county clerk a report
confirming the boundaries of the municipality and each ward within the
municipality. Under the bill, the report must be accompanied by a map showing the
municipal and ward boundaries and a list of the census block numbers of which the
municipality and each ward within the municipality are comprised.
The bill also directs each county clerk to biennially transmit to the Legislative
Technology Services Bureau (LTSB), in an electronic format approved by LTSB, a
report confirming the boundaries of each municipality and each ward and
supervisory district within the county. Upon receipt of the information from each
county clerk at each reporting interval, LTSB must reconcile and compile the
information received into a statewide data base consisting of municipal boundary
information for the entire state.
military affairs
This bill creates an Office of Continuity of Government (office) in DOA. The bill
requires the office to consult with the administrator of the Division of Emergency
Management in DMA to establish and administer a program to ensure the continuity
of government operations during a disaster. The office must establish and help
administer a continuity of operations plan for each agency or other body in the
executive branch of state government, unless the office delegates that responsibility
to the state agency.
natural resources
Governance
Under current law, the Natural Resources Board (board) is the policy-making
entity for DNR. The board approves DNR's rules, sells land, and appoints high-level
staff. This bill transfers this authority from the board to the secretary of natural
resources and changes the board to a council, which is an advisory body.
Forestry
This bill requires DNR to develop a plan to move the headquarters of the
Division of Forestry from the city of Madison to a northern Wisconsin location,
including a description of the costs of relocating the headquarters, a timeline for
implementing the relocation, and a list of location options.
Under current law, DNR is required to award cost-sharing urban forestry
grants to local governments and certain other entities for activities relating to trees
and tree projects in urban areas (cost-sharing urban forestry grants). DNR may also
award urban forestry grants (discretionary urban forestry grants) to certain entities
for cost relating to trees that have been damaged by storms. This bill eliminates
DNR's authority to award discretionary urban forestry grants. The bill also limits
the purposes for which DNR may award cost-sharing urban forestry grants.
Under the Managed Forest Land Program administered by DNR, the owner of
a parcel of land designated as managed forest land (MFL) makes an annual acreage
share payment that is lower than, and in lieu of, the property taxes that normally
would be payable on the land. In exchange, the owner must comply with the terms
of a management plan approved by DNR.
This bill provides that, if timber cutting is required under the terms of an MFL
management plan, the owner is not required to obtain DNR approval of the cutting
if prior notice is provided to DNR by a cooperating forester.
Other natural resources
Current law authorizes the state to incur public debt for certain conservation
activities under the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 Program
(stewardship program), which is administered by DNR. The state may incur this
debt to acquire land for the state for conservation purposes and for property
development activities and may award grants to others to acquire lands for these
purposes.
The stewardship program consists of five subprograms. This bill prohibits
DNR from obligating amounts under the land acquisition subprogram beginning in
fiscal year 2015-16 if the general fund annual debt service under the stewardship
program exceeds $54,305,700.
Current law requires DNR to set aside certain amounts under the property
development and local assistance subprogram to be obligated for the purpose of
infrastructure improvements to the Kettle Moraine Springs fish hatchery. This bill
requires DNR to set aside an additional $7,000,000 in fiscal year 2016-17 and an
additional $7,000,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 for this purpose.
Current law authorizes DNR to contract public debt to fund a dam safety
program. DNR has bonding authority for the program of up to $17,500,000, the debt
service on which is paid from the general fund. DNR also has additional bonding
authority under the program of up to $6,600,000, the debt service on which is paid
from the conservation fund. This bill increases DNR's bonding authority, the debt
service on which is paid from the general fund, by $4,000,000.
This bill increases certain fees for vehicle admission receipts, which a vehicle
must display to enter any state park or certain other properties under the
jurisdiction of DNR. This bill also increases the nightly fees for use of a campsite in
a state park, state forest, or other lands under the jurisdiction of DNR.
Under current law, DNR administers various grant and financial assistance
programs. This bill eliminates the following:
1. A program that provides annual grants to nonprofit corporations for certain
urban open space objectives.
2. A program that provides grants to nonprofit corporations that conduct
activities related to the ice age trail.
3. Funding for interpretive programming at the Northern Great Lakes Center.
4. Two programs that provide grants to nonprofit corporations to conduct
various conservation activities.
5. Funding for the operational costs of the Florence Wild Rivers Interpretive
Center.
6. A program to award contracts to nonprofit corporations to assist nonprofit
river management organizations.
7. A program to award contracts to nonprofit corporations for lake classification
and management projects.
8. Funding to repair the Fox River navigational system.
