The bill creates the Student Loan Refinancing Study Committee consisting of
the secretary of financial institutions, the state treasurer, and the executive
secretary of HEAB. The committee's purpose is to study the creation and
administration of a bonding authority for the refinancing of student loans to ease the
student loan debt burden. The committee must submit a report to the governor and
the legislature that includes a) recommendations regarding the corporate and legal
structure of the refinancing entity, including governance; b) a profile of the loan
portfolio, projected costs, estimated staffing needs, underwriting requirements, and
other information pertinent to the creation of a financing entity that offers interest
rate savings to student loan debtors; and c) an assessment of the feasibility of and
options for offering borrower protections similar to those under federal student loan
programs.
6. Student success and attainment
The bill requires the Board of Regents to allocate $20,000,000 of its general
program operations appropriation in fiscal year 2019-20 and $25,000,000 of that
appropriation in fiscal year 2020-21 to advance student success and attainment.
7. Additional funding for UW Colleges
The bill requires the Board of Regents to allocate at least $2,500,000 each year
from its general program operations appropriation to provide additional funding to
the UW Colleges for student support services.
8. Supplemental talent incentive grants
The bill allows HEAB to award supplemental grants in a fiscal biennium to
students to whom HEAB has awarded talent incentive grants in that biennium.
Under current law, HEAB awards talent incentive grants to uniquely needy students
enrolled at public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education in this state.
Current law limits the amount of a talent incentive grant to $1,800 for an academic
year. The bill allows HEAB to award the supplemental grants from funding that is
available after HEAB makes all of the talent incentive grants in a fiscal biennium.
Supplemental grants are not subject to the $1,800 limit.
9. UW System supplemental pay plans
The bill allows the Board of Regents and the chancellor of the UW–Madison to
provide supplemental pay plans for their employees during the 2019-21 fiscal
biennium. The chancellor must submit his or her plan to the Board of Regents for
approval. Current law requires the Board of Regents to annually allocate
$26,250,000 of its general program operations funding to UW institutions in
accordance with a performance-based funding formula described below. In the
2019-21 fiscal biennium, this bill allows the Board of Regents to allocate all or a
portion of that amount to fund the pay plans allowed under the bill, instead of in
accordance with that formula. If the Board of Regents allocates a portion, the
remainder must be allocated in accordance with the formula.
10. Rural dentist educational loan repayment
The bill allows dentists who agree to practice in rural areas under an
educational loan repayment assistance program to receive the same amount of
assistance as physicians. The program is administered by the Board of Regents.
Under current law, dentists and physicians who agree to practice at least 32 clinic
hours per week for three years in areas with shortages of dental or primary care
professionals may receive up to $50,000 in assistance under the program. In
addition, a physician who agrees to practice for the same duration in a rural area may
receive up to $100,000 in assistance under the program. However, dentists who
agree to practice for the same duration in a rural area are eligible for up to $50,000
in assistance. This bill makes dentists who agree to practice for the same duration
in rural areas eligible for up to $100,000 in assistance.
11. Nurse educators
The bill requires the Board of Regents to establish a program that provides a)
fellowships to students who enroll in certain advanced nursing degree programs; b)
postdoctoral fellowships to recruit faculty for UW System nursing programs; and c)
educational loan repayment assistance to recruit and retain faculty for UW System
nursing programs. In addition, the program must require individuals who receive
fellowships or educational assistance to make a three-year commitment to teaching
in a UW System nursing program.
12. Minority teacher loan program
The bill prohibits HEAB from making a loan under the minority teacher loan
program after the date on which the bill becomes law. Under the bill, HEAB
continues to administer the repayment and loan forgiveness of all minority teacher
loans made on or before the date the bill becomes law.
Under current law, HEAB administers a minority teacher loan program for
minority students who meet certain eligibility criteria, including enrollment in a
program of study leading to a teacher's license in a teacher shortage field. A minority
student is defined as a student who is a Black American, an American Indian, a
individual of any race whose ancestors originated in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Central America, or South America or whose culture or origin is Spanish, or an
individual admitted to the United States after December 31, 1975, who is either a
former citizen of Laos, Vietnam, or Cambodia or whose ancestor was or is a citizen
of Laos, Vietnam, or Cambodia. Under the program, HEAB may award, to an eligible
minority student, a loan of up to $10,000 annually for up to three years. HEAB must
forgive 25 percent of the loan for each school year that the loan recipient a) is
employed in the city of Milwaukee as a full-time elementary or secondary school
teacher in a high-demand, teacher shortage field; and b) receives a teacher rating
of proficient or distinguished.
