Friday Update: June 11, 2004

Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) Constitutional Amendment Delayed Until January 2005
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) Constitutional Amendment will be delayed until at least January 2005, meaning legislators will not return to Madison until after the November elections.  Statements made by the Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer suggest that the Legislature will not meet in an “extraordinary session” before the August 1, 2004 deadline  to pass a TABOR Constitutional Amendment.  Although the Legislature will not be passing a hurried TABOR proposal this summer, Senator Panzer does believe that some sort of tax and spending relief plan should be studied and brought forward when the legislature returns in their regularly scheduled 2005 legislative session – next January.  Even though healthcare providers have temporarily avoided a Colorado-Like TABOR Constitutional Amendment, which could have hurt Wisconsin’s economy, healthcare, education, law enforcement, fire departments and local governments’ ability to govern and provide necessary community services – TABOR is only delayed.

You and your staff are encouraged to contact your legislators – and especially your State Senator and thank them for their leadership and recognizing that TABOR does not belong in the Constitution.
 
We as providers should not be in the habit of only contacting our legislators only to complain.  We need to also call them when they have made the right decision.  Who is my legislator?  <http://www.legis.state.wi.us/waml/>


Joint Legislative Committee to Hold Hearing on Assisted Living and Nursing Home Regulation
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee has scheduled a hearing on an audit that was finalized over a year ago on assisted living and nursing home regulation.  At this time the meeting is being called to hear testimony from the Department of Health and Family Services regarding the audit and the progress the department is making to correct any problems identified in the report.  The hearing is open for public testimony, but provider groups are expected to attend and testify only if legislative members of the committee or the department raise question.  However, with lead stories identifying problems in assisted living nationally, the hearing has the potential to take a different tone during the day.  The Joint Legislation Committee will meet on June 24, 2004 at 10:00 AM at the State Capitol, Room 417-North.  As information is obtained, updates will be provided to association members.

Legislation Council Study on Tax Exemptions for Non-Profit Residential Property Created
A study committee has been created by the Legislative Council Study Committee to look at non-for-profit property tax exemptions for elderly, low income and disabled housing.  The chairperson named to head the study committee is Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R).  The Committee is being created due to legislation (SB 512) that passed last March, which returned property tax exemptions to not-for-profits.  Those tax exemptions were threatened by a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that was handed down last November.  The controversy that has caused this study committee to be created is the boom in “elderly housing” or “elderly condominiums” that are being erected throughout Wisconsin at prices.  The controversy is whether these type of high priced housing alternatives should be tax exempt, especially when many of the individuals purchasing these housing units are well above the poverty rate, yet still exempt from paying property taxes.  The study committee will begin meeting in July and provide a report to the legislature in mid-December.  It is expected legislation could be introduced based on this report in January 2005.

Governor Signs Proclamation Making the Month of June “Direct Caregivers Month”
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle held a signing ceremony of a Proclamation making the month of June “Direct Caregivers Month”.   Several representatives from associations representing consumer advocates, labor and providers were in attendance.  Governor Doyle stated his personal appreciation and support for direct caregivers in the long-term care profession.


Important Dates to Remember

Wisconsin Council on Long-Term Care
July 9, 2004
August 13, 2004
September 10, 2004
October 8, 2004
November 12, 2004
December 10, 2004

Wisconsin Council on Long-Term Care
Residential Options Task Force
June 18, 2004
July 16, 2004
August 20, 2004
September 17, 2004
October 15, 2004
November 19, 2004
December TBA, 2004

Wisconsin Legislature
June 11-13, 2004 Democrat Party of Wisconsin State Convention (Appleton)

2004 Wisconsin Elections
September 14, 2004: Partisan Primary (state elections)
November 2, 2004: Presidential and General Elections (federal and state-wide elections)


Long-Term Care in the News


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 11, 2004)
Panzer halts effort to vote on amendment that would limit taxes
The state Senate's Republican leader said Thursday she would not schedule a vote this summer on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit state and local spending - delaying a statewide referendum on the controls until at least 2007.  "The consensus is not there today," said Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer (R-West Bend), ending weeks of on-again, off-again Capitol speculation about whether the Legislature would call itself back into session to meet an early August deadline to recommend a constitutional change.  "Sometimes you need to take a break, take a breather, regroup and figure out how you go back at it," she said.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun04/235897.asp>


Green Bay Press Gazette (June 11, 2004)
Legislators put off talks on spending amendment
MADISON — Lawmakers will not vote this year on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would limit government spending because supporters have failed to reach a consensus on the plan, Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer said Thursday.  Panzer declined calls from Assembly Republicans to reconvene the Legislature in extraordinary session to take up the proposed amendment, dubbed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The decision could mean a two-year delay in the amendment going to voters in a statewide referendum.  The announcement disappointed state Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, who’s been pushing a Taxpayer Bill of Rights for six years.
<http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_16478856.shtml>

Milwaukee Business Journal (June 10, 2004)
More than half of state HMOs see lower 1Q profits
Twenty of the state's 21 health maintenance organizations posted a profit for the first quarter of 2004, although more than half saw smaller profits than last year, according to figures released this week by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.   Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare Inc. reported net income of $11.7 million, up 62.5 percent from its first-quarter 2003 total of $7.2 million. The insurer had net income of $40.4 million for all of 2003, figures show.
<http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2004/06/07/daily29.html>
Wisconsin State Journal: <http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/biz/75887.php>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 6, 2004)
Prisoners' health costs rise 500%
Prices, older inmates inflate state's tab
Madison - Health care costs for state prisoners have jumped more than 500% over the past 11 years, fueled by more expensive drugs, a growing and aging inmate population and expensive medical advances.  The costs climbed from just under $10 million in 1992 to $61.4 million in 2003, according to Department of Corrections records.  Much of that increase came from a prison population that tripled between 1990 and 2000. And the department has not been immune from the runaway health care costs that have hit businesses, local governments and private citizens.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun04/234920.asp>