Other educational and cultural agencies
This bill requires SHS to operate the Circus World Museum. Current law
allows SHS, which owns the museum, to enter into a lease with the Circus World
Museum Foundation, Inc., to operate the museum. The bill eliminates SHS's
authority to enter into that lease and provides that, if a lease is in effect on the bill's
effective date, the lease terminates on January 1, 2018, or the termination date
specified in the lease, whichever is earlier. Also, for individuals employed by the
foundation when the lease terminates, the bill requires SHS to offer employment to
those individuals, but only if vacant authorized or limited term positions are
available and SHS has funding for those positions.
employment
Generally, under current law, certain workers employed on the site of projects
of public works 1) must be paid the prevailing wage rate, as determined under the
federal Davis-Bacon Act; and 2) may not be required or permitted to work more than
10 hours per day and 40 hours per week, unless they are paid overtime pay for all
excess hours. The prevailing wage laws include two separate laws: one applies to
certain projects of public works to which the state is a party (state prevailing wage
law), and one applies to projects under a contract based on bids to which the state
is a party for the construction or improvement of highways (highway prevailing wage
law). This bill eliminates the state prevailing wage law and the highway prevailing
wage law.
Under current law, the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) reviews
administrative decisions of DWD relating to unemployment insurance (UI) and
discrimination in employment or in equal enjoyment of places of public
accommodation (discrimination) and reviews administrative decisions of the
Division of Hearings and Appeals relating to worker's compensation. Review by
LIRC is a prerequisite to any judicial review. This bill eliminates LIRC and instead
provides for administrative review of administrative decisions relating to worker's
compensation by the administrator of the Division of Hearings and Appeals and
provides for administrative review of administrative decisions relating to UI and
discrimination by the respective administrator of the division in DWD that
administers the law in question.
This bill creates statutory offers of settlement procedures for resolving
complaints involving violations of the state fair employment law, family and medical
leave law, or organ and bone marrow donation law. The bill allows the parties to such
complaints to make settlement offers to resolve claims and, in cases where a
settlement offer is declined, provides for cost and fee shifting or interest depending
on whether the complainant receives a more favorable award than what was
included in the settlement offer.
This bill allows DWD, as part of its workforce training program, commonly
referred to as the Fast Forward Program, to award grants for any of the following:
1. Projects to provide high school students with industry-recognized
certifications in high-demand fields.
2. Programs that train teachers and that train individuals to become teachers,
including teachers in dual enrollment programs.
3. Partnerships designed to improve workforce retention through employee
support and training.
4. Increasing the number of students who are placed with employers for
internships.
5. A nursing training program for middle school and high school students.
In addition, this bill requires DWD to allocate at least $5,000,000 in fiscal year
2017-18 for grants to technical colleges for workforce training programs and at least
$1,500,000 in the fiscal biennium for the grants described above related to nursing
credentials and allows DWD to allocate up to $1,000,000 to fund grants for the
creation and operation of mobile classrooms to provide job skills training to
individuals in underserved areas of this state, including inmates at correctional
facilities who are preparing for reentry into the workforce. The bill also allows DWD
to allocate up to $50,000 in each fiscal year to fund the upkeep and maintenance of
those mobile classrooms.
Under current law, the testimony at a hearing held under the worker's
compensation law must be taken down by a stenographic reporter or, if there is an
emergency, recorded by a recording machine. The bill allows the testimony to be
recorded by a recording machine regardless of whether there is an emergency.
This bill requires DWD to designate an employee to serve as an apprenticeship
coordinator to expand and streamline apprenticeship program offerings for inmates
in correctional facilities.
This bill requires DWD to allocate $50,000 for the purpose of conducting a study
regarding the feasibility of establishing a program, using a social impact bond model,
to assist claimants for unemployment insurance benefits by offering them mobility
grants to relocate to areas with more favorable employment opportunities.
environment
Water quality
Under current law, a person operating a public water supply system must
prepare a water supply plan, approved by DNR, that shows the proposed water
supply service areas and an assessment of the environmental and economic impacts
of carrying out the water supply plan, along with other information. If the planning
area is within an area for which an areawide water quality planning agency has been
designated, the agency is responsible for designating the proposed water supply
service area in the water supply plan. This bill provides that the Great Lakes - St.
Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council may designate, in a water supply
plan, the water supply service area for a public water supply system making a
withdrawal from the Great Lakes basin. Under the bill, water supply service areas
designated by the council do not need to be consistent with the approved areawide
water quality management plan for the planning area.
This bill also requires DNR and DATCP to conduct a study and make
recommendations on transferring the regulation of concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) from DNR to DATCP and to submit a joint report to the governor,
JCF, and appropriate standing committees of the legislature by December 31, 2018,
stating whether DATCP may act as the federal EPA's delegated agent in regulating
CAFOs, whether improvements would result from the transfer, and whether the
transfer would have a financial impact on the water pollutant discharge elimination
system (WPDES) permit program. If the departments recommend the transfer, the
departments must also recommend in the report an effective date for the transfer and
the number of positions and funding to be transferred and must describe how rules
that have already been promulgated by DNR and DATCP will be affected.
In addition, this bill lowers the interest rate for certain loans for projects to
control water pollution, provided under the Clean Water Fund Program for the
2017-19 biennium or later, from 70 percent of the market interest rate to 55 percent
of the market interest rate. This bill also eliminates the financial hardship
assistance program under the Clean Water Fund Program and modifies the
requirements for municipalities to receive low-interest loans under the Clean Water
Fund Program. Under current law, a municipality may obtain financial hardship
assistance, in the form of a grant or a loan at a lowered interest rate, for certain water
quality projects if 1) the median household income in the municipality is 80 percent
or less of the median household income in this state; and 2) the estimated annual
wastewater treatment charges per residential user in the municipality exceeds 2
percent of the median household income in the municipality. Under the bill, if a
municipality has a population of less than 1,000 and the median household income
in the municipality is 65 percent or less of the median household income in this state,
the municipality is eligible for an interest-free loan under the Clean Water Fund
Program. If a municipality has a population of less than 10,000 and the median
household income in the municipality is 80 percent or less of the median household
income in this state, the municipality is eligible for a clean water fund loan at 33
percent of the market interest rate.
This bill also allows moneys in the environmental fund that have been received
for the purpose of environmental management to be considered to have been received
for debt service payments for certain nonpoint source water pollution abatement
projects, in the amount of $3,152,500 in each fiscal year. In addition, the bill expands
the purposes for which money from the environmental improvement fund may be
used to include general program operation costs and administration costs for the
water pollutant discharge elimination system permitting program.
This bill also eliminates the requirement that DNR allocate $500,000 in each
fiscal year for contracts for educational and technical assistance provided by the
UW-Extension relating to the nonpoint source water pollution abatement program.
In addition, this bill increases the authorized general obligation bonding limit
for DNR to provide financial assistance to local governmental units for constructing
or modifying public water systems that facilitate compliance with national primary
drinking water regulations by $5,800,000.
This bill also increases the authorized general obligation bonding limit for DNR
to fund nonpoint source water pollution abatement projects by $5,900,000 and to
provide financial assistance for projects that manage urban storm water and runoff
and for flood control and riparian restoration projects by $3,000,000 and for projects
that increase dam safety, including projects to maintain, repair, or remove a dam, by
$4,000,000.
health and human services
Public Assistance
Under current law, DCF is directed to allocate specific amounts of federal
moneys, including child care development funds and moneys received under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, in each fiscal
year for various public assistance programs, for child care-related purposes,
including day care licensing activities, and for paying a portion of the claims under
the earned income tax credit. This bill directs DCF to allocate TANF block grant
moneys for a number of programs, including the following:
1. $2,700,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 and $2,700,000 in fiscal year 2018-19 for
payments to individuals who transition from W-2 employment to unsubsidized
employment and receive case management services.
2. $500,000 in each fiscal year for DOA grants to temporary shelter facilities
for case management services for homeless families.
3. $500,000 in fiscal year 2018-19 to fund an early absenteeism pilot program
under which DCF awards grants on a competitive basis to public elementary schools
for the purpose of reducing chronic absenteeism in early grades.
