Wisconsin Legislature: 55,269

55,251 Section 251. 16.08 of the statutes is repealed.

55,254b Section 254b. 16.25 (1) (a) of the statutes is repealed.

55,254d Section 254d. 16.25 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (2) The board shall establish by rule department shall administer a program to provide length-of-service awards, described in 26 USC 457 (e) (11), to volunteer fire fighters in municipalities that operate volunteer fire departments or that contract with volunteer fire companies organized under ch. 181 or 213, to first responders in any municipality that authorizes first responders to provide first responder services, and to volunteer emergency medical technicians in any municipality that authorizes volunteer emergency medical technicians to provide emergency medical technical services in the municipality. To the extent permitted by federal law, the board shall design department shall administer the program so as to treat the length-of-service awards as a tax-deferred benefit under the Internal Revenue Code.

55,254f Section 254f. 16.25 (3) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (intro.) The board department shall promulgate rules to include the following design features for administer the program so as to include all of the following features:

55,254h Section 254h. 16.25 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (c) The municipality may select from among the plans offered by individuals or organizations under contract with the board department under sub. (4) for the volunteer fire fighters, first responders, and emergency medical technicians who perform services for the municipality. The municipality shall pay the annual contributions directly to the individual or organization offering the plan selected by the municipality.

55,254j Section 254j. 16.25 (3) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (d) 1. Subject to subd. 2., the board department shall match all annual municipal contributions paid for volunteer fire fighters, first responders, and emergency medical technicians up to $250 per fiscal year, other than contributions paid for the purchase of additional years of service under par. (e), to be paid from the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (er). This amount shall be adjusted annually on July 1 to reflect any changes in the U.S. consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, as determined by the U.S. department of labor, for the 12-month period ending on the preceding December 31. The board department shall pay all amounts that are matched under this paragraph to the individuals and organizations offering the plans selected by the municipalities.

2. If the moneys appropriated under s. 20.505 (4) (er) are not sufficient to fully fund the contributions required to be paid by the board department under subd. 1., the board department shall prorate the contributions paid for the volunteer fire fighters, first responders, and emergency medical technicians.

55,254L Section 254L. 16.25 (3) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (g) A volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician shall be paid a length of service award either in a lump sum or in a manner specified by rule, consisting of all municipal and state contributions made on behalf of the volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician and all earnings on the contributions, less any expenses incurred in the investment of the contributions and earnings, after the volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician attains 20 years of service for a municipality and reaches the age of 60. If a volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician has satisfied all vesting requirements under the program but has less than 20 years of service for a municipality or has not reached the age of 60, the program shall provide for the payment of a length of service award either in a lump sum or in a manner specified by rule in an amount to be determined by the board department, but less than the amount paid to a volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician who has attained 20 years of service for a municipality and has reached the age of 60.

55,254n Section 254n. 16.25 (3) (i) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (i) 2. A volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician who becomes disabled during his or her service as a volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician for the municipality shall be paid a length of service award either in a lump sum or in a manner specified by rule, in an amount to be determined by the board department.

55,254p Section 254p. 16.25 (3) (k) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (3) (k) The board department shall equitably allocate all moneys in accounts of volunteer fire fighters, first responders, and emergency medical technicians that have been closed to the accounts of volunteer fire fighters, first responders, and emergency medical technicians that have not been forfeited or closed.

55,254r Section 254r. 16.25 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (4) (a) The board department shall establish by rule the requirements for, and the qualifications of, the individuals and organizations in the private sector that are eligible to provide administrative services and investment plans under the program, other than services funded from the appropriation under s. 20.505 (4) (ec). In establishing the requirements and qualifications, the board department shall develop criteria of financial stability that each individual and organization must meet in order to offer the services and plans under the program.

55,254t Section 254t. 16.25 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (4) (b) The board department may contract with any individual or organization in the private sector that seeks to provide administrative services and investment plans required for the program, other than services funded from the appropriation under s. 20.505 (4) (ec), if the individual or organization fulfills the requirements and has the qualifications established by the board department under par. (a). Section 16.72 (2) (b) does not apply to any such contract.

