Legislative Agenda | Legislative Archive

WISCONSIN LONG-TERM CARE UPDATE
February 6, 2006

• Assembly Leadership Identifies Legislative Priorities for the Remaining 2006 Session
• Senate Leadership Identifies Legislative Priorities for the Remaining 2006 Session
• TABOR Constitutional Amendment will be Introduced on Wednesday
• NEW LEGISALTIVE BILLS \ RECENTLY INTRODUCED
• LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARINGS & SESSION DATES
  

Assembly Leadership Identifies Legislative Priorities for the Remaining 2006 Session
Assembly Republicans, who control the majority, announced last week their priorities for the three remaining months of the legislative session.  Legislative leadership is hoping to end the legislative session early this year in mid-March, however the session traditionally ends in May.  The priorities include:

• TABOR: Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a proposal that would place a formula into the Constitution that would cap state and local governments taxing and spending authority.
• Broad Band Sale Tax Exemption: Pass a proposal that would provide a sales tax exemption of up to $75 million for equipment used to expand broadband Internet access in the state.
• Medical Costs: Pass legislation that would deal with rising medical costs.
• Rural Physicians: Pass legislation that would provide incentives to attract new physicians to underserved rural areas of Wisconsin.

Senate Leadership Identifies Legislative Priorities for the Remaining 2006 Session
Senate Republicans, who control the majority, announced last week their priorities for the three remaining months of the legislative session.  Like the Assembly, the Senate hopes to end the legislative session early this year in mid-March.  The legislation session traditionally ends in May.  Senate Republican priorities include:

• TABOR: Constitutional Amendment to limit state and local taxing and spending authority.
• AB-907. Health Care price transparency initiative.
• SB-7/AB-4. Health Savings Accounts
• SB-459. Energy Efficiency and Renewables Act.
• Taxpayer Protection Amendment (Sen. Grothman) To be introduced next Tuesday or Wednesday.
• SB-30. Pension Income Tax Exemption.
• Taxation by Elected Board (Sen. Lazich)
• SB-483. Broadband Deployment Act.
• SB-103. Research and development Tax Credit
• SB-208. Job Opportunity Business Zones (JOBZ)
• SB-136. Airport Development Zones.

TABOR Constitutional Amendment will be Introduced on Wendesday
Both the Senate and Assembly Republican Leadership have identified the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) as a priority for passage in the next six weeks of session.  TABOR is a proposal that would place a restrictive formula into the Constitution that would cap or limit state and local government taxing and spending authority.   Although specifics on the new TABOR Constitutional Amendment have not been made available, the actual bill will be introduced on Wednesday.

To learn more about TABOR, its possible impact on healthcare, and help bring public attention to this issue please attend one of the following informational forums:

Wisconsin Council and Children and Families: “The Trouble with TABOR” forums:
Eau Claire: Wednesday, February 8 – 6:30-7:30pm
Chippewa Valley Technical College, Big River Conference Center,
Room 30A, lower level of the Business Education Center Building

Green Bay: Wednesday, February 15 – 6:30-7:30pm
Brown County Public Library, basement Meeting Rooms 1& 2

NEW LEGISALTIVE BILLS \ RECENTLY INTRODUCED

Senate Bill Introductions
SB-505. Home Construction (Brown) Construction of one and two-family dwellings by owners who are members of bona fide religious denominations. To Housing and Financial Institutions.
SB-517.  Group Health Plans (Harsdorf) Changes related to group health care plans offered by health benefit purchasing cooperatives. To Agriculture and Insurance.
SB-518. Dept of Revenue (Kanavas) Various changes affecting Dept of Revenue administration of taxes and fees. To Job Creation, Economic Development and Consumer Affairs.
SB-532.  Medical Assistance (Brown)  Increases the Medical Assistance reimbursement rate for nursing homes, supplementing the Medical Assistance reimbursement for nursing homes.  To Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long-Term Care.
SB-534.  Tax Exemption (Roessler) Creates an individual and corporate tax exemption for interest on bonds and notes issued by the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority for purposes related to the purchase of information technology equipment by health facilities.  To Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long-Term Care.
SB-535.  Medical Assistance (Fitzgerald) Decreases Medical Assistance reimbursement and transferring moneys from the general fund to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund.  To Finance.
SB-536.  Halfway Houses (Lazich) Eliminates halfway house building authority.  To Judiciary, Corrections, and Privacy.
SB-537.  Supervised release (Lazich) Placement of persons on supervised release.   To Judiciary, Corrections, and Privacy.
SB-543. Town TIFs (Schultz) Expands purposes for which a town may create a tax incremental financing district. To Job Creation, Economic Development and Consumer Affairs.
SB-544. Pharmacists (Robson) Expands types of volunteer health providers to include pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. To Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care.
SB-545. Prevailing Wage (Hansen) Inspection of the payroll records of contractors, subcontractors and agents performing work on projects subject to the prevailing wage law. To Job Creation, Economic Development and Consumer Affairs.
SB-547. MA Labor Region (Schultz) Requires DHFS to treat the counties of Dane, Iowa, Columbia and Sauk as one labor region for purposes of Medical Assistance nursing home reimbursement. To Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care.

