Current law specifies criminal penalties for various types of insurance fraud,
which are punishable as either a Class A misdemeanor or a Class I felony, depending
on the value of the claim or benefit. The bill adds to the list of criminally punishable
insurance fraud the following: 1) the presentation of false or fraudulent applications
for worker's compensation insurance coverage and 2) the presentation of
applications for worker's compensation insurance coverage that falsely or
fraudulently misclassify employees in order to lower premiums.
Also, under current law, if an insurer or self-insured employer has evidence
that a worker's compensation claim is false or fraudulent, the insurer or self-insured
employer must generally report the claim to DWD. If, on the basis of the
investigation, DWD has a reasonable basis to believe that criminal insurance fraud
has occurred, DWD must refer the matter to the district attorney for prosecution.
DWD may request assistance from DOJ to investigate false or fraudulent activity
related to a worker's compensation claim. If, on the basis of that investigation, DWD
has a reasonable basis to believe that theft, forgery, fraud, or any other criminal
violation has occurred, DWD must refer the matter to the district attorney or DOJ
for prosecution. The bill extends these requirements to insurers that have evidence
that an application for worker's compensation insurance coverage is fraudulent or
that an employer has committed fraud by misclassifying employees to lower the
employer's worker's compensation insurance premiums.
Unemployment insurance
Worker misclassification penalties
Current law requires DWD to assess an administrative penalty against an
employer engaged in construction projects or in the painting or drywall finishing of
buildings or other structures who knowingly and intentionally provides false
information to DWD for the purpose of misclassifying or attempting to misclassify
an individual who is an employee of the employer as a nonemployee under the
unemployment insurance (UI) law. The penalty under current law is $500 for each
employee who is misclassified, not to exceed $7,500 per incident. In addition, current
law provides for criminal fines of up to $25,000 for employers who, after having
previously been assessed such an administrative penalty, commit another violation.
Current law additionally requires DWD to assess an administrative penalty against
such an employer who, through coercion, requires an employee to adopt the status
of a nonemployee; the penalty amount is $1,000 for each employee so coerced, but not
to exceed $10,000 per calendar year. Penalties are deposited into the unemployment
program integrity fund.
The bill does the following: 1) removes the $7,500 and $10,000 limitations on
the administrative penalties and provides that the penalties double for each act
occurring after the date of the first determination of a violation; 2) removes the
limitations on the types of employers to whom the prohibitions apply, making them
applicable to any type of employer; and 3) specifies that DWD may make referrals
for criminal prosecution for alleged criminal misclassification violations regardless
of whether an employer has been subject to any other penalty or assessment under
the UI law.
Social security disability insurance payments
Under current law, in any week in any month that a claimant is issued a benefit
under the federal Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI payment),
that claimant is ineligible for UI benefits. The bill repeals that prohibition and
instead requires DWD to reduce a claimant's benefit payments by the amount of
SSDI payments. The bill requires DWD to allocate a monthly SSDI payment by
allocating to each week the fraction of the payment attributable to that week.
Jobs and job training
Worker advancement initiative
The bill requires DWD to establish and maintain a worker advancement
initiative, through which DWD offers subsidized employment and skills training
with local employers, targeted to individuals in sectors of the workforce that have not
recovered from the loss of employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program
includes targeted subprograms related to the following: 1) health-care workforce
opportunities; 2) training opportunities for jobs that require a commercial driver
license; and 3) reengaging out-of-work, barriered, and underserved individuals
through system transformation, through which DWD must find methods to more
effectively reach and serve population groups that are underserved and disconnected
from the labor force.
Grants to local workforce development boards
The bill creates a grant program administered by DWD to provide grants to
local workforce development boards for youth services and training. Under the
program, DWD must provide grants for tutoring, mentoring, supportive services,
paid and unpaid work experiences, preapprenticeship programs, internships,
on-the-job training, occupational skills training, leadership development
opportunities, counseling, financial literacy education, entrepreneurial skills
training, and education regarding labor market information, employment
information, and postsecondary education and training preparation.