55,254v Section 254v. 16.25 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (5) The board department shall establish by rule a process by which a volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician may appeal to the board secretary any decision made by the department or by an individual or organization under contract with the board department under sub. (4) that affects a substantial interest of the volunteer fire fighter, first responder, or emergency medical technician under the program.

55,254x Section 254x. 16.25 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.25 (6) Annually, on or before December 31, the board department shall submit a report to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) describing the activities of the board department under this section.

55,262 Section 262. 16.40 (18) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.40 (18) Require agencies to provide copies. Require each state agency, at the time that the agency submits a request to the department for an increased appropriation to be provided in an executive budget bill which is necessitated by the compensation plan under s. 230.12 or a collective bargaining agreement approved under s. 111.92, to provide a copy of the request to the director of the office administrator of the division of state employment relations personnel management in the department and the joint committee on employment relations.

55,268 Section 268. 16.415 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.415 (1) Neither the secretary nor any other fiscal officer of this state may draw, sign, or issue, or authorize the drawing, signing, or issuing of any warrant on any disbursing officer of the state to pay any compensation to any person in the classified service of the state unless an estimate, payroll, or account for such compensation, containing the names of every person to be paid, bears the certificate of the appointing authority that each person named in the estimate, payroll, or account has been appointed, employed, or subject to any other personnel transaction in accordance with, and that the pay for the person has been established in accordance with, the law, compensation plan, or applicable collective bargaining agreement, and applicable rules of the director of the office administrator of the division of state employment relations personnel management in the department and the administrator of the division director of the bureau of merit recruitment and selection in the office of state employment relations department then in effect.

55,269 Section 269. 16.415 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.415 (3) Any sums paid contrary to this section may be recovered from any appointing authority making such appointments in contravention of law or of the rules promulgated pursuant thereto, or from any appointing authority signing or countersigning or authorizing the signing or countersigning of any warrant for the payment of the same, or from the sureties on the official bond of any such appointing authority, in an action in the circuit court for any county within the state, maintained by the director of the office administrator of the division of state employment relations personnel management in the department, or by a citizen resident therein, who is assessed for, and liable to pay, or within one year before the commencement of the action has paid, a state, city or county tax within this state. All moneys recovered in any action brought under this section when collected, shall be paid into the state treasury except that if a citizen taxpayer is plaintiff in any such action he or she shall be entitled to receive for personal use the taxable cost of such action and 5% of the amount recovered as attorney fees.

55,272d Section 272d. 16.42 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:

16.42 (1m) An agency making a request under sub. (1) shall submit 3 proposals as follows:

(a) A proposal written as if there would be no increase in expenditures of general purpose revenue, program revenue, or segregated revenue from the base levels for the current fiscal year.

(b) A proposal written as if the only increase in expenditures of general purpose revenue, program revenue, or segregated revenue from base levels would be for the cost to continue programs, including standard budget adjustments and increases in costs due to case load or population adjustments, and for the amounts necessary to fund previously enacted program commitments.

(c) The proposal submitted in par. (b) but modified to include increases in expenditures of general purpose revenue, program revenue, or segregated revenue from base levels for programmatic changes.

55,272f Section 272f. 16.42 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.42 (3) The department of safety and professional services shall include in its agency request under sub. (1) a proposal to eliminate any council, board, or commission that has not held a meeting since the preceding September 15, unless the council, board, or commission is required to exist under federal law.

55,272h Section 272h. 16.43 of the statutes is amended to read:

16.43 (1) The secretary shall compile and submit to the governor or the governor-elect and to each person elected to serve in the legislature during the next biennium, not later than November 20 of each even-numbered year, a compilation giving all of the data required by s. 16.46 to be included in the state budget report, except the recommendations of the governor and the explanation thereof.

