Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
1.
agriculture
Eligibility for local fair aids
This bill modifies the eligibility requirements for agricultural societies, boards,
and associations to receive local fair aid provided by the Department of Agriculture,
Trade and Consumer Protection. To remain eligible for local fair aid from DATCP,
current law requires local agricultural societies, boards, and associations to operate
a fair each year. The bill allows agricultural societies, boards, and associations to
remain eligible for local fair aid if a local fair is not held during 2020 because of the
public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72.
Prohibiting retailers from accepting certain returns
This bill prohibits a retailer from accepting a return of food products, personal
care products, cleaning products, and paper products during the public health
emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, or during the 30 days
immediately after the end of that public health emergency. The bill contains
exceptions, allowing retailers to accept returns of food, personal care, cleaning, or
paper products made within seven days of purchase and returns of adulterated or
defective food, personal care, cleaning, or paper products. Under the bill, retailers
may accept returns of other types of products.
2.
campaign finance
Communications relating to public health emergency
Currently, under Wisconsin's campaign finance law, a person elected to a state
or local government elective office who becomes a candidate for a national, state, or
local government office may not use public funds to pay the cost of materials or
distribution for 50 or more pieces of substantially identical material during the
campaign season. This bill exempts from this prohibition communications during
the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, that
relate to the public health emergency.
3.
Correctional system
Death of an inmate
Under current law, if an individual dies while he or she is in the legal custody
of the Department of Corrections and confined to a correctional facility located in this
state, an autopsy on the deceased individual must be performed. Under this bill, for
the duration of the public health emergency relating to COVID-19, if an individual
who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 dies, the coroner or medical examiner may
perform limited examination of the deceased individual instead of a full autopsy,
which may include an external examination of the body of the deceased individual,
a review of the deceased individual's medical records, or a review of the deceased
individual's radiographs.
4.
courts and procedure
Liability exemption for persons who manufacture, distribute, or sell
emergency medical supplies
This bill establishes a civil liability exemption for persons who manufacture,
distribute, or sell emergency medical supplies to respond to the public health
emergency during the public health emergency related to COVID-19 declared by the
federal secretary of health and human services or the national emergency related to
COVID-19 declared by the president. The bill defines “emergency medical supplies”
to mean any medical equipment or supplies necessary to limit the spread of, or
provide treatment for, a disease associated with the public health emergency related
to the COVID-19 pandemic, including life support devices, personal protective
equipment, cleaning supplies, and any other items determined to be necessary by the
secretary of health services. Under the bill, any person engaged in the
manufacturing, distribution, or sale of emergency medical supplies who donates or
sells, for a price not to exceed a certain amount established in the bill, the emergency
medical supplies to a charitable organization or governmental unit to respond to the
public health emergency related to COVID-19 is immune from civil liability for the
death of or injury to an individual caused by emergency medical supplies donated or
sold.
The bill also provides that any charitable organization that distributes free of
charge emergency medical supplies received from a manufacturer, distributor, or
seller is immune from civil liability for a death or injury caused by the emergency
medical supplies.
5.
Economic development
Plan to provide support to major industries
This bill requires the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to submit
a report to the legislature and the governor by June 30, 2020, that includes a plan
for providing support to the major industries in Wisconsin that have been adversely
affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency, including tourism,
manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, and services.
6.
Education
Pupil examinations; public health emergency exception for the 2019-20
school year
Under current law, school boards, independent charter schools, private schools
participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Racine Parental Choice
Program or Wisconsin Parental Choice Program and, under some circumstances, a
private school participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program are required
to annually administer examinations adopted by the state superintendent of public
instruction to pupils in the fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. These
examinations are commonly referred to as the Wisconsin Student Assessment
System, which include The Forward Exam, ACT ASPIRE, the ACT, and Dynamic
Learning Maps. Under the bill, the requirements to administer the WSAS do not
apply in the 2019-20 school year.
