LRBs0002/1
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2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO ASSEMBLY BILL 1
January 6, 2021 - Offered by Representatives Hintz,
Hesselbein, Spreitzer,
Subeck, B. Meyers, Haywood, Anderson, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings, Bowen,
Brostoff, Cabrera, Conley, Considine, Doyle, Drake, Emerson, Goyke,
Hebl, Hong, McGuire, Milroy, Moore Omokunde, L. Myers, Neubauer,
Ohnstad, Ortiz-Velez, Pope, Riemer, S. Rodriguez, Shankland, Shelton,
Sinicki, Snodgrass, Stubbs, Vining and Vruwink.
AB1-ASA1,2,9
1An Act to repeal 49.45 (2p), 49.45 (23), 108.04 (2) (h) and 108.04 (12) (f);
to
2renumber and amend 450.11 (5) (br) 3.;
to amend 20.435 (4) (jw), 40.22 (1),
340.22 (2m) (intro.), 40.22 (2r) (intro.), 40.22 (3) (intro.), 40.26 (1m) (a), 40.26
4(1m) (b), 40.26 (5m), 40.51 (8), 40.51 (8m), 49.45 (23b) (title), 49.45 (23b) (b),
549.45 (23b) (c), 49.45 (23b) (e), 49.471 (4) (a) 4. b., 49.686 (3) (d), 66.0137 (4),
6102.565 (6), 103.025 (title), 103.10 (1) (c), 103.10 (2) (c), 103.10 (5) (a), 103.10
7(8), 103.10 (9) (a) and (b), 103.10 (9) (c) 4., 103.10 (9) (d), 103.10 (12) (d), 108.04
8(3) (b), 108.062 (2) (d), 108.062 (20) (intro.), 108.062 (20) (c), 108.07 (5) (bm) 3.
9b., 115.385 (6), 115.415 (1) (b), 120.13 (2) (g), 140.145 (10) (a), 140.145 (10) (b),
10185.983 (1) (intro.), 323.19 (4) (b), 323.2912, 323.2913, 440.15, 450.01 (11m),
11450.01 (21s), 450.02 (1), 450.11 (5) (br) 2. d., 609.205 (2) and (3) (intro.) and (a)
12and 632.895 (16v) (a) (intro.);
to repeal and recreate 115.437 (2) (b) and
13632.895 (14g) (b); and
to create 16.34, 20.115 (3) (b), 20.435 (1) (dw), 20.435 (4)
1(bu), 20.505 (1) (bk), 20.505 (1) (ft), 20.835 (2) (an), 40.26 (7), 49.471 (1) (cr),
249.471 (4) (a) 8., 49.471 (4g), 49.681, 73.03 (75), 93.485, 102.03 (7), 103.025 (1)
3(bm), 103.025 (3), 103.10 (1) (dm), 103.10 (4m), 252.02 (8), 323.19 (3m), 323.19
4(3p), 323.267, 440.08 (2) (a) 69g., 450.01 (13w), 450.01 (23) (p), 450.075, 450.11
5(5) (br) 3. b., 609.719, 609.887, 632.871, 632.895 (14f) and 655.0025 of the
6statutes;
relating to: state government response to COVID-19 pandemic,
7extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an
8exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority,
9and making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Agriculture
Food security initiative grant program
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection to administer a food security initiative, under which it must provide
grants to food banks, food pantries, and other nonprofit organizations fighting food
insecurity to either adapt to challenges posed by the COVID-19 public health crisis
or purchase Wisconsin food products.
Education
Per pupil aid; 2020-21 pupil enrollment
Under current law, a school district's pupil enrollment is a factor in the per pupil
aid calculation, which is a categorical aid paid to school districts. Per pupil aid is
funded from a sum sufficient appropriation and is not considered for purposes of
revenue limits.
The amount of per pupil aid paid to a school district is calculated using a
three-year average of the number of pupils enrolled in the school district and a per
pupil amount set by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the calculation for the amount
of per pupil aid paid to a school district is $742 times the average of the school
district's pupil enrollment in the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 school years.
Under the bill, for purposes of calculating per pupil aid in the 2020-21,
2021-22, and 2022-23 school years, a school district's pupil enrollment in the
2020-21 school year is the school district's pupil enrollment in the 2019-20 or
2020-21 school year, whichever is greater.
Pupil assessments and school and school district accountability report;
2020-21 school year exemption
Under the bill, requirements to administer various pupil assessments do not
apply in the 2020-21 school year.