4. $400,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 and $600,000 in fiscal year 2018-19 for a
public messaging campaign to promote the importance of the success sequence, the
involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, and the implications of teenage
pregnancy.
The bill also removes the geographic restriction, currently limited to
Milwaukee, on TANF funding of services to prevent child abuse or neglect and
requires a county to match a certain percentage of the amount the county receives
of the TANF moneys allocated for safety and out-of-home placement services.
This bill requires DCF, DPI, DHS, and DWD to collaborate on a report to the
legislature about the population overlap of families that receive public benefits and
children who are chronically absent from school.
Wisconsin Works
Under current law, the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program, administered by DCF,
provides, among other things, work experience and benefits for low-income custodial
parents who are at least 18 years old. The W-2 program provides work experience
by placing participants in one of the following categories of employment positions:
trial jobs, community service jobs, subsidized private sector employment, or
transitional placements.
Under current law, controlled substances screening, testing, and treatment
requirements apply to an individual who applies for 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. This bill adds the following W-2 work
experience programs for custodial parents to the programs to which the screening
and testing requirements apply: the Temporary Employment Match program, which
provides a subsidy for wages to an individual's employer, and the Community Service
Jobs program and Transitional Placement program, both of which provide a
participant with a monthly grant. With respect to an individual applying for a W-2
program, the bill also applies the screening, testing, and treatment requirements to
all adult members of an individual's W-2 group whose income or assets are included
in determining the individual's eligibility for a program. However, the bill exempts
from all controlled substances screening and testing requirements a custodial parent
of a child who is eight weeks old or less, a woman with a high-risk pregnancy, a W-2
participant who moves to an unsubsidized job and receives only case management
services, and a dependent child.
Also under the bill, an individual applying for a community service job or a
transitional placement is eligible for the monthly grants under those programs even
if the individual or his or her group member tests positive for the use of a controlled
substance without presenting evidence of a valid prescription and refuses to
participate in substance abuse treatment or the individual or his or her group
member fails to cooperate with the testing or treatment requirements. However, the
bill requires DCF to reduce the monthly grant and pay it not to the individual but
to a protective payee who must hold the money and use it exclusively on behalf of the
individual's dependent children. The bill limits this partial eligibility to 12 months
or until the individual again becomes eligible for full participation in a W-2 program,
if sooner.
Under current law, an individual who moves from a W-2 employment position
to unsubsidized employment is eligible for case management services to help the
individual retain the unsubsidized employment. Under this bill, an individual who
receives such case management services is also eligible for a supplement of $50 per
month over a period of 12 months if the individual meets work participation
requirements under the TANF block grant program.
This bill also places a limit on liquid assets for eligibility for Wisconsin Shares.
Under Wisconsin Shares, which is a part of the W-2 program under current law, 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 (approved activities), and who satisfies other
eligibility criteria, such as having a family gross income at or below 185 percent of
the poverty line, may receive a child care subsidy for child care services. The bill adds
another eligibility criterion: unless the individual is a foster parent, subsidized
guardian or interim caretaker, or kinship care relative, the total liquid assets of an
individual's family may not exceed $25,000 for the individual to be eligible for
Wisconsin Shares.
This bill also allows an individual who receives a child care subsidy through the
Wisconsin Shares program to continue to be eligible to receive a partial subsidy if
that individual's family gross income increases to above 200 percent of the poverty
line for a family the size of the individual's family, but the individual's copayment
increases by $1 for every $3 by which the family's gross income exceeds 200 percent
of the poverty line.
This bill also provides that, if an individual who is eligible for a child care
subsidy under Wisconsin Shares permanently ceases participating in an approved
activity, the individual will remain eligible for the child care subsidy for a period of
three months after the individual ceases participation or until the individual's
eligibility is redetermined, whichever is earlier. The bill also provides that an
individual will remain eligible for a child care subsidy while the individual
experiences a temporary break in an approved activity, such as a break due to illness,
to care for a family member, a school or holiday break, a regular break from seasonal
work, or any other temporary break from an approved activity that does not exceed
three months.
