AB1079,,22An Act to repeal 45.61 (2) (am), 45.61 (2) (b), 45.61 (2) (c) (intro.), 45.61 (2) (c) 3., 45.61 (2) (e), 45.61 (5) (b), 230.212 and 322.120 (3) (a) 2.; to renumber and amend 45.61 (5) (a); to amend 16.53 (1) (d) 1., 45.61 (2) (a), 45.61 (2) (c) 1., 45.61 (2) (c) 2., 45.61 (2) (d), 45.61 (3), 45.61 (4) (a) and 230.05 (7); and to create 16.53 (1) (d) 5. and 230.212 of the statutes; relating to: employment of direct-care employees by veterans homes, eligibility for burial in veterans cemeteries, and elements of sexual assault under the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice.

Under current law, the director of the Bureau of Merit Recruitment and Selection in the Division of Personnel Management in the Department of Administration administers the state civil service program and the competitive selection procedures. Generally, applicants for positions in the classified service must provide an application and resume, which are rated and determine whether an applicant will be interviewed for a position. Applicants are then interviewed by a panel of individuals. This bill eliminates those requirements for applicants for nonsupervisory positions providing direct care to residents of veterans homes. The bill also allows veterans homes to fill positions for nurses, nurse aides, medical assistants, and dietitians without using the civil service procedure if the applicant graduates from an institution of higher education in this state or completes an approved instructional or training program in this state, the offer of employment is made before the applicant graduates or completes the instructional or training program, and the offer of employment is contingent upon graduation or successful completion of the instructional training program and eligibility for licensure or certification, where applicable.

Under current law, the director must certify a register for vacant positions in the state civil service within 30 days after a state agency requests to have a position vacancy announced. The bill reduces that period to seven days for vacant permanent positions at a veterans home. Also, under current law, the general term of eligibility on a register is six months, after which the register expires. The bill requires the director to maintain the register of certified eligible applicants for vacant permanent positions at veterans homes until notified by the Department of Veterans Affairs that the agency no longer needs the register.

Under the bill, the provisions described above sunset on January 1, 2029.

The bill changes an eligibility requirement for an individual to be buried in one of the state veterans cemeteries. Under current law, an individual who was discharged under other than dishonorable conditions must have been a Wisconsin resident in order to be eligible for burial in one of the state veterans cemeteries. In select cases, children and spouses of eligible veterans must also be Wisconsin residents in order to be buried in a state veterans cemetery. The bill removes the Wisconsin residency eligibility requirements in determining whether an individual or his or her spouse or children may be buried in a state veterans cemetery. The bill also directs from which appropriation account some eligible individuals’ burial expenses may be paid.

Under article 120 of the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice, a person is guilty of sexual assault if he or she commits a sexual act upon another person by doing any of the following: threatening or placing that other person in fear; causing bodily harm to that other person; making a fraudulent representation that the sexual act serves a professional purpose; or inducing a belief by any artifice, pretense, or concealment that the person is another person.

The bill modifies the elements of sexual assault under the WCMJ to align with the elements of the offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Specifically, the bill removes “causing bodily harm to that other person,” consistent with the UCMJ.

2023 Wisconsin Act 47 contained Joint Legislative Council prefatory notes that stated that the “causing bodily harm to that other person” provision in article 120 was repealed by the act, and the drafting file for the act indicates that the repeal was intended in order to be consistent with the UCMJ. However, the repeal of s. 322.120 (3) (a) 2., stats., was inadvertently not included in the act. The bill repeals that provision.