Under current law, school boards, independent charter schools, private schools
participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Racine Parental Choice
Program, or Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, and, under some circumstances,
a private school participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program are required
to annually administer assessments adopted by the Department of Public
Instruction to pupils in the fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. These
assessments are commonly referred to as the Wisconsin Student Assessment
System, which includes the Wisconsin Forward Exam, ACT ASPIRE, the ACT with
Writing, and Dynamic Learning Maps. The requirements to administer the WSAS
did not apply in the 2019-20 school year. Under the bill, the requirements to
administer the WSAS do not apply in the 2020-21 school year.
Current law also requires school boards, independent charter schools, and
private schools participating in a parental choice program to annually administer a
standardized reading test developed by DPI to third grade pupils. The requirements
to administer the third grade standardized reading test did not apply in the 2019-20
school year. Under the bill, the requirements to administer the third grade
standardized reading test do not apply in the 2020-21 school year.
Under current law, each school board and independent charter school must
annually administer a reading readiness assessment selected by the school board or
independent charter school to pupils in four-year-old kindergarten through second
grade. The requirements to administer a reading readiness assessment applied in
the 2019-20 school year. Under the bill, the requirements to administer a reading
readiness assessment do not apply in the 2020-21 school year.
Under current law, school boards and independent charter schools are required
to evaluate teachers and principals using an educator effectiveness evaluation
system that considers pupil performance on statewide assessments. School boards
and independent charter schools were prohibited from considering pupil
performance on statewide assessments in evaluating teachers and principals in the
2019-20 school year. Under the bill, the prohibition against considering pupil
performance on statewide assessments in evaluating teachers and principals also
applies in 2020-21 school year.
School and school district accountability report
Under current law, DPI is required to publish a school and school district
accountability report for the previous school year by November 30. To measure
school performance and school district improvement for purposes of the report card,
particularly measures related to pupil achievement in reading and math, DPI uses
data derived from pupil performance on the WSAS.
Under current law, schools and school districts were not required to administer
the WSAS in the 2019-20 school year and DPI is prohibited from publishing a school
and school district accountability report in the 2020-21 school year. Under the bill,
schools and school districts are not required to administer the WSAS in the 2020-21
school year and DPI is prohibited from publishing a school and school district
accountability report in the 2021-22 school year.
Employment
Hazard pay and paid medical leave
The bill requires employers to provide hazard pay to certain health care
workers during a public health emergency. The bill also requires employers to
provide at least 15 days of paid medical leave for certain health care workers who
contract a communicable disease. Under the bill, an employer may request a
reimbursement from the Department of Administration for the paid medical leave
and hazard pay. The hazard pay and paid medical leave requirements in the bill also
apply until December 31, 2021, regardless of whether a public health emergency has
been declared by the governor or whether the secretary of health services has issued
an order.
Limited-term employees
Under the bill, the director of the Bureau of Merit Recruitment and Selection
in the Division of Personnel Management in DOA may adjust the number of hours
a state employee in a limited-term appointment may work during the period
beginning on March 12, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2021. Under current law,
a limited-term appointment may not exceed 1,040 hours per year.
Use of annual leave
Under the bill, a state employee may take annual leave during the period
beginning on March 12, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2021, even if the employee
has not completed the first six months of the employee's probationary period. Under
current law, an employee may not take annual leave during the first six months of
the employee's probationary period.
Unemployment Insurance; Benefit charging
Current law, as enacted in
2019 Wisconsin Act 185, requires the Department
of Workforce Development, when processing claims for unemployment insurance
benefits and evaluating work-share plans, to determine whether a claim or plan is
related to the public health emergency declared by the governor under executive
order 72. If a claim is so related, current law provides that the regular benefits for
that claim for weeks occurring after March 12, 2020, and before December 31, 2020,
not be charged as is normally provided. Instead, the benefits for those weeks are,
subject to numerous exceptions, to be charged in one of two ways:
1. To the balancing account of the unemployment reserve fund, which is a
pooled account financed by employers that pay contributions (taxes) and is used to
pay benefits that are not chargeable to any employer's account.
2. To the unemployment interest and penalties appropriation account for
reimbursable employers, which are employers that do not pay contributions but
instead reimburse DWD for benefits directly.
The bill allows the secretary of administration to transfer moneys from any
executive branch appropriation to the unemployment interest and penalties
appropriation account for the purpose of paying the benefits described above
attributable to reimbursable employers under Act 185. The transfers may not exceed
the amount necessary to make those payments.
Unemployment Insurance; Work-share programs
Current law allows an employer to create a work-share program within a work
unit of the employer. Under a work-share program, the working hours of all of the
full-time employees in the program are reduced in an equitable manner in lieu of a
layoff of some of the employees and a continuation of full-time employment by the
other employees. A claimant for unemployment insurance benefits who is included
in a work-share program may receive UI benefits during his or her continued
employment with the work-share employer in an amount equal to the claimant's
benefit for total unemployment multiplied by the same percentage reduction in
normal working hours that the claimant incurs under the program. Current law also
provides for the temporary modification of certain requirements that apply to
work-share plans with respect to work-share plans submitted on or after April 17,
2020, and before December 31, 2020. The bill extends the applicability of these
modifications to January 1, 2022. The bill also adds an additional modification,
which is made effective permanently, to allow work-share plans to remain in effect
for 12 months in a five-year period, instead of six months.