Assembly Bill Introductions
AB-926. Health Insurance (Gielow) Various changes affecting group health care plans offered by health benefit purchasing cooperatives. To Insurance.
AB-929. Residential Housing (Musser) Construction of one- and two-family dwellings by dwelling owners who are members of bona fide religious denominations. To Housing.
AB-930. Bargaining (Sheridan) Authorization cards for collective bargaining representation. To Labor.
AB-931. Nursing Homes (Albers) Payments to certain nursing homes. To Finance.
AB-943. Sex Offenders (Stone) Construction of a halfway house for sexually violent persons on supervised release. To Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
AB-954. Workplace Wellness Programs (Moulton) Income/franchise tax credit for workplace wellness programs. To Ways and Means.
AB-955. Medical Records (Moulton) Income/franchise tax credit for information technology equipment used to maintain medical records in electronic form. To Ways and Means.
AB-956. Local Ordinances (Moulton) Prohibits local ordinances or enforcement of ordinances establishing minimum standards for construction, repair and maintenance of places of employment and public buildings unless the ordinance strictly conforms to rules promulgated by the Dept of Commerce. To Labor.
AB-960. Mal Practice (Owens) Recovery of non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. To Insurance.
AB-962. Medical Assistance (Strachota) Waiver of certain divestment requirements under Medical Assistance. To Medicaid Reform.
AB-965. Disabled Parking (Rhoades) Decals on special interest vehicles that provide parking privileges for persons with physical disabilities. Too Transportation.
AB-971. Medical Reports (Suder) Deadline for distributing a physician’s or psychologist’s report on a criminal defendant or a person committed upon a finding of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. To Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
AB-972. Nursing Home Payments (Pettis) Increases Medical Assistance reimbursement rate for nursing homes. To Finance.
AB-973. Town TIFs (Loeffelholz) Expands purposes for which a town may create a tax incremental financing district. To Ways and Means.
AB-974. Halfway Houses (Stone) Eliminates transitional halfway house building authority. To Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
AB-975. Supervised Release (Stone) Placement of persons on supervised release. To Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
AB-976. Rural Physicians (Mursau) Loan program for medical students who agree to practice medicine in rural areas. To Public Health.
AB-977. Employment Discrimination (Benedict) Employment discrimination based on veteran status; employment of veterans in the state civil service, local government and school districts. To Veterans Affairs.
AB-981. MA (Kaufert) Decreases Medical Assistant reimbursement; transfers money from the General Fund to the Medical Assistance trust fund. To Finance.

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARINGS & SESSION DATES

Assembly Committee on Medicaid Reform
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   9:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 417-N.
Wisconsin’s Medicaid Program. DHFS Secretary Nelson will update the committee about the recent December Request for Information/Proposals relating to Wisconsin’s long-term care system, as well as speaking on other topics related to Medicaid and Medicaid Reform issues. Testimony limited to invited speaker only.

Assembly Committee on Ways and Means (Amended)
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   9:30 AM   State Capitol, Room 328-NW
Hearing on:
AB-954. Income/franchise tax credit for workplace wellness programs.
AB-955. Income/franchise tax credit for information technology equipment used to maintain medical records in electronic form.
AB-968. Changes various duties of Dept of Revenue.
AB-644. Income/franchise tax credit for sales taxes paid on services provided by a temporary help company.
SB-453. Individual income tax checkoff for donations to the fire fighters memorial.
Executive session on:
AB-644. Income/franchise tax credit for sales taxes paid on services provided by a temporary help company. ADDED
AB-910. Creates a procedure for certain taxpayers to defer taxation on certain reinvested capital gains.
AB-913. Income/franchise tax credit for the sales/use tax paid on construction materials, labor and services sold under a lump sum contract. ADDED.
AB-954. Income/franchise tax credit for workplace wellness programs.
AB-955. Income/franchise tax credit for information technology equipment used to maintain medical records in electronic form.