Under current law, if a payment to a child care provider under the Wisconsin
Shares program is based on authorized hours of child care, DCF is required to track
a child's hourly usage of child care authorizations over a six-week period and, if the
child's hourly usage over that six-week period is less than 60 percent of the
authorized hours, DCF must reduce the authorized hours to 90 percent of the
maximum number of hours that the child attended during that six-week period.
Current law excludes some vacation and sick leave when calculating the number of
hours a child attended during a six-week period. This bill adds that DCF must not
reduce the authorized hours based on a reduction in hours attended due to a
temporary break from an approved activity.
This bill provides that an individual does not lose eligibility for a child care
subsidy under Wisconsin Shares for a child who attains the age of 13 or, if the child
is disabled, attains the age of 19 until the individual's eligibility is redetermined. The
bill also provides that a child's development and learning and the promotion of
continuity of care must be taken into consideration when determining the number
of hours of child care authorized, and that those hours need not be based on the
individual's schedule of educational or work activities or the number of hours the
individual spends in educational or work activities.
This bill adds a requirement that a child for whom a Wisconsin Shares child
care subsidy is sought be immunized according to the immunization requirements
implemented by DHS.
Under current law, the Learnfare program requires school age children of W-2
participants, with some exceptions, to meet certain school enrollment standards. An
individual who fails to meet the school attendance requirement may be subject to
sanctions determined by DCF by rule. Under current law, an individual fails to meet
the school attendance requirement if the individual is not enrolled in school or was
not enrolled in the immediately preceding semester. Under this bill, an individual
who is habitually truant or who in the immediately preceding semester was
habitually truant also fails to meet the school attendance requirement.
FoodShare
FoodShare, also known as the food stamp program and the federal
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides benefits to eligible
low-income households for the purchase of food. FoodShare is administered by DHS.
The federal government pays the benefits for FoodShare, while the state and federal
government share the cost of administration.
This bill specifies that DHS may require a subset of, instead of all, able
individuals who are 18 to 60 years of age and who are not Wisconsin Works
participants to participate in the FoodShare employment and training program,
known as FSET, to the extent allowed by the federal government. Currently,
able-bodied adults without dependents are required to comply with certain work
requirements as a condition of FoodShare eligibility, though the FSET program is
voluntary. DHS may currently require able individuals who are 18 to 60 years of age
and who are not Wisconsin Works participants to participate in FSET, with certain
exceptions that are not affected by the bill. The bill also specifies that DHS may
implement the requirement to participate in FSET in certain areas of the state, as
determined by DHS.
DHS is currently required to promulgate rules to develop and implement drug
screening, testing, and treatment policy for able-bodied adults without dependents
in the FSET program. If the rules are promulgated, DHS must screen, test, and treat
able-bodied adults without dependents in the FSET program for illegal use of a
controlled substance. This bill applies these requirements for rule promulgation and
implementation of a drug screening, testing, and treatment program to all
able-bodied adults, regardless of whether they have dependents.
This bill prohibits an individual who is not elderly, blind, or disabled and whose
household has more than $25,000 in liquid assets, such as cash or financial resources
that can be converted to cash without penalties from eligibility for FoodShare
benefits. The bill also prohibits certain individuals and parents who refuse to
cooperate in obtaining child support or determining the paternity of a child or who
are delinquent in child support payments and do not satisfy an exception specified
in the bill from being eligible for FoodShare benefits.
Medical Assistance
This bill makes changes to the income eligibility and premium methodology for
the Medical Assistance Purchase Plan program, known as MAPP, and to the
financial eligibility determinations for certain long-term care and Medical
Assistance programs to the extent those changes are approved by the federal
government.
This bill changes the premium methodology for MAPP. Under the bill, every
individual receiving MAPP benefits must pay a premium of $25 per month unless the
premium would be an undue hardship, as determined by DHS. An individual whose
income exceeds 100 percent of the federal poverty line must also pay 3 percent of his
or her adjusted earned and unearned income that exceeds 100 percent of the FPL.
