SB671: Bill Text

The bill provides that notwithstanding this provision, a final order or judgment of conviction for a crime entered by a court is binding on the convicted person in an action or proceeding under the UI law that relates to the criminal conviction, and that a person convicted of a crime is precluded from denying the essential allegations of the criminal offense that is the basis for the conviction in an action or proceeding under the UI law.

Reimbursable employer debt assessment

Under current law, DWD must annually determine the total amount due and uncollectible from nonprofit employers that have elected what is known as reimbursement financing (reimbursable employers), and DWD must then charge that amount to an uncollectible reimbursable benefits account in the unemployment reserve fund. Whenever, as of a given year, that account has a negative balance of $5,000 or more, DWD must assess all such nonprofit reimbursable employers to reimburse for the uncollectible amount, except that employers that would otherwise be assessed less than $10 are not assessed, and their portion is instead applied to the amount owed by other employers on a pro rata basis.

Also under current law, pursuant to 2015 Wisconsin Act 334, $2,000,000 was set aside in the unemployment reserve fund to repay reimbursable employers for erroneous payments charged to them that resulted from a false statement or representation (e.g., identity theft).

The bill does the following:

1. Raises the threshold for charging a reimbursable nonprofit employer the assessment to $20 instead of $10.

2. Allows DWD, in lieu of or in addition to assessing nonprofit reimbursable employers as described above, to apply moneys from the $2,000,000 set aside to the uncollectible reimbursable benefits account described above, subject to certain limitations.

Waiver of overpayments

Current law requires the recovery of benefits that were erroneously paid to an individual to be waived if certain conditions apply, including that the erroneous payment was the result of a departmental error. Current law specifies what does and does not constitute a “departmental error” and also provides that if a determination or decision is amended, modified, or reversed by an appeal tribunal (administrative law judge), the Labor and Industry Review Commission, or any court, that action is not to be treated as establishing a departmental error.

This bill specifically provides that, for the purposes of the waiver of recovery of benefits, a “departmental error” does not include an error made by an administrative law judge.

Collection of debt by Department of Revenue

Subject to certain exceptions, current law requires a state agency and the Department of Revenue to enter into a written agreement to have DOR collect certain amounts owed to the state agency. This bill prohibits DOR from entering into an agreement with DWD for the collection of amounts owed to DWD under the UI law.

Fiscal agent election of employer status

Generally, under current law, an individual who receives long-term support services in his or her home through certain government-funded care programs is considered to be an employer under the UI law of a person who provides those services to the individual. Such individuals may use fiscal agents, whose responsibilities include remitting any federal UI taxes or state UI contributions owed by the individual as a result of that employment.

The bill allows a private agency that serves as a fiscal agent or contracts with a fiscal intermediary to serve as a fiscal agent to such an individual receiving long-term support services to elect to instead to be the employer of one or more employees providing those services, subject to certain requirements.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB671,1 Section 1 . 16.48 (1) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 16.48 (1) (intro.) and amended to read:

SB671,4,9 16.48 (1) (intro.) No later than April 15 May 31 of each odd-numbered even-numbered year, the secretary of workforce development shall prepare and furnish to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the assembly, and the majority and minority leaders of the senate, and the council on unemployment insurance, a statement of unemployment insurance financial outlook, which shall contain all of the following, together with the secretary's recommendations and an explanation for such recommendations:

SB671,2 Section 2 . 16.48 (1) (a) 1., 2., 3., 4., 5. and 6. of the statutes are renumbered 16.48 (1) (am), (bm), (c), (d), (e) and (f), and 16.48 (1) (bm), (c) and (f), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB671,4,14 16.48 (1) (bm) Specific proposed changes, if any, in the laws relating to unemployment insurance financing, benefits, and administration.

SB671,4,15 (c) Projections specified in subd. 1. par. (am) under the proposed laws.

SB671,4,17 (f) If unemployment insurance program debt is projected at the end of the forecast period, the reasons why it is not methods proposed to liquidate the debt.

SB671,3 Section 3. 16.48 (1) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

SB671,4 Section 4 . 16.48 (2) of the statutes is repealed.

SB671,5 Section 5 . 16.48 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,5,14 16.48 (3) No Biennially, no later than June 15 January 31 of each odd-numbered even-numbered year, the secretary of workforce development, under the direction of shall submit to the governor, shall submit to each member of the legislature an updated speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the assembly, the majority and minority leaders of the senate, and the council on unemployment insurance the statement of unemployment insurance financial outlook which shall contain the information specified in prepared under sub. (1) (a), together with the governor's recommendations and an explanation for such recommendations, and a copy of the a report required that summarizes the deliberations of the council and the position of the council regarding any proposed change to the unemployment insurance laws submitted under sub. (1) (b).