The bill also creates a new continuing GPR appropriation to DWD for the
purpose of providing grants under the local workforce development board youth
services and training grant program.
Workforce innovation grant program
The bill requires DWD to establish and operate a program to provide grants to
regional organizations to design and implement plans to address their region's
workforce challenges that arose during or were exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Green jobs training program grants
The bill creates a green jobs training program to be administered by DWD.
Under the program, DWD is required to award grants to public and private
organizations for the development and implementation of green jobs training
programs. The bill defines “green jobs” as jobs that produce goods or provide services
that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources. The bill also allows
DWD to require a public or private organization, as a condition of receiving a grant,
to provide matching funds at a percentage to be determined by DWD.
Clean energy training and reemployment
The bill requires DWD to establish and administer a clean energy training and
reemployment program to connect workers with employers and use other
apprenticeship and technical college programs to deliver training for clean energy
jobs.
Discrimination
Fair employment; civil actions
Under current fair employment law, an individual who alleges that an
employer has violated employment discrimination, unfair honesty testing, or unfair
genetic testing laws may file a complaint with DWD seeking action that will
effectuate the purpose of the fair employment law, including reinstating the
individual, providing back pay, and paying costs and attorney fees.
The bill allows DWD or an individual who is alleged or was found to have been
discriminated against or subjected to unfair honesty or genetic testing to bring an
action in circuit court to recover compensatory and punitive damages caused by the
act of discrimination, unfair honesty testing, or unfair genetic testing, in addition to
or in lieu of filing an administrative complaint. The action in circuit court must be
commenced within 300 days after the alleged discrimination, unfair honesty testing,
or unfair genetic testing occurred. The bill does not allow such an action for damages
to be brought against a local governmental unit or against an employer that employs
fewer than 15 individuals.
Under the bill, if the circuit court finds that a defendant has committed
employment discrimination, unfair honesty testing, or unfair genetic testing, the
circuit court may award back pay and any other relief that could have been awarded
in an administrative proceeding. In addition, the circuit court must order the
defendant to pay to the individual found to have been discriminated against or found
to have received unfair genetic testing or unfair honesty testing compensatory and
punitive damages in the amount that the circuit court finds appropriate, except that
the total amount of damage awarded for future economic losses and for pain and
suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other
noneconomic losses and punitive damages is subject to the following limitations:
1. If the defendant employs 100 or fewer employees, no more than $50,000.
2. If the defendant employs more than 100 but fewer than 201 employees, no
more than $100,000.
3. If the defendant employs more than 200 but fewer than 501 employees, no
more than $200,000.
4. If the defendant employs more than 500 employees, no more than $300,000.
The bill requires DWD to annually revise these amounts on the basis of the
change in the consumer price index in the previous year, if any positive change has
occurred.
Fair employment; discrimination based on conviction record
The bill provides that it is employment discrimination because of conviction
record under the fair employment law for a prospective employer to request
conviction information from a job applicant before the applicant has been selected
for an interview.
The bill, however, does not prohibit an employer from notifying job applicants
that an individual with a particular conviction record may be disqualified by law or
the employer's policies from employment in particular positions.
Fair employment; discrimination based on gender expression and gender
identity
Current fair employment law prohibits discrimination in employment on the
basis of a person's sex or sexual orientation. The bill also so prohibits discrimination
on the basis of an individual's gender identity or gender expression. “Gender
expression” is defined in the bill as an individual's actual or perceived
gender-related appearance, behavior, or expression, regardless of whether these
traits are stereotypically associated with the individual's assigned sex at birth.
“Gender identity” is defined in the bill as an individual's internal understanding of
the individual's gender, or the individual's perceived gender identity.
Administration and finance
Worker's compensation uninsured employers fund
Under current law, the uninsured employers fund (UEF) is used to pay worker's
compensation benefits on claims filed by employees who are injured while working
for uninsured employers in this state. The money for the UEF comes from, among
various sources, penalties assessed against uninsured employers. The bill changes
the appropriation for the UEF from a sum sufficient appropriation to a continuing
appropriation.