(3) The secretary shall not include in the compilation any provision for the development or implementation of an information technology development project for an executive branch agency that is not consistent with the strategic plan of the agency, as approved under s. 16.976. The secretary may distribute the budget compilation in printed or optical disk format.

55,272i Section 272i. 16.43 (2) of the statutes is created to read:

16.43 (2) When the secretary compiles the requests of agencies for the succeeding biennium, the secretary shall ensure that the data is presented as the following 3 proposals:

(a) A proposal written as if there would be no increase in expenditures of general purpose revenue, program revenue, or segregated revenue from the base levels for the current fiscal year.

(c) The proposal submitted in par. (b) but modified to include increases in expenditures of general purpose revenue, program revenue, or segregated revenue from base levels for programmatic changes.

55,275 Section 275. 16.50 (3) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.50 (3) (f) At the request of the director of the office administrator of the division of state employment relations personnel management in the department, the secretary of administration may authorize the temporary creation of pool or surplus positions under any source of funds if the director determines that temporary positions are necessary to maintain adequate staffing levels for high turnover classifications, in anticipation of attrition, to fill positions for which recruitment is difficult. Surplus or pool positions authorized by the secretary shall be reported quarterly to the joint committee on finance in conjunction with the report required under s. 16.54 (8).

55,277m Section 277m. 16.505 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.505 (2m) The board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System or the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison may create or abolish a full-time equivalent position or portion thereof, other than positions funded from the appropriation under s. 20.285 (1) (a). Beginning on July 1, 2015, all positions authorized for the University of Wisconsin shall not be included in any state position report. No later than the last day of the month following completion of each calendar quarter, Annually, no later than November 1, the board of regents shall report to the department and the cochairpersons of the joint committee on finance concerning the number of full-time equivalent positions created or abolished by the board under this subsection during the preceding calendar quarter 12-month period and the source of funding for each such position. The report shall be based on the October 1 payroll.

55,282m Section 282m. 16.518 (3) (b) 2. of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

16.518 (3) (b) 2. If the amount transferred under par. (a) would cause the general fund balance on June 30 of the fiscal year, as projected under s. 20.005 (1), to be less than 2 percent of the total general purpose revenue appropriations for that fiscal year, plus any amount from general purpose revenue designated as "Compensation Reserves" for that fiscal year in the summary under s. 20.005 (1), the secretary may not make the transfer under par. (a).

55,282s Section 282s. 16.52 (6) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.52 (6) (a) Except as authorized in s. ss. 16.74 and 16.745, all purchase orders, contracts, or printing orders for any agency, as defined in s. 16.70 (1e), shall, before any liability is incurred thereon, be submitted to the secretary for his or her approval as to legality of purpose and sufficiency of appropriated and allotted funds therefor. In all such cases the date of the contract or order governs the fiscal year to which the contract or order is chargeable, unless the secretary determines that the purpose of the contract or order is to prevent lapsing of appropriations or to otherwise circumvent budgetary intent. Upon such approval, the The secretary, after granting any approval required under this paragraph, shall immediately encumber all contracts or orders, and indicate the fiscal year to which they are chargeable.

55,292 Section 292. 16.528 (3) (f) of the statutes is created to read:

16.528 (3) (f) A contract under s. 977.08 (3) (f).

55,293d Section 293d. 16.529 (1) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

16.529 (1) In this section, "state agency" has the meaning given in s. 40.02 (54).

55,293h Section 293h. 16.529 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

16.529 (2) Notwithstanding ss. 20.001 (3) (a) to (c) and 25.40 (3), beginning in the 2007-09 fiscal biennium, during each fiscal biennium the secretary shall lapse to the general fund or transfer to the general fund from each state agency appropriation specified in sub. (3) an amount equal to that portion of the total amount of principal and interest to be paid on obligations issued under s. 16.527 during the fiscal biennium that is allocable to the appropriation, as determined under sub. (3). The secretary may require that a state agency pay the amount directly to the state in lieu of lapsing or transferring the amount to the general fund.