SB671,6 Section 6 . 16.48 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,5,18 16.48 (4) The department shall post the most recent version of the statement prepared under sub. (1) and the most recent version of the report prepared under sub. (3) on the department's Internet site.

SB671,7 Section 7 . 71.93 (8) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,5,23 71.93 (8) (b) 2. The department may enter into agreements described under subd. 1. with the courts, the legislature, authorities, as defined in s. 16.41 (4), and local units of government. The department may not enter into an agreement described under subd. 1. to collect amounts owed under ch. 108.

SB671,8 Section 8 . 108.02 (10e) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,6,2 108.02 (10e) (c) “Departmental error” does not include an error made by an appeal tribunal appointed under s. 108.09 (3).

SB671,9 Section 9. 108.02 (13) (k) of the statutes, as affected by 2019 Wisconsin Act 9, is amended to read:

SB671,6,11 108.02 (13) (k) “Employer" Except as provided in s. 108.065 (3m), “employer” does not include a county department, an aging unit, or, under s. 46.2785, a private agency that serves as a fiscal agent or contracts with a fiscal intermediary to serve as a fiscal agent under s. 46.27 (5) (i), 46.272 (7) (e), or 47.035 as to any individual performing services for a person receiving long-term support services under s. 46.272 (7) (b), 46.275, 46.277, 46.278, 46.2785, 46.286, 46.495, 51.42, or 51.437 or personal assistance services under s. 47.02 (6) (c).

SB671,10 Section 10 . 108.05 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,7,2 108.05 (3) (a) Except as provided in pars. (c), (cm), (d) and (dm) and s. 108.062, if an eligible employee earns wages in a given week, the first $30 of the wages shall be disregarded and the employee's applicable weekly benefit payment shall be reduced by 67 percent of the remaining amount, except that no such employee is eligible for benefits if the employee's benefit payment would be less than $5 for any week. For purposes of this paragraph, “wages" includes any salary reduction amounts earned that are not wages and that are deducted from the salary of a claimant by an employer pursuant to a salary reduction agreement under a cafeteria plan, within the meaning of 26 USC 125, and any amount that a claimant would have earned in available work under s. 108.04 (1) (a) which is treated as wages under s. 108.04 (1) (bm), but excludes any amount that a claimant earns for services performed as a volunteer fire fighter, volunteer emergency medical services practitioner, or volunteer emergency medical responder. In applying this paragraph, the department shall disregard discrepancies of less than $2 between wages reported by employees and employers.

SB671,11 Section 11 . 108.05 (3) (c) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,7,7 108.05 (3) (c) (intro.) Except as provided in par. (cm) and when otherwise authorized in an approved work-share program under s. 108.062, a claimant is ineligible to receive any benefits for a week in which one or more of the following applies to the claimant for 32 or more hours in that week:

SB671,12 Section 12 . 108.05 (3) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,7,11 108.05 (3) (cm) The department shall disregard an employee's hours worked for an employer in a week and wages payable to the employee for the week when determining the employee's benefit eligibility if all the following apply:

SB671,7,13 1. The employer requires the employee to work during the week as a condition of continued employment with the employer.

SB671,7,15 2. The employer is unable to pay wages because a government unit or the federal government fails to appropriate funds to the employer.

SB671,7,18 3. The employer is not expected to pay the employee for the services performed or the employer will, until funds are appropriated by a government unit or the federal government, indefinitely delay payment for the services performed.

SB671,13 Section 13 . 108.065 (1e) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,7,23 108.065 (1e) (intro.) Except as provided in subs. (2) and (3) to (3m), if there is more than one employing unit that has a relationship to an employee, the department shall determine which of the employing units is the employer of the employee by doing the following:

SB671,14 Section 14 . 108.065 (3m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,8,9 108.065 (3m) A private agency that serves as a fiscal agent or contracts with a fiscal intermediary to serve as a fiscal agent to recipients of services under ch. 46, 47, or 51 may elect to be the employer of one or more employees providing those services. As a condition of eligibility for election to be the employer of one or more employees providing those services, the private agency shall notify in writing the recipient of any such services of its election, for purposes of the unemployment insurance law, to be the employer of any worker providing such services to the recipient, and must be treated as the employer under 26 USC 3301 to 3311 for purposes of federal unemployment taxes on the worker's services.

SB671,15 Section 15 . 108.101 (5) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,8,16 108.101 (5) Notwithstanding sub. (4), a final order or judgment of conviction for a crime entered by a court is binding on the convicted person in an action or proceeding under this chapter that relates to the criminal conviction. A person convicted of a crime is precluded from denying the essential allegations of the criminal offense that is the basis for the conviction in an action or proceeding under this chapter.

