One-Hundred and Sixth Regular Session
10:22 A.M. THURSDAY, June 8, 2023
The Senate met.
The Senate was called to order by President Pro Tempore Testin.
Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (6), the Chief Clerk made the following entries under the above date. _____________
Chief Clerk's Entries
Senate Enrolled Proposals
The Chief Clerk records:
Report correctly enrolled on 6-8-2023.
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Introduction, First Reading, and Reference of Proposals
Read and referred:
Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Representative Daniel LeMahieu.
By Senators LeMahieu, Agard, Ballweg, Bradley, Cabral-Guevara, Carpenter, Cowles, Felzkowski, Feyen, Hesselbein, Jacque, Jagler, Marklein, Nass, Roys, Spreitzer, Stroebel and Taylor; cosponsored by Representatives Katsma, Bodden, Allen, August, Behnke, Binsfeld, Born, Brandtjen, Dittrich, Duchow, Green, Krug, Magnafici, Murphy, Mursau, O'Connor, Ohnstad, Penterman, Petryk, Rettinger, Schraa, Sinicki, Spiros, Stubbs, Swearingen, VanderMeer, Vos and Wittke.
hist168964To the committee on Senate Organization. Read first time and referred:
Relating to: price transparency in hospitals and providing a penalty.
By Senators Felzkowski, Bradley, Hutton, Knodl, Larson, Nass and Stroebel; cosponsored by Representatives Brooks, Rozar, Allen, Bodden, Brandtjen, Dittrich, Donovan, Duchow, Goeben, Green, Gundrum, Gustafson, Macco, Rettinger, Schraa, Shankland, Sortwell and Wichgers.
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Report of Committees
The committee on Licensing, Constitution and Federalism reported and recommended:
BRISTOL, ECHO E., of Richland Center, as a Nursing Home Administrator Representative on the Nursing Home Administrator Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2025.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
JOHNSON, STEVEN WILLIAM, of La Crosse, as a Physical Therapist on the Physical Therapy Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2025.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
KAISER, LIZZY, of Oshkosh, as a Nurse on the Nursing Home Administrator Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2023.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
SHAUGHNESSY, PATRICK, of Greendale, as a Nursing Home Administrator on the Nursing Home Administrator Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2023.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
WILLIAMS, JASON LEE, of Fitchburg, as a Nursing Home Administrator on the Nursing Home Administrator Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2022.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
WILLIAMS, JASON, of Fitchburg, as a Nursing Home Administrator on the Nursing Home Administrator Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2026.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
Senate Bill 158
Relating to: preliminary health care credentials granted to previously unlicensed individuals.
Ayes: 3 - Senators Jacque, Bradley and Knodl.
Noes: 2 - Senators Carpenter and Wirch.
Senate Bill 189
Relating to: biennial report on various metrics related to the issuance of occupational credentials.
Ayes: 3 - Senators Jacque, Bradley and Knodl.
Noes: 2 - Senators Carpenter and Wirch.
Senate Bill 190
Relating to: publication of credential metrics.
Ayes: 3 - Senators Jacque, Bradley and Knodl.
Noes: 2 - Senators Carpenter and Wirch.
Senate Bill 192
Relating to: renewals of certain credentials.
Ayes: 5 - Senators Jacque, Bradley, Carpenter, Wirch and Knodl.
Noes: 0 - None.
Senate Bill 263
Relating to: 100-day prescription drug supplies under SeniorCare and amending an administrative rule related to 100-day prescription drug supplies permitted under SeniorCare.
Ayes: 3 - Senators Jacque, Bradley and Knodl.
Noes: 2 - Senators Carpenter and Wirch.
ANDRÉ JACQUE
Chairperson
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Minority Report
On June 8, 2023, Senators Carpenter and Wirch offered the following minority report, pursuant to Senate Rule 28, to the Senate Committee on Licensing, Constitution and Federalism: Concerning committee action on 2023 Wisconsin Senate Bill 263
We cannot support Senate Bill 263 as written because without additional changes, the legislation is likely to result in unintended consequences and unnecessary costs to Wisconsin taxpayers. We appreciate the goals of the bill’s authors and sincerely desire to continue working with them to achieve these changes to the SeniorCare program. We believe that if we work together to address that concerns of the Department of Health Services (DHS), we can bring legislation to the Senate floor that would receive a unanimous vote.
The committee received testimony from the DHS warning that the bill as written creates inequities between the SeniorCare program and the Medicaid program. The bill would require DHS to seek changes to the SeniorCare waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). DHS is concerned that an inequity in the prescription drug benefits offered by SeniorCare and Medicaid is not waivable, risking denial of the request and requiring an inordinate amount of time to obtain a determination.
DHS explained that new system functionality, processes, and frameworks would be required to implement the SeniorCare program to include the changes made in this legislation, requiring significant time and effort, adding administrative costs that would be borne by the taxpayers of Wisconsin.
The Department has offered solutions such as including a 100-day extension for both the Medicaid and SeniorCare programs, eliminating the potential inequities between programs and removing the need to see approval from CMS for changes to the SeniorCare Waiver. This solution would reduce the administrative burdens for both programs resulting in an estimated total savings of $34.4 million.
Unfortunately, a vote on this proposal was scheduled before the conclusion of negotiations. We believe that a more thorough committee process, relaxed timeline for conversation between stakeholders, and an in-person executive session could have provided the opportunity to reach a unanimous committee vote.
Sincerely,