Current law also requires school boards, independent charter schools, and
private schools participating in a parental choice program to annually administer a
standardized reading test developed by the Department of Public Instruction to third
grade pupils. Under the bill, requirements to administer the third grade
standardized reading test do not apply in the 2019-20 school year.
Under current law, school boards and independent charter schools are required
to evaluate teachers and principals using an educator effectiveness evaluation
system that considers pupil performance on statewide assessments. Under the bill,
school boards and independent charter schools are prohibited from considering pupil
performance on statewide assessments in evaluating teachers and principals in the
2019-20 school year.
School and school district accountability report for the 2019-20 school year
The bill prohibits DPI from publishing a school and school district
accountability report in the 2020-21 school year.
Under current law, DPI is required to publish a school and school district
accountability report each year by November 30. To measure school performance
and school district improvement, particularly measures related to pupil
achievement in reading and math, DPI uses data derived from pupil performance on
statewide assessments administered in the prior school year. The bill also changes
references to accountability reports published in a specific school year or years to the
most recently published accountability report or reports to account for the fact that,
under the bill, DPI will not publish an accountability report in the 2020-21 school
year.
Waiver of laws and rules related to parental choice programs, the Special
Needs Scholarship Program, and independent charter schools; schools
closed by the Department of Heath Services or a local health officer
Under the bill, during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020,
by executive order 72, if the Department of Health Services or a local health officer
closes schools for ten or more school days during a school year, DPI may waive state
education statutes, or rules promulgated under those statutes, related to 1) a
parental choice program or the SNSP, 2) private schools participating in a parental
choice program or the SNSP, or 3) independent charter schools. Under the bill, DPI
may also establish alternate deadlines for requirements in education laws or rules
if the original deadline occurs between the date the schools are closed and 120 days
after the day schools are reopened or the original deadline relates to another event
that occurs during that same period.
Under current law, upon request from a school board and a public hearing, DPI
may waive school district and school board requirements in a state education statute
or rule. However, under current law, a school board may not request, and DPI may
not grant, a waiver from state education statutes and rules related to certain topics,
including the health or safety of pupils, confidentiality of pupil records, and pupil
assessments.
Exceptions in parental choice programs and the Special Needs Scholarship
Program; schools closed by the Department of Heath Services or a local
health officer
Current law allows DPI to bar a private school from participating in a parental
choice program or the SNSP in the current school year if the private school fails to
comply with specified program requirements. For certain program violations,
current law allows DPI to bar a private school from participating in the following
school year. Current law also allows DPI to withhold program payments if a
participating private school fails to comply with program requirements.
Under the bill, during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020,
by executive order 72, if a participating private school is closed by DHS or a local
health officer for ten or more school days during a school year, DPI may not withhold
program payments or bar the private school from participating in the parental choice
program or the SNSP in the current or following school year if the private school
demonstrates to DPI that the failure to comply with the program requirement was
due to the school closure.
Under current law, a private school participating in a parental choice program
must maintain a cash and investment balance that is at least equal to its reserve
balance. Under the bill, during the public health emergency declared on March 12,
2020, by executive order 72, this requirement does not apply in a school year during
which the private school is closed by DHS or a local health officer for ten or more
school days.
Private schools; waiver for hours of instruction in the 2019-20 school year
Under the bill, in the 2019-20 school year, upon request from a private school,
DPI may waive any requirement related to a private school providing hours of
instruction.
Wisconsin Parental Choice Program; application deadlines for the 2020-21
school year
The bill extends two deadlines related to pupil applications to attend a private
school in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program in the 2020-21 school year. First,
under the bill, a private school participating in the WPCP may accept WPCP
applications for the 2020-21 school year from pupils until May 14, 2020, rather than
April 16, 2020, under current law. Second, under the bill, private schools
participating in the WPCP have until May 29, 2020, to submit information to DPI
about the number of WPCP applications the private school received from pupils for
the 2020-21 school year. Under current law, private schools participating in the
WPCP are required to submit this information to DPI by May 1, 2020.