SB671,16 Section 16. 108.151 (7) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,9,5 108.151 (7) (c) The fund's treasurer shall determine the total amount due from employers electing reimbursement financing under this section that is uncollectible as of June 30 of each year, but not including any amount that the department determined to be uncollectible prior to before January 1, 2004. No amount may be treated as uncollectible under this paragraph unless the department has exhausted all reasonable remedies for collection of the amount, including liquidation of the assurance required under sub. (4). The department shall charge the total amounts so determined to the uncollectible reimbursable benefits account under s. 108.16 (6w). Whenever, as of June 30 of any year, this that account has a negative balance of $5,000 or more, the treasurer shall, except as provided in par. (i), determine the rate of an assessment to be levied under par. (b) for that year, which shall then become payable by all employers that have elected reimbursement financing under this section as of that date.

SB671,17 Section 17. 108.151 (7) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,9,10 108.151 (7) (f) If any employer would otherwise be assessed an amount less than $10 $20 for a calendar year, the department shall, in lieu of requiring that employer to pay an assessment for that calendar year, apply the amount that the employer would have been required to pay to the other employers on a pro rata basis.

SB671,18 Section 18. 108.151 (7) (i) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,9,18 108.151 (7) (i) In lieu of or in addition to assessing employers as provided in par. (c), the fund's treasurer may apply amounts set aside in the fund's balancing account under s. 108.155 (2) (a) to amounts determined to be uncollectible under par. (c) by transferring those amounts to the account under s. 108.16 (6w). The fund's treasurer may not act under this paragraph whenever the balance remaining of the amount set aside under s. 108.155 (2) (a) is less than $1,750,000 and may not act to reduce the amount set aside below that amount.

SB671,19 Section 19. 108.155 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,9,25 108.155 (2) (a) On October 2, 2016, the fund's treasurer shall set aside $2,000,000 in the balancing account for accounting purposes. On an ongoing basis, the fund's treasurer shall tally the amounts allocated to reimbursable employers' accounts under s. 108.04 (13) (d) 4. c. and all amounts transferred to the account under s. 106.16 (6w) as provided in s. 108.151 (7) (i) and shall deduct those amounts from the amount set aside plus any interest calculated thereon.

SB671,20 Section 20. 108.16 (6m) (j) of the statutes is created to read:

SB671,10,3 108.16 (6m) (j) Any amount transferred to the account under sub. (6w) as provided in s. 108.151 (7) (i).

SB671,21 Section 21. 108.16 (6w) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB671,10,8 108.16 (6w) The department shall maintain within the fund an uncollectible reimbursable benefits account to which the department shall credit all amounts received from employers under s. 108.151 (7) and all amounts transferred from the fund's balancing account as provided in s. 108.151 (7) (i).

SB671,22 Section 22 . 108.22 (10) of the statutes, as affected by 2019 Wisconsin Act 9, is amended to read:

SB671,10,25 108.22 (10) A private agency that serves as a fiscal agent under s. 46.2785 or contracts with a fiscal intermediary to serve as a fiscal agent under s. 46.272 (7) (e) or 47.035 as to any individual performing services for a person receiving long-term support services under s. 46.272 (7) (b), 46.275, 46.277, 46.278, 46.2785, 46.286, 46.495, 51.42, or 51.437 or personal assistance services under s. 47.02 (6) (c) may be found jointly and severally liable for the amounts owed by the person under this chapter, if, at the time the person's quarterly report is due under this chapter, the private agency served as a fiscal agent for the person. The liability of the agency as provided in this subsection survives dissolution, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, assignment for the benefit of creditors, judicially confirmed extension or composition, or any analogous situation of the person and shall be set forth in a determination or decision issued under s. 108.10. An appeal or review of a determination under this subsection shall not include an appeal or review of determinations of amounts owed by the person. This subsection does not apply with respect to a private agency that has made an election under s. 108.065 (3m).

SB671,23 Section 23. Initial applicability.

SB671,11,3 (1) The treatment of s. 108.02 (10e) (c) first applies to determinations issued under s. 108.09 on the effective date of this subsection.

SB671,11,5 (2) The treatment of s. 108.05 (3) (a), (c) (intro.), and (cm) first applies to claims filed on the effective date of this subsection.

SB671,24 Section 24. Effective dates. This act takes effect on the first Sunday after publication, except as follows:

SB671,11,9 (1) The treatment of s. 16.48 (1) (a) (intro.), 1., 2., 3., 4., 5. and 6. and (b), (2), (3), and (4) takes effect on February 1, 2020.

SB671,11,11 (2) The treatment of ss. 108.02 (13) (k) and 108.065 (1e) (intro.) and (3m) takes effect on January 1, 2021.

SB671,11,12 (End)