Reimbursements for supplemental worker's compensation benefits
Under current law, insurers are required to pay supplemental benefits to
certain employees who were permanently disabled by an injury that is compensable
under the worker's compensation law. DWD is authorized to collect up to $5,000,000
from insurers that provide worker's compensation insurance to provide those
supplemental benefits. This money must be used exclusively to provide
reimbursements to insurers that pay those supplemental benefits and that request
reimbursements.
The bill creates a new, separate appropriation in the worker's compensation
operations fund to provide these reimbursements. The bill does not increase revenue
to DWD or collections from insurers.
Migrant labor fees
Under current law, migrant labor contractor and camp fees are deposited in the
state general fund and not credited to a specific appropriation. The bill instead
requires that the fees be credited to the DWD auxiliary services appropriation and
authorizes that appropriation to be used for administrative costs related to the
migrant labor program administered by DWD.
Migrant labor law enforcement
The bill creates a new annual GPR appropriation to DWD for the purpose of
enforcement of laws related to wages, hours, and working conditions of migrant
workers, the certification, maintenance, and inspection of migrant labor camps, and
the recruitment and hiring of migrant workers.
ENVIRONMENT
Water quality
PFAS standards
The bill requires DNR to establish and enforce various standards for
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The PFAS group of
substances includes several thousand chemicals; two of the most well known are
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).
The bill requires DNR to establish, by rule, acceptable levels and standards,
monitoring requirements, and required response actions for any PFAS in drinking
water, groundwater, surface water, air, solid waste, beds of navigable waters, and soil
and sediment, if DNR determines that the substance may be harmful to human
health or the environment. These rules must cover, at a minimum, PFOA and PFOS,
as well as perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA),
and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS).
The bill also requires DNR to establish air emission standards for PFAS to
provide adequate protection for public health and welfare, taking into account
energy, economic, and environmental impacts and other costs related to the emission
source.
Under current law, DNR maintains a list of substances that have a reasonable
probability of entering the groundwater resources of the state and that are shown to
involve public health concerns. Under the bill, DNR is required to add to this list
PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFBS, and all other PFAS that have a reasonable
probability of entering the groundwater resources of the state and that are shown to
involve public health concerns. Under current law, DHS recommends enforcement
standards for substances on this list, which DNR then proposes as DNR rules in its
rule-making process. Until DNR establishes such rules, the bill requires DNR to
apply any DHS-recommended groundwater enforcement standard for any PFAS as
an interim standard for groundwater and as an interim maximum containment level
for drinking water.
The bill also provides that DNR may, if it determines doing so is necessary to
protect human health or the environment, require a person who possesses or controls
PFAS to provide proof of financial responsibility for remediation and long-term care
to address contamination by a potential discharge of PFAS or environmental
pollution that may be caused by a discharge of PFAS.
In addition, the bill requires DNR to set criteria for certifying laboratories to
test for PFAS, and to certify laboratories that meet these criteria. Before these
criteria are set, the bill allows DNR to require testing for PFAS to be done according
to nationally recognized standards.
Finally, the bill requires a person who generates solid or hazardous waste at a
site or facility under investigation by DNR to provide DNR with access to information
relating to any transportation to or treatment, storage, or disposal at another site,
facility, or location.
PFAS municipal grant program
The bill creates a municipal grant program, administered by DNR, to address
PFAS. Under the program, DNR must provide grants to cities, towns, villages,
counties, tribal governments, utility districts, lake protections districts, sewerage
districts, and municipal airports (municipalities). DNR may award a grant only if
the applicant tested or trained with a PFAS-containing fire fighting foam in
accordance with applicable state and federal law, or a third party tested or trained
with PFAS-containing fire fighting foam within the boundaries of the municipality;
the applicant applied biosolids to land under a water pollution permit issued by
DNR; or PFAS are impacting the applicant's drinking water supply or surface water
or groundwater within the municipality and the responsible party is unknown or is
unwilling or unable to take the necessary response actions.