The bill excludes actual out-of-pocket medical and remedial expenses, long-term
care costs, and impairment-related work expenses from income for purposes of
determining the premium for MAPP and excludes from income for purposes of
determining eligibility under MAPP medical and remedial expenditures and
long-term care costs in excess of $500 per month that would be incurred by the
individual in absence of coverage under MAPP or a Medicaid long-term care
program.
For determinations of financial eligibility and any cost-sharing requirements
for the Community Options Program (COP), for certain community integration
programs, the Family Care program, Family Care partnership, IRIS, and certain
Medical Assistance programs, this bill requires DHS to exclude any assets
accumulated in a person's independence account and any assets from retirement
benefits accumulated from income or employer contributions while employed and
receiving state-funded benefits under COP or MAPP benefits. The bill sets the same
requirement for excluding retirement benefits from eligibility determinations for the
MAPP program as assets accumulated in an independence account are already
excluded under current law.
This bill also changes the income limit for Medical Assistance program
eligibility for certain elderly, blind, or disabled individuals who are medically needy
to 100 percent of the federal poverty line for a family the size of the individual's
family. Currently, the income limit for these individuals is this combined benefit
amount or 133 and one-third percent of the maximum aid to families with dependent
children payment, whichever is lower.
This bill requires DHS to submit to the federal government a request for an
amendment to the Medicaid waiver for the childless adult demonstration project to
provide employment and training services for childless adults eligible for the
demonstration project. Currently, the childless adult demonstration project, also
known as BadgerCare Plus Core, provides health services to adults without children
who are under the age of 65 and who have family incomes that do not exceed 100
percent of the federal poverty line. BadgerCare Plus Core operates under a waiver
of federal Medicaid laws.
This bill eliminates the ambulatory surgical center assessment. Under current
law, DOR may impose an assessment on ambulatory surgical centers. If the
assessment is imposed, 99.5 percent of the moneys collected are transferred to the
Medical Assistance trust fund which pays some of the costs for the Medical
Assistance program. The bill removes the authority from DOR to impose the
assessment.
This bill requires that DHS issue an order to compel payment from a recipient,
or parent of a minor recipient, of Medical Assistance who is liable for repayment to
the Medical Assistance program of an incorrect payment or an employer who owes
a penalty under the BadgerCare Plus program personally or by a type of mail that
requires a signature of acceptance. Under the bill, refusal or failure by the person
or employer liable for a repayment to accept or receive the order to compel payment
does not prevent DHS from enforcing the order. Under the bill, if the person or
employer liable for repayment does not make a payment, if a contested case
regarding the repayment is not pending, and if the time for contesting the repayment
order has lapsed, DHS may submit a true and accurate, instead of certified, copy of
the order to compel to the circuit court. Under the bill, an affidavit of the collections
unit of DHS, instead of a sworn statement of the secretary of DHS, is considered
evidence of the amount owed. Currently, as under the bill, a circuit court then
renders a judgment against the person or employer liable for repayment.
This bill eliminates current law reimbursement under the Medical Assistance
program for services provided by a special educator under the Birth to Three
program, also known as early intervention services, and instead allows DHS to pay
the costs for services provided under the Birth to Three program that are included
in the individualized family service plan and that were not previously authorized for
payment under the state Medical Assistance program.
This bill allows DHS to require a county to maintain a specified level of
contribution, which is determined by DHS based on historical county expenditures,
for the disabled children's long-term support program. Counties are required by the
bill to cooperate with DHS to determine an equitable funding methodology and
county contribution mechanism going forward and to ensure that county
contributions are being expended for the disabled children's long-term support
program. The bill also allows DHS to contract with a county or group of counties to
deliver disabled children's long-term support program services.
Children
This bill grants juvenile courts exclusive original jurisdiction over any child
who is a victim of, or at substantial risk of becoming the victim of, child sex
trafficking.