The bill replaces the minority teacher loan program with a grant program
under which DPI awards grants to school districts to recruit minority teachers. See
Primary and secondary education.
13. Mid-year changes to the Wisconsin grant formula
The bill allows HEAB, under certain circumstances, to modify the formula used
to award Wisconsin grants without JCF approval.
Under current law, HEAB administers the Wisconsin grant program, which
provides grants to resident postsecondary students enrolled at least half time and
registered as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors in UW System schools,
technical colleges, private nonprofit colleges, and tribal colleges in this state. Each
of these four types of higher education institutions must annually submit to HEAB
a proposed formula for awarding Wisconsin grants to students enrolled in these
institutions for the next year, and HEAB must then approve, modify, or disapprove
these proposed formulas for awarding grants for the next year. If HEAB determines
during the year that any formula approved during the prior year needs to be modified
in order to expend the entire amount appropriated for grants to students at the
applicable type of institution, HEAB must submit a modified formula to JCF and
may implement the formula with JCF approval under a 14-day passive review
process.
The bill eliminates the JCF submission and passive review process, allowing
HEAB to implement modifications to the approved Wisconsin grant formula if HEAB
determines during the year that any formula approved during the prior year needs
to be modified in order to expend the entire amount appropriated for grants to
students at the applicable type of institution.
14. Environmental education grants
The bill requires UW-Stevens Point to award grants, funded from the
conservation fund, to nonprofit corporations and public agencies for the
development, dissemination, and presentation of environmental education
programs. To receive a grant, the grant recipient must match at least 25 percent of
the amount of the grant, which matching may include in-kind contributions. No
more than one-third of the total amount of grants awarded each year may be
awarded to state agencies.
15. Distribution of performance-based funding for UW Schools
The bill specifies the UW System institutions eligible to receive performance
funding after the UW System's restructuring under the plan approved by the Higher
Learning Commission on or about June 28, 2018.
Current law requires the Board of Regents to identify at least four metrics to
measure a UW System institution's progress toward meeting each of the following
goals: a) growing and ensuring student access; b) improving and excelling at student
progress and completion; c) expanding contributions to the workforce; and d)
enhancing operational efficiency and effectiveness. An institution includes the
extension, but the Board of Regents may specify different metrics for the extension.
The Board of Regents must develop a formula for distributing money to UW System
institutions based on each institution's performance with respect to these metrics.
The Board of Regents must submit this formula to JCF for approval before using the
formula to distribute money. The amount of money allocated for distribution under
the formula is $26,250,000 in each fiscal year.
This bill modifies the definition of an institution for purposes of performance
funding. Under the bill, an institution eligible to receive performance funding, based
on the Board of Regents' metrics and distribution formula, is any of the following:
a. A four-year UW System school, including any two-year UW System school
associated with it as a branch campus under the UW System restructuring plan.
b. Any operational unit of the UW-Madison assigned former functions of the
UW-Extension as a result of the UW System restructuring.
c. Any operational unit of the UW System administration assigned former
functions of the UW-Extension as a result of the UW System restructuring.
16. UW-Extension county-based agriculture positions
The bill requires the Board of Regents to allocate $1,500,000 in fiscal year
2019-20 and $2,000,000 in each fiscal year thereafter for UW-Extension
county-based agriculture positions.
17. Funding for the Paper Science Program at UW-Stevens Point
The bill requires the Board of Regents to fund at least 1.0 FTE position in the
Paper Science Program at UW-Stevens Point from an appropriation from the
conservation fund, replacing a provision of current law allocating $78,000 annually
from this appropriation for the program.
18. Handicapped references
The bill refers to impaired individuals or individuals with disabilities, instead
of handicapped individuals, in statutes administered by HEAB and the TCS Board.