55,293p Section 293p. 16.529 (3) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

16.529 (3) (d) For purposes of calculating the amount allocable to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority under par. (b), the secretary shall include any amount allocable to the former University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Board, which was eliminated in 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, based on the number of employees at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Board on the day on which it was eliminated, as calculated by the secretary.

55,307 Section 307. 16.57 of the statutes is repealed.

55,316d Section 316d. 16.641 (2) (i) of the statutes is created to read:

16.641 (2) (i) Before December 31 of each year, beginning in 2015, ensure that the account balance limitation under sub. (3) (bm) is increased for the subsequent year. The annual increase shall be equal to a percentage that is not less than the most recently published national average tuition and fees percentage increase at private, nonprofit 4-year institutions, as determined by the College Board, or such other nationally reputable entity, and shall be subject to the requirements under 26 USC 529 that pertain to the prohibition on excess contributions.

55,316de Section 316de. 16.641 (3) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:

16.641 (3) (bm) Beginning on August 1, 2015, no contribution may be made to an account if the contribution would cause the account balance of a beneficiary's account, or the combined balance of all accounts of a beneficiary, to exceed $425,000. This contribution limitation applies to all accounts that are established on and after that date, and to all accounts that are in existence on that date that have not yet reached the balance limit specified in this paragraph, subject to the annual increase described in sub. (2) (i).

55,316e Section 316e. 16.643 of the statutes is created to read:

16.643 Support accounts for individuals with disabilities. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) "Account owner" means an individual who establishes, and owns, an account under this section and who is one of the following:

1. The beneficiary of the account.

2. If the beneficiary is a minor or otherwise incapable of handling his or her financial affairs, the parent or guardian of the beneficiary.

(b) "Beneficiary" means an eligible individual for whom an account is established under this section.

(d) "Financial institution" means any bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union that is authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions.

(e) "Qualified expenses" has the meaning given for "qualified disability expenses" under 26 USC 529A.

(2) Duties of the department. The department shall do all of the following:

(a) Ensure that an account established under this section meets the requirements of a qualified ABLE program under 26 USC 529A.

(b) Promulgate rules to implement and administer this section.

(3) Account owners; beneficiaries; contributions; termination of accounts. (a) An account owner may do all of the following:

1. Establish an account under this section at a financial institution.

2. Change the beneficiary of an account to a family member, as defined in 26 USC 529A, of the previous beneficiary, if the new beneficiary is an eligible individual.

3. If the account owner is not the beneficiary, terminate an account upon the death of a beneficiary if the account owner is unable to change the beneficiary under subd. 2.

(b) An individual may not be the beneficiary of more than one account established under this section.

(c) 1. The maximum total amount of annual contributions that may be made to an account established under this section for a particular beneficiary is the amount described in 26 USC 529A (b) (2) (B).

2. The maximum total amount of all annual contributions that may be made to an account established under this section for a particular beneficiary is the same as the maximum aggregate contribution limit to an account described under s. 16.641, as set by the college program savings board.

3. If any person attempts to contribute to an account established under this section and that contribution would exceed one or both of the limits specified in this paragraph, the financial institution to which the contribution is sent shall return to the prospective contributor any amount of the attempted contribution that is necessary to prevent the limits from being exceeded.

4. If more than one person attempts to contribute to an account established under this section and such contributions would exceed the limits specified in this paragraph, and if the attempted contributions arrive at the financial institution on the same day, the financial institution to which the contributions are sent shall return to the prospective contributors any amount of the attempted contributions, on a prorated basis, that is necessary to prevent the limits from being exceeded.

(d) Upon the death of the beneficiary who is the account owner the account shall terminate, and upon the termination of an account as described in par. (a) 3., any amount remaining in the account shall be recoverable by the state under s. 49.849 as property of a decedent is recoverable under that statute. Any amount that remains in the account following such recovery under s. 49.849 shall be paid to the account owner's estate. Recovery authorized under this paragraph may relate only to public assistance received by a beneficiary on and after the date on which an account is established under this section.