This bill makes certain changes relating to background checks of 1) a person
who has or who is seeking a license to operate a child care center, certification for
purposes of reimbursement under the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program,
or a contract with a school board to operate a child care center (collectively “
child care
program"); 2) an employee or contractor of a child care provider (caregiver); and 3)
a nonclient resident of the child care provider's home to conform to the federal Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014. The bill also makes certain changes
relating to the training required of a person certified as a child care provider for
purposes of reimbursement under Wisconsin Shares and of a caregiver of such a
provider to conform those training requirements to the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 2014.
This bill allows DCF to visit and inspect the premises and records of any child
care program established or contracted for by a school board if the child care program
receives funding from Wisconsin Shares. Under current law, DCF is authorized to
visit and inspect the premises and records of a licensed child care center. A school
board may establish or contract for the provision of child care programs for children
under current law. While such a child care program must meet the standards for
licensed child care centers established by DCF, current law does not require it to be
licensed as a child care center.
This bill requires DCF, in cooperation with DPI, to develop and implement a
text message-based intervention program to increase the share of college-intending
high school seniors who successfully enroll in a postsecondary educational
institution, and requires DCF to award grants to eligible school districts in fiscal
years 2018-19 and 2019-20 to offset a portion of school or district costs associated
with the intervention.
Health
This bill reduces the blood lead level defined as “lead poisoning or lead
exposure” from 10 or more micrograms per 100 milliliters of blood to 5 or more
micrograms per 100 milliliters of blood. The presence of lead poisoning or lead
exposure in a child under six years of age allows DHS to request admission to the
premises to conduct a lead investigation. DHS also awards grants for lead poisoning
or lead exposure prevention and may promulgate rules specifying lead poisoning or
lead exposure screening methods and intervals for children under six years of age.
This bill requires that first responders and emergency medical technicians
renew their certifications or licenses every four years instead of every two years. The
bill creates an endorsement for an intravenous technician for all levels of emergency
medical technicians. An intravenous technician is trained to administer intravenous
and intraosseous infusions of medicated and nonmedicated fluids.
This bill allows DHS to pay for aid for first responder training and
examinations. Currently, DHS may pay aid for emergency medical technician —
basic training and examinations. The bill also allows ambulance service providers
that receive aids from DHS to escrow unused moneys and use those moneys in a
subsequent year for first responder training and examinations or emergency medical
technician training and examinations at any level.
Mental health and developmental disabilities
This bill creates youth crisis stabilization facilities, which have a maximum of
eight beds and which admit minors to prevent or de-escalate the minor's mental
health crisis and avoid admission of the minor to a more restrictive setting. Youth
crisis stabilization facilities must be certified by DHS to operate.
This bill removes the requirement that a licensed physician or psychologist of
a state treatment facility sign a statement of the need for treatment for an inmate
in a state prison to be involuntarily committed. Current law requires that a petition
for involuntary commitment of an inmate of a state prison contain allegations that
the inmate is mentally ill, a proper subject for treatment, and in need of treatment;
that less restrictive forms of treatment were unsuccessful; and that the inmate has
been informed of his or her treatment needs and rights. The petition must also
contain, among other things, the inmate's sentence and expected release and signed
statements by both a licensed physician or psychologist of a state prison and a
licensed physician or psychologist of a state treatment facility attesting that the
inmate needs either inpatient treatment at a state treatment facility or outpatient
treatment in the prison.
Other health and human services
This bill makes various changes to the Board on Aging and Long-Term Care
and the ombudsman program. The bill specifies that the seven members of BOALTC
must be members of the public and must not be persons who currently own, or owned
or had a certain interest within the previous five years in, a long-term care provider
or health care insurance company. The bill specifies that BOALTC appoints an
executive director who serves as the state long-term care ombudsman and that the
population served by the ombudsman program are those 60 years of age or older who
receive long-term care in certified or licensed long-term care facilities or under
programs administered by state or federal governmental agencies. The bill specifies
that BOALTC's ability to monitor and make recommendations, as it currently does
for COP, extends to the Family Care Program, the Family Care Partnership
Program, and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and specifies that
the ability to provide advocacy services, as it does currently for potential or actual
enrollees of the Family Care Program, extends to potential or actual enrollees of the
Family Care Partnership Program and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the
Elderly and to potential or actual recipients of the self-directed services option,
known as IRIS. The bill clarifies that the long-term care ombudsman program must
comply with certain federal statutes and regulations. The bill also, among other
things, prohibits any person from willfully interfering with the actions of an
ombudsman by acting or attempting to act to intentionally prevent, interfere with,
or impede the ombudsman from performing functions or responsibilities under law.