Other educational and cultural agencies
Instructional material related to public radio and television programs
This bill allows the Educational Communications Board to procure or publish
instructional material related to state educational radio and television network
programs and to impose a reasonable charge for providing this material.
elections
Nonpartisan redistricting
This bill creates a new procedure for the preparation of legislative and
congressional redistricting plans. The bill directs the LRB to draw redistricting
plans based upon standards specified in the bill and establishes a Redistricting
Advisory Commission to oversee the LRB's work in drawing redistricting plans and
to perform certain tasks in the redistricting process. The commission consists of five
members. The speaker and minority leader of the assembly and the majority and
minority leaders of the senate must each appoint one person to serve on the
commission. The four appointed commissioners then select a fifth commissioner to
serve as chairperson. The bill prohibits all of the following individuals from being
commission members: individuals who are not eligible electors of this state at the
time of the appointment, individuals who hold partisan public office or political party
office, and individuals who are a relative of or are employed by a member of the
legislature or of Congress or are employed directly by the legislature or Congress.
If requested to do so by the LRB, the commission must provide direction to the
LRB concerning any decision the LRB must make in preparing a redistricting plan.
The bill permits the commission to establish policies limiting the information that
the LRB may provide to persons outside of LRB staff concerning any redistricting
plan. However, the bill also provides that any draft maps, along with the data sets
used to create them, that the LRB produces in the course of preparing a redistricting
plan must be open to the public and made available on the Internet site of the LRB
as soon as they are produced. The bill further provides that in preparing a
redistricting plan, the LRB must test the efficiency gap and competitiveness of each
district and make the test results available to the public, including on its Internet
site. The efficiency gap is, generally, a method that purports to test the fairness of
a redistricting plan based on measuring the number of votes cast for a candidate
beyond the number needed to be elected.
In preparing the plan, the LRB must be strictly nonpartisan. No district may
be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator or
member of Congress, or other person or group, or, except to the extent necessary to
meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, for the purpose of augmenting or
diluting the voting strength of a language or racial minority group. The LRB may
not use residence addresses of incumbent legislators or members of Congress,
political affiliations of registered voters, previous election results, or, except as
necessary to meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, demographic
information.
After the LRB submits a plan to the legislature, the commission must hold
public hearings on the plan and submit a report to the legislature summarizing
information and testimony received at the hearings. The bill requires either the
assembly or the senate to bring the redistricting plan to a vote expeditiously, but not
less than seven days after the report of the commission is received and made
available to the members of the legislature. That plan may not be amended. If the
first plan fails to pass, the legislature must submit to the LRB the reasons for why
the plan failed. The LRB then must submit a second plan that also may not be
amended. If the second plan fails, the LRB must produce a third plan. The third plan
may be amended, but the plan and all amendments to it may be passed only with the
approval of three-fourths of all the members elected in each house.
2. Automatic voter registration
This bill requires the Elections Commission to facilitate the registration of all
eligible electors of this state and to maintain the registration of all eligible electors
for so long as they remain eligible. The bill directs the commission and DOT to enter
into an agreement so that DOT may transfer information in DOT's records to the
commission. The bill requires the commission to maintain the confidentiality of any
information it obtains under the agreement and allows a driver's license or
identification card applicant to “opt out" of DOT's transfer of this information to the
commission. Once the commission obtains all the information required under
current law to complete an elector's registration, the commission adds the elector's
name to the statewide registration list.
The bill also directs the Elections Commission to report to the appropriate
standing committees of the legislature, no later than July 1, 2020, concerning its
progress in implementing the registration system created by the bill. The report
must contain an assessment of the feasibility of integrating registration information
with information maintained by other agencies.
3. Voter identification
Current law allows an individual to use as voter identification an unexpired
identification card issued by a technical college, college, or university in this state if
the card meets certain criteria. The card must have an expiration date that is no later
than two years after the date it was issued, and the individual must establish proof
of enrollment. This bill eliminates the proof of enrollment requirement and allows
the use of a card that expires no later than five years after the issuance date. The
bill also eliminates the requirement that the card contain the student's signature.
In addition, the bill requires each technical college in this state and each UW System
institution to issue student identification cards that meet the criteria to be used as
voter identification no later than August 1, 2019.
Current law also allows an individual to use as voter identification an
identification card issued by DOT. DOT may issue a receipt as a temporary
identification card to use for voting and other purposes to an individual who is
waiting for the permanent card. The receipt expires in 60 days. The bill extends the
expiration date to 180 days.