Under the bill, grants provided under this program may be used to investigate
potential PFAS impacts in order to reduce or eliminate environmental
contamination; treat or dispose of PFAS-containing fire fighting foam containers;
sample a private water supply within three miles of a site or facility known to contain
PFAS or to have caused a PFAS discharge; provide a temporary emergency water
supply, a water treatment system, or bulk water to replace water contaminated with
PFAS; conduct emergency, interim, or remedial actions to mitigate, treat, dispose of,
or remove PFAS contamination; remove or treat PFAS in public water systems in
areas where PFAS levels exceed the maximum contaminant level for PFAS in
drinking water or an enforcement standard for PFAS groundwater or in areas where
the state has issued a health advisory for PFAS; or sample and test water in schools
and daycares for PFAS contamination.
An applicant that receives a grant under this program must contribute
matching funds equal to at least 20 percent of the amount of the grant. The applicant
must apply for a grant on a form prescribed by DNR and must include any
information that DNR finds is necessary to determine the eligibility of the project,
identify the funding requested, determine the priority of the project, and calculate
the amount of a grant. In awarding grants under this program, DNR must consider
the applicant's demonstrated commitment to performing and completing eligible
activities, including the applicant's financial commitment and ability to successfully
administer grants; the degree to which the project will have a positive impact on
public health and the environment; and any other criteria that DNR finds necessary
to prioritize the funds available for awarding grants.
PFAS-containing fire fighting foam appropriation
Current law establishes a continuing appropriation from the environmental
fund for the collection of PFAS-containing fire fighting foam. The bill allows this
appropriation to also be used to provide assistance to local fire departments in
replacing PFAS-containing fire fighting foam with PFAS-free fire fighting foam.
Lead service line replacement
The bill creates a continuing appropriation from the general fund to the
environmental improvement program for projects involving forgivable loans to
private users of public water systems to replace lead service lines.
Under current law, DOA and DNR administer the safe drinking water loan
program (SDWLP), which provides financial assistance from the environmental
improvement program to local governmental units and to the private owners of
community water systems that serve local governmental units for projects for the
planning, designing, construction, or modification of public water systems. DNR
establishes a funding list for SDWLP projects and DOA allocates funding for those
projects.
Well compensation grant program
The bill makes changes to the well compensation grant program currently
administered by DNR.
Under current law, an individual owner or renter of a contaminated private well
may apply for a grant from DNR to cover a portion of the costs to treat the water,
reconstruct the well, construct a new well, connect to a public water supply, or fill and
seal the well. To be eligible for a grant, the well owner's or renter's annual family
income may not exceed $65,000. A grant awarded under the program may not cover
any portion of a project's eligible costs in excess of $16,000 and, of those costs, may
not exceed 75 percent of a project's eligible costs, meaning that a grant may not
exceed $12,000. In addition, if the well owner's or renter's annual family income
exceeds $45,000, the amount of the award is reduced by 30 percent of the amount by
which the annual family income exceeds $45,000.
The bill increases the family income limit to $100,000. In addition, under the
bill, a well owner or renter whose family income is below the state's median income
may receive a grant of up to 100 percent of a project's eligible costs, not to exceed
$16,000. The bill also eliminates the requirement to reduce an award by 30 percent
if the well owner's or renter's family income exceeds $45,000.
The bill also expands the grant program to allow an owner or renter of a
transient noncommunity water supply to apply for a grant. A “transient
noncommunity water supply” is defined in the bill as a water system that serves at
least 25 persons at least 60 days of the year but that does not regularly serve at least
25 of the same persons over six months per year.