Full-time open enrollment program; application deadlines for the 2020-21
school year
Under current law, a pupil may attend a public school in a school district other
than the pupil's resident school district under the full-time open enrollment
program (OEP). Current law specifies specific dates by which various steps must
occur in the OEP application process. For example, under current law, the last day
to submit an application to attend a nonresident school district under the OEP in the
2020-21 school year is April 30, 2020.
This bill extends statutory deadlines related to applications to attend a
nonresident school district under the OEP by approximately 30 days. For example,
under the bill, the last day to submit an application to attend a nonresident school
district under the OEP in the 2020-21 school year is May 29, 2020.
Reports on virtual instruction and other operations during the public
health emergency
Under the bill, by November 1, 2020, each school board must submit a report
to DPI that contains various information about school district operations during the
public health emergency, including whether the virtual instruction was
implemented in the school district, the number of staff who were laid off, the number
of lunches provided, and the amount of certain expenditure reductions. The report
must also include any challenges or barriers the school board faced in implementing
virtual instruction and the school board's recommendations for best practices related
to providing virtual instruction when schools are closed. Under the bill, DPI must
compile and report the information it receives from school boards to the legislature
by January 1, 2021. The bill defines the “public health emergency” as the period
during the 2019-20 school year when schools were closed by DHS. Finally, by June
30, 2020, the bill requires DPI to post on its Internet site guidance on best practices
for schools returning to in-person instruction.
7.
emergency management
Transfer of employees between executive branch agencies
This bill authorizes the secretary of administration to transfer employees from
any executive branch agency to another executive branch agency during the public
health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72. Under the bill,
the agency to which an employee is transferred shall pay all salary and fringe benefit
costs of that employee.
Waiving in-person requirements
This bill allows a state entity to waive any requirement that an individual
appear in person during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020,
by executive order 72, if the waiver assists in the state's response to the state of
emergency or if the requirement may increase the public health risk.
8.
Employment
Unemployment insurance
Unemployment insurance; waiting period
Currently, a claimant must wait one week after becoming eligible to receive
unemployment insurance benefits before the claimant may receive benefits for a
week of unemployment. The waiting period does not affect the maximum number
of weeks of a claimant's benefit eligibility.
This bill suspends the application of the one-week waiting period for benefit
years that began after March 12, 2020, and before February 7, 2021. The bill requires
the Department of Workforce Development to seek the maximum amount of federal
reimbursement for benefits that are, during this time period, payable for the first
week of a claimant's benefit year as a result of the suspension.
Unemployment insurance; benefit charging
This bill requires DWD, when processing claims for UI benefits and evaluating
work-share plans, to determine whether a claim or plan is related to the public
health emergency declared by the governor under executive order 72. If a claim is
so related, the bill provides that the regular benefits for that claim for weeks
occurring after March 12, 2020, and before December 31, 2020, not be charged as is
normally provided. Instead, the benefits for those weeks are, subject to numerous
exceptions, to be charged to the balancing account of the unemployment reserve fund
(pooled account financed by all employers who pay contributions that is used to pay
benefits that are not chargeable to any employer's account) or, in the case of
employers that do not pay contributions (taxes) but instead reimburse DWD for
benefits directly (reimbursable employers), the benefits are to be paid in the manner
specified under current law for certain other circumstances involving benefits
chargeable to reimbursable employers.
The bill also requires the secretary of workforce development, to the extent
permitted under federal law, to seek advances to the state's unemployment reserve
fund from the federal government, so as to allow Schedule D of the unemployment
insurance contribution (tax) rates to remain in effect through the end of calendar
year 2021. Schedule D includes the lowest unemployment insurance contribution
rates specified under current law, and is in effect for any calendar year whenever, as
of the preceding June 30, the state's unemployment reserve fund has a cash balance
of at least $1,200,000,000.