4. Voting absentee in person
Current law allows an individual to complete an absentee ballot in person no
earlier than 14 days preceding the election and no later than the Sunday preceding
the election. The bill eliminates the restriction on how soon a person may complete
an absentee ballot in person and provides that a person must complete such a ballot
no later than the Friday preceding the election.
Eminent domain
Condemnation authority for recreational trails
This bill eliminates the prohibition in current law on certain entities, such as
DOT, DNR, and county or village boards, from using the power of condemnation to
acquire land or interests in land for the purpose of establishing or extending bicycle
lanes or certain pedestrian ways.
employment
Employment regulation
Minimum wage
This bill raises the minimum wages to be paid to most employees annually, from
the effective date of the bill to January 1, 2024. After that date, the bill requires DWD
to annually revise the minimum wage to reflect the change in the consumer price
index and publish those amounts in the Wisconsin Administrative Register and on
the DWD website.
The bill requires the secretary of workforce development to establish a
committee to study options to achieve a $15 per hour minimum wage and other
options to increase compensation for workers in this state. Under the bill, the
committee consists of nine members, with five appointed by the governor, and one
each appointed by the speaker of the assembly, the assembly minority leader, the
senate majority leader, and the senate minority leader. The committee is required
to submit a report containing its recommendations for options to achieve a $15 per
hour minimum wage and other options to increase compensation for workers in this
state to the governor and the appropriate standing committees of the legislature no
later than October 1, 2020.
2. Eliminating the right-to-work law
This bill eliminates the state right-to-work law. The current state
right-to-work law prohibits a person from requiring, as a condition of obtaining or
continuing employment, an individual to refrain or resign from membership in a
labor organization, to become or remain a member of a labor organization, to pay
dues or other charges to a labor organization, or to pay any other person an amount
that is in place of dues or charges required of members of a labor organization.
3. Prevailing wage
This bill requires that laborers, workers, mechanics, and truck drivers
employed on the site of certain state and local projects of public works be paid the
prevailing wage and not be required or allowed to work a greater number of hours
per day and per week than the prevailing hours of labor unless they are paid overtime
for all hours worked in excess of the prevailing hours of labor. Under the bill,
“prevailing wage rate” is defined as the hourly basic rate of pay, plus the hourly
contribution for bona fide economic benefits, paid for a majority of the hours worked
in a trade or occupation in the area in which the project is located, except that, if there
is no rate at which a majority of those hours is paid, “prevailing wage rate” means
the average hourly basic rate of pay, plus the average hourly contribution for bona
fide economic benefits, paid for the highest-paid 51 percent of hours worked in a
trade or occupation in the area. The bill requires DWD to conduct investigations and
hold public hearings as necessary to define the trades or occupations that are
commonly employed on projects that are subject to the prevailing wage law and to
inform itself of the prevailing wage rates in all areas of the state for those trades or
occupations, in order to determine the prevailing wage rate for each trade or
occupation. The bill contains certain other provisions regarding the calculation of
prevailing wage rates by DWD, including provisions allowing persons to request
recalculations or reviews of the prevailing wage rates determined by DWD. The bill
also establishes a requirement that state agencies and local governments post
prevailing wage rates and hours of labor in areas readily accessible to persons
employed on the project or in sites regularly used for posting notices.
The bill makes a contractor that fails to pay the prevailing wage rate or
overtime pay to an employee as required under the prevailing wage law liable to the
affected employee for not only the amount of unpaid wages and overtime pay, but also
for liquidated damages in an amount equal to 100 percent of the unpaid wages and
overtime pay.
Finally, the bill includes, for both state and local projects of public works,
provisions regarding coverage, compliance, enforcement, and penalties, including a)
requirements for affidavits to be filed by contractors affirming compliance with the
prevailing wage law; b) record retention requirements for contractors regarding
wages paid to workers and provisions allowing for the inspection of those records by
DWD; c) liability and penalty provisions for certain violations; and d) provisions
prohibiting contracts from being awarded to persons who have failed to comply with
the prevailing wage law.
4. Family and medical leave expansion
Under current law, an employer that employs at least 50 individuals on a
permanent basis in this state must allow an employee who has been employed by the
employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and who has worked for the employer
for at least 1,000 hours during the preceding 52 weeks to take up to eight weeks of
family leave in a 12-month period for the birth or adoptive placement of a child or
to care for a child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner of the employee or a parent
of the spouse or domestic partner of the employee who has a serious health condition;
and up to two weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period when the employee has
a serious health condition.