Assembly Committee on Public Health
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   10:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 415-NW.
LRB 3615. Updates to the public health statues.
Additional bills may be added to the agenda.

Senate Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   10:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 411-South
Hearing on:
The appointment of Kathleen Cantu to the Cemetery Board.
The appointment of Suzette Renwick to the Pharmacy Examining Board.
CR-03-085. Department recoupment of program benefit overpayments from program recipients.
SB-354. Authorizes medically-related actions by advanced practice nurse prescribers and physician assistants.
AB-217. Administering rabies vaccinations.
SB-457. Confidentiality of information and documents; privilege; immunity from civil liability for certain persons under the statewide trauma care system.
SB-502. References to certificates granted by the Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board; eligibility requirements for training certificates for marriage and family therapists and professional counselors.
AB-526. Requires a child’s parent to provide a health insurance ID card to the child’s other parent.
AB-688. Lowers age at which an adoptee may obtain identifying information about his/her birth parents.
Executive session on:
The appointment of Michael Bettiga and Suzette Renwick to the Pharmacy Examining Board.
The appointment of Kathleen Cantu to the Cemetery Board.
SB-369. Requires a court to establish a father’s obligation for birth expenses.
SB-391. Guardianships.
AB-311. Ordering modifications to legal custody or periods of physical placement contingent upon the occurrence of a specified future event or a specified change in conditions.
AB-122. MA reimbursement for transportation by specialized medical vehicle.
The committee may also exec on any other bills before the committee.

Assembly Committee on Health
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   11:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 225-NW.
LRB-1965. Healthcare Quality Improvement Act. (Confidentiality of health care review records and immunity.)
LRB-4380. Healthcare Givers Background Check Disclosure Bill. (Makes background information disclosure form optional if employer has self-disclosure policy; requires annual notice.)
SB-226. Informed consent for minors for inpatient and outpatient treatment for mental illness and developmental disability; informed consent for the administration to minors of psychotropic medication; access to records.
CR-05-098. Human services internship requirements for a social worker training certificate.

Assembly Committee Criminal Justice and Homeland Security
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy
Wednesday, February 8, 2006   11:30 AM   State Capitol, Room 417-N.
AB-974/SB-536. Eliminate transitional halfway house building authority.
AB-975/SB-537. Placement of persons on supervised release.
AB-969/LRB-4542. Applying cash deposited for bail to restitution payments or to recompense ordered in criminal cases.
AB-970/LRB-4449. Admitting evidence of other crimes in certain criminal proceedings.
AB-971/LRB-4450. Deadline for distributing a physician’s or psychologist’s report on a criminal defendant or a person committed upon a finding of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

Assembly Committee on Insurance
Thursday, February 9, 2006   10:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 328-NW.
AB-789. State agency status under the Volunteer Health Care Provider Program regardless of applicable health care liability insurance coverage.
AB-812. The definition of a group health benefit plan.
AB-816. Tax-exempt accounts for health care expenditures for an individual's parents.
AB-862. Authorizes self-funded employer groups for providing health care coverage.

Assembly Committee on Housing (Amended)
Thursday, February 9, 2006   10:30 AM   State Capitol, Room 400-NE.
AB-958. Civil liability exemption for assistance provided as the result of an emergency.
SB-350. Displaying political signs in condominiums.
AB-929. Construction of one- and 2-family dwellings by dwelling owners who are members of bona fide religious denominations.
AB-749. Repair of common elements of a condominium.
AB-980. Continuing education and certification requirements for building contractors; certification of building inspectors. ADDED.
An executive session may be held on any of these bills or other bills that have had a previous public hearing.

Assembly Committee on Children and Families
Thursday, February 16, 2006   11:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 328-NW
CR-03-085. DHFS recoupment of program benefit overpayments from program recipients.
AB-887. Electing not to provide an address in a petition in a family action in a case in which abuse is alleged.
Possible executive session on the above and:
AB-751. Requires a court to establish a father’s obligation for birth expenses.