Unemployment Insurance; Waiting period
Currently, a claimant must generally wait one week after becoming eligible to
receive UI benefits before the claimant may receive benefits for a week of
unemployment, but the application of the one-week waiting period is temporarily
suspended for benefit years that began after March 12, 2020, and before February
7, 2021. The bill extends the end date for suspending the one-week waiting period
to January 1, 2022.
Unemployment Insurance; Registration for work and work search waivers
Under current law, a claimant for UI benefits is generally required to register
for work and to search for work each week in order to remain eligible, but DWD is
required to waive these requirements under certain circumstances. Under current
law, DWD has limited rule-making authority to modify the availability of waivers
or establish additional waivers if necessary to comply with a requirement under
federal law or if specifically allowed under federal law. The bill allows DWD to
promulgate rules that remain in effect until January 1, 2022, that provide waivers
of the registration for work or work search requirements under additional
circumstances.
Unemployment Insurance; Receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance
benefits
Under current law, in any week in any month that a claimant is receiving a
benefit under the federal social security disability program, that claimant is
ineligible for UI benefits. The bill repeals that prohibition and allows an otherwise
eligible claimant to receive both federal social security disability benefits and
unemployment insurance benefits for the same period.
Worker's compensation; Injury to critical workers
The bill provides that, for the purposes of worker's compensation, an injury
caused to a critical worker by COVID-19 during the period beginning on the effective
date of the bill and ending on December 31, 2021, is presumed to be caused by the
individual's employment. The presumption requires a diagnosis or positive test for
COVID-19 and may be rebutted by specific evidence that the injury was caused
outside of employment. Under the bill, the secretary of health services determines
which workers are considered critical workers during the specified period.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Remote notarization of estate planning documents
The bill allows a notary public, through the end of calendar year 2021, to
perform notarizations involving estate planning documents for individuals not
physically present before the notary public.
Current law generally requires a person to physically appear before a notary
public in order for the notary public to perform a notarial act, but provisions in
2019
Wisconsin Act 125 allow a notary public, using technology, to notarize documents for
persons not physically present with the notary public (remotely located individuals)
if certain requirements are satisfied. This authority under Act 125 for a notary
public to perform a notarial act for a remotely located individual does not extend to
a transaction involving estate planning documents such as wills and trusts.
The bill allows a notary public, through the end of calendar year 2021, to
perform for a remotely located individual a notarial act involving estate planning
documents such as wills and trusts.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Prescription order extensions
Current law allows a pharmacist to extend a prescription order under certain
circumstances in the event that the prescription cannot otherwise be refilled, subject
to certain criteria and limitations. However, current law also includes an alternative
authorization for a pharmacist to extend a prescription during the public health
emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, and for 30 days after
the conclusion of that public health emergency. Under this alternative
authorization, a pharmacist is exempt from having to contact the prescribing
practitioner or his or her office, the pharmacist may extend the prescription by up
to a 30-day supply, and certain other requirements also do not apply. The bill
provides that this alternative authorization to extend a prescription order also
applies beginning on the bill's effective date to the end of 2021.
Medical Assistance payment for hospitals for nursing facility care
The bill requires the Department of Health Services to provide reimbursement
or a supplemental payment to hospitals under the Medical Assistance program for
providing nursing-facility-level custodial care. To receive reimbursement or
supplemental payment, the hospital must notify DHS that it is participating as a
swing bed hospital under the Medical Assistance program and providing custodial
care for which federal financial participation is approved to an individual who is
eligible for discharge after receiving inpatient care in the hospital, who needs
nursing-facility-level care, and for whom the hospital is unable to locate a nursing
facility that accepts the individual for admission. If providing reimbursement
instead of supplemental payment, DHS must pay the hospital the statewide average
per-diem rate paid to nursing facilities. DHS must use the same standards and
eligibility criteria as the federal Medicare program uses to determine
reimbursement for swing beds or, for hospitals that are not critical access hospitals,
the terms of a federal waiver issued during the federally declared national
emergency related to the 2019 novel coronavirus. This requirement to reimburse
hospitals for providing nursing facility care applies until June 30, 2021, or until the
termination of any public health emergency declared by the secretary of the federal
Department of Health and Human Services related to the 2019 novel coronavirus,
whichever is earlier.