Under current law, a well that is contaminated only by nitrates is eligible for
a grant only if the well is a water supply for livestock, is used at least three months
in each year, and contains nitrates in excess of 40 parts per million. The bill
eliminates these restrictions for claims based on nitrates, and instead allows grants
to be issued for wells based on contamination by at least 10 parts per million of
nitrate nitrogen. The bill also allows grants to be issued for wells contaminated by
at least 10 parts per billion of arsenic, or by a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl
substance in an amount that exceeds any applicable health advisory or standard for
that substance.
Under current law, DNR must issue grants in the order in which completed
claims are received. Under the bill, if there are insufficient funds to pay claims, DNR
may, for claims based on nitrate contamination, prioritize claims that are based on
higher levels of nitrate contamination.
Requiring notification of water-related permit violations
Under the bill, if DNR finds that the holder of a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (WPDES) permit has violated a limitation under the permit that
is based on a groundwater standard, DNR must notify the county health department
and county land and conservation department in the county in which the permit
holder is located and the county health department and county land and
conservation department in any adjacent county that DNR determines may be
negatively affected by the violation. The bill requires DNR to provide these notices
within seven business days after confirming that a violation has occurred. The bill
also allows DNR to establish, by rule, procedures for providing the required notice.
Finally, the bill requires DNR to create and maintain a notification system for
notifying county health departments, county land and conservation departments,
and interested parties of the violations but requires that the notification system
ensure that county health departments and county land and conservation
departments are notified of a violation at least 24 hours before anyone else is notified.
Concentrated animal feeding operations
Under current law, a person who operates a concentrated animal feeding
operation (CAFO) must have a WPDES permit from DNR. A CAFO is a livestock
operation that contains at least 1,000 animal units, that discharges pollutants into
a navigable water, or that contaminates a well. Current law requires a CAFO
operator with a WPDES permit to pay an annual fee of $345 to DNR. The bill
increases the amount of this annual fee to $545.
Well construction notification fee
Under current law, no person may construct a high capacity well, which is a well
with a capacity of more than 100,000 gallons per day, without prior approval of DNR
and payment of a $500 fee. Prior to construction of a well that is not a high capacity
well, the owner of the property where the well is to be constructed must notify DNR
and pay a fee of $50. The bill increases the notification fee to $70.
Well construction variances application fee
Under current law, DNR regulates groundwater withdrawal. Administrative
rules promulgated by DNR establish requirements for the construction of wells and
provide that a person may request a variance from those rules if strict compliance
with the requirements is not feasible. DNR may determine whether a variance is
justified and may condition the issuance of a variance on additional construction
features to safeguard groundwater. The bill requires DNR to collect a $100 fee from
a person requesting a well construction variance.
Ballast water discharge
Under current law, DNR may issue a general permit authorizing a vessel that
is 79 feet or greater in length to discharge ballast water into the waters of this state.
DNR may charge an application fee of $1,200 and a $345 annual fee for the permit.
DNR must use collected fees to administer the permit program.
The bill repeals these provisions and provides that the owner or operator of any
commercial vessel subject to the requirements of the federal Vessel Incidental
Discharge Act that has operated outside this state must pay DNR $650 per arrival
to a port of this state. Under the bill, the owner or operator of a commercial vessel
subject to these requirements, including a vessel engaged in coastwise trade, may
not be required to pay more than $3,250 in fees per calendar year. DNR must use
collected fees for management, administration, inspection, monitoring, and
enforcement activities relating to incidental discharges, including ballast water
discharges.
Under current law, an employee or agent of DNR may board and inspect any
vessel that is subject to requirements relating to environmental protection
requirements for tank vessels or open burning on commercial vessels to determine
compliance with those requirements.
The bill provides that DNR may enter into a memorandum of agreement with
the U.S. Coast Guard authorizing an employee or agent of DNR to board and inspect
any vessel that is subject to the requirements under the bill to determine compliance
with the federal Vessel Incidental Discharge Act.
Hazardous substances and environmental cleanup
Dry cleaner response program and revitalize Wisconsin program
The bill eliminates the existing dry cleaner environmental response program
and its associated fund and council and creates the revitalize Wisconsin program,
which is administered by DNR.