This bill allows DHS to recognize accreditation by certain accrediting
organizations that are approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services instead of performing inspections and investigations itself for licensure of
home health agencies and hospices. DHS, under current law, is allowed to accept
accreditation of hospices by the Joint Commission in lieu of performing inspections
and investigations. The bill expands accrediting organizations from which DHS will
recognize accreditation of hospices.
This bill creates an allocation of moneys from Indian gaming receipts to
American Indian tribes for the performance of a feasibility study for and
development of a business plan for a youth wellness center.
Housing
This bill allows WHEDA to implement two separate programs related to the
federal Housing Choice Voucher Program. First, the bill authorizes WHEDA to
develop policies and procedures for and implement a two-year pilot program that
gives priority to chronically homeless individuals and families on the waiting list
WHEDA or a public housing agency that contracts with WHEDA maintains under
the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program. The bill also authorizes WHEDA to
provide case management services for chronically homeless individuals and families
who receive a voucher after being prioritized on the waiting list.
Second, the bill authorizes WHEDA to request approval from the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement a pilot program that
requires a recipient of a voucher under the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program
to satisfy work requirements as a condition of the voucher. The bill also provides that
WHEDA may provide certain employment, training, and self-sufficiency services,
in partnership with certain organizations that contract with WHEDA, to recipients
of vouchers under the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program.
This bill eliminates the requirement that a recipient of a transitional housing
grant awarded by DOA may not permit homeless persons to reside in housing
facilities provided by the grant recipient for more than 24 months. The bill also
eliminates the requirement that DOA reasonably balance among geographic areas
of this state certain other grants and loans DOA makes to defray the housing costs
of persons and families of low and moderate income.
Insurance
Under current law, a local governmental unit, including any city, county, town,
village, school, or library board, may pass a resolution to insure its property, and
property that it does not own but for which it is contractually liable if the property
is damaged or destroyed, in the local government property insurance fund (fund).
The fund is managed by the commissioner of insurance and provides protection for
the property insured in the fund against fire and extended coverage perils. This bill
provides that no new coverage may be issued under the fund on or after July 1, 2017;
no coverage may be renewed after December 31, 2017; no coverage may extend
beyond December 31, 2018; and all claims must be filed by July 1, 2019, or they will
not be covered under the fund, and any moneys remaining after all operations cease
will be distributed among the local governmental units that were insured on July 1,
2017.
This bill transfers some of the information technology employees from OCI to
the Division of Enterprise Technology in DOA. The bill also transfers assets and
liabilities, personal property, contracts, rules and orders, and pending matters
related to information technology from OCI to DOA.
Justice
This bill requires DOJ to award grants to cities to reimburse overtime salary
and fringe benefit costs for beat patrol officers. The grants are limited to the ten cities
that apply that have the highest rates of violent crime. The bill allows DOJ to
determine the amount of a grant, except that no more than $400,000 may be awarded
to a city for a calendar year. The bill also specifies requirements for applying for the
grants.
This bill changes the information that DOJ must include in its report to DOA
and JCF regarding restitution received by crime victims. Under the bill, the report
must specify the total number of individuals who received restitution instead of
identifying the individuals who received restitution and must provide the total
amount paid to all recipients instead of providing the amount paid to each recipient.
local government
This bill clarifies that if a unit of government has a responsibility to carry out
a certain function, and it enters into an intergovernmental cooperation contract with
another unit of government to jointly perform the responsibility, the jointly
established entity fulfills the unit of government's responsibility to carry out that
function until the contract expires or is terminated. In addition, if two or more units
of government enter into such a contract and create a commission to jointly or
regionally administer a function or project, the commission shall be considered to be
a single entity that represents, and may act on behalf of, the joint interests of the
signatories to the contract.