This bill requires an employer that employs at least 25 individuals on a
permanent basis in this state to allow an employee to take family or medical leave
as provided under current law. The bill also allows an employee to take family leave
as provided under current law to care for a grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the
employee who has a serious health condition. In addition, the bill requires an
employer to allow an employee to take family leave because of any qualifying
exigency, as determined by DWD by rule, arising out of the fact that the spouse, child,
domestic partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the employee is on
deployment with the U.S. armed forces to a foreign country (covered active duty), has
been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty, or because of an
unforeseen school or child care facility closure.
5. Employment discrimination based on conviction record
This bill provides that employment discrimination because of a conviction
record includes requesting an applicant for employment, on an application form or
otherwise, to supply information regarding the conviction record of the applicant, or
otherwise inquiring into or considering the conviction record of an applicant for
employment, before the applicant has been selected for an interview by the
prospective employer. The bill, however, does not prohibit an employer from
notifying applicants for employment that an individual with a particular conviction
record may be disqualified by law or the employer's policies from employment in
particular positions.
6. State and local employment regulations; repeal preemption of local
government regulations
This bill repeals the preemption of local governments from enacting or
enforcing ordinances related to various employment matters. Under current law, a
local government may not enact an ordinance regulating wages, overtime pay,
employee hours, and benefits. See Local Government.
Unemployment Insurance
Drug testing
Current state law requires DWD to establish a program to test for the presence
of controlled substances certain claimants who apply for unemployment insurance
(UI) benefits. A claimant who tests positive for a controlled substance for which the
claimant does not have a prescription is ineligible for UI benefits until certain
requalification criteria are satisfied or unless he or she enrolls in a substance abuse
treatment program and undergoes a job skills assessment, and a claimant who
declines to submit to a test is simply ineligible for benefits until he or she requalifies.
However, under federal law, the state may require the drug testing under the
program only in accordance with regulations issued by the federal secretary of labor.
As of February 26, 2019, final federal regulations have not been issued. This bill
repeals the requirement to establish the drug testing program.
Also under current law, an employer may voluntarily submit to DWD the
results of a preemployment test for the presence of controlled substances that was
conducted on an individual as a condition of an offer of employment or notify DWD
that an individual declined to submit to such a test. If DWD then verifies that
submission, the employee may be ineligible for benefits until he or she requalifies.
However, a claimant who tested positive may maintain eligibility by enrolling in a
substance abuse treatment program and undergoing a job skills assessment. This
bill repeals these preemployment drug testing provisions.
2. Increasing maximum weekly benefit rate
This bill increases the maximum amount of weekly unemployment benefits
payable from $370 to $406.
3. Ineligibility due to substantial fault
Under current law, an employee whose work is terminated for substantial fault
is ineligible to receive UI benefits until the employee satisfies certain requalification
criteria. With certain exceptions, current law defines “substantial fault” to include
those acts or omissions of an employee over which the employee exercised reasonable
control and which violate reasonable requirements of his or her employer.
This bill repeals the provision on substantial fault and replaces it with a
provision on absenteeism and tardiness by an employee. Under the bill, if an
employee is discharged for failing to notify an employer of absenteeism or tardiness
that becomes excessive, the employee is ineligible to receive UI benefits until the
employee satisfies certain requalification criteria.
4. Acceptance of suitable work
Under current law, if a claimant for UI benefits fails, without good cause, to
accept suitable work when offered, the claimant is ineligible to receive UI benefits
until he or she satisfies certain requalification criteria. Current law specifies what
is considered “suitable work” for purposes of these provisions, with different
standards applying depending on how many weeks have elapsed since the claimant
became unemployed. Current law also specifies circumstances in which a claimant
has good cause for failing to accept what would otherwise be considered suitable
work.
This bill repeals the provisions described above regarding what is considered
suitable work and what is considered good cause for failing to accept suitable work
and replaces them with a) a different provision regarding what constitutes good
cause for a failure to accept suitable work; and b) a requirement for DWD to define
what constitutes suitable work for claimants by rule, with the rule specifying
different levels of suitable work based upon the number of weeks that a claimant has
received benefits in a given benefit year.