Unemployment insurance; work-share programs
Current law allows an employer to create a work-share program within a work
unit of the employer. Under a work-share program, the working hours of all of the
full-time employees in the program are reduced in an equitable manner in lieu of a
layoff of some of the employees and a continuation of full-time employment by the
other employees. A claimant for UI benefits who is included in a work-share
program may receive UI benefits during his or her continued employment with the
work-share employer in an amount equal to the claimant's benefit for total
unemployment multiplied by the same percentage reduction in normal working
hours that the claimant incurs under the program.
This bill suspends all of the following for work-share plans submitted until
December 31, 2020:
1. The requirement that a work-share plan be limited to a particular work unit
of the employer. The bill instead, during the suspension period, allows a work-share
plan to cover any employees of the employer.
2. The requirement that the reduction in working hours under a work-share
program must be at least 10 percent but not more than 50 percent of the normal hours
per week of the employees included under the plan. The bill instead, during the
suspension period, increases the permissible reduction in working hours under a
work-share program to be not more than 60 percent of the normal hours per week
of the employees included under the plan or the highest permissible reduction
allowed under federal law, whichever is greater.
3. The requirements that at least 10 percent of the employees in a work unit
be included in a work-share plan and that the employer provide for initial coverage
under the plan of at least 20 positions that are filled on the effective date of the
work-share program. The bill instead, during the suspension period, requires only
that the work-share plan cover at least two positions that are filled on the effective
date of the work-share program.
4. The requirement that reduced working hours be apportioned equitably
among employees in the work-share program.
The bill also provides that, during the period specified above, a work-share
program becomes effective on the later of the Sunday of or after approval of the
work-share plan, instead of the second Sunday after approval of the plan, unless a
later Sunday is specified.
The bill, however, allows the secretary to waive the application of the changes
described above if doing so is necessary to comply with federal requirements or for
this state to qualify for full federal financial participation in the cost of
administration of the work-share program and financing of work-share benefits.
The bill also requires DWD to allow employers to submit work-share plan
applications using an online form and to provide assistance to employers with
submitting applications and developing work-share plans.
The bill also specifies that a work-share program shall be governed by the law
that was in effect when the plan was approved, until the program ends as provided
under current law.
Worker's compensation
Rebuttable presumption that injury caused to first responders during
current public health emergency is caused by employment
This bill provides that, for the purposes of worker's compensation, an injury
caused to a first responder, during any public health emergency declared by the
governor on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72 and ending 30 days after the
termination of the order, is presumed to be caused by the individual's employment.
The presumption requires a diagnosis or positive test for COVID-19, and may be
rebutted by specific evidence that the injury was caused outside of employment.
Other employment
Employee records during public health emergency
Under the bill, the requirements that an employer provide an employee's
personnel record within seven working days after receiving the request, that the
inspection be at a location near the employee's place of employment, and that the
inspection be during normal working hours are suspended during the public health
emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72.
Suspension of certain time limits and in-person meetings for grievance
process during public health emergency
Under the bill, a state employee does not waive his or her right to appeal an
adverse employment decision if the employee does not timely file the complaint or
appeal during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive
order 72. Under current law, an employee waives such right if the employee does not
timely file.
Under the bill, an appointing authority is not required to hold an in-person
meeting with a state employee who has filed an employment grievance during the
public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72.
Use of annual leave during public health emergency
Under the bill, a state employee may take annual leave during the public health
emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, even if the employee
has not completed the first six months of the employee's probationary period. If the
employee terminates employment before earning any leave the employee used, the
employer may deduct the amount of unearned leave from the employee's final pay.
Under current law, an employee may not take annual leave during the first six
months of the employee's probationary period.
Limited term employees during public health emergency
Under the bill, the director of the Bureau of Merit Recruitment and Selection
in the Division of Personnel Management in the Department of Administration may
adjust the number of hours a state employee in a limited term appointment may work
during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order
72. Under current law, a limited term appointment may not exceed 1,040 hours per
year